What to Look for in a DAQ-Equipment Manufacturer and Why PC-based Data Acquisition is the Best All-Around Solution

PC (Personal Computer) based data acquisition products, offered by well-established DAQ hardware and software manufacturers, such as NI, Dataforth and IoTech, are designed to the following guidelines below. The results of careful DAQ engineering lead to solutions which are versatile and expandable, economical to own, and simple-to-use.

1. PC-leveraged architecture which improves over time

Carefully-engineered DAQ products leverage as much of the PC’s processing, display, communication, and data storage capability as possible. The manufacturer should recognize that PCs will continue to evolve and improve at a much faster pace than data acquisition hardware, and thus we design our PC-based data acquisition solutions to leverage the built-in capabilities of the PC. As a result, when one upgrades their PC over time, a company’s data acquisition solution improves as well.

2. Signal conditioning and expansion capacity which is integrated into most products from the beginning

The manufacturer’s data-acquisition equipment should be able to accommodate new signal-conditioning and expansion hardware for many years after the initial purchase. Look for a manufacturer that incorporates expansion capability into all their base products, reducing the cost of ownership by enabling their products to be used on new applications, long after the initial application for which it was purchased is complete.

3. Open software architecture to match your preference, not the manufacturer’s

The manufacturer’s approach to software is to make it as easy to get started as possible. That is best accomplished by making hardware compatible with the software environment with which you, the customer, is already familiar, this as opposed to limiting you to use a single software environment. Less desirable scenario:, a manufacturer which requires you to use their in-house-developed software package, leaving you with few alternatives if the software does not fit all of your current or future needs.

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