PC based data logging with ICP-das IO modules? Am i on the right track here?

Have a fairly simple project wherein id like to monitor half a dozen Rh/temp sensors for dewpoint along with a few temp only sensors.

i studied civil in school so my programming background is laughable...so im trying to keep this dead stupid simple, to be honest i tried to get into PLC logic years ago buying an automation direct PL06 and trying to learn off of their documentation, but gave up quite quickly.

so yea, im looking at getting 1 or more ICP DAS 7000 series IO modules with analog inputs to handle the 0-1v signals from my temp/RH sensors.

Im going to take the rs485 modbus/dcon signal from these IO modules and feed them into to USB or ethernet converter...

then feed this signal into a mini PC that i can fit into an enclosure- like an Asus EEEbox pc running windows.

on this computer id like to run ICP DAS's "EzDatalogger" software to configure and calibrate the sensor inputs and export CsV files... and MABY setup a remote server where i could access the data if needed.

am i on the right track here? like i said i am pretty much hopless with PLC's so i would like to keep this as simple as possible here. This is a personal project as well... so im trying to keep it under 500 bucks as well.

unrelated:

im having a hard time prying open these data aquisition systems. i have a very general understanding here... but Can anyone recommend some books of documents i could read? Ive been looking around the labview websites(helpful for info about analog signals, bit rates etc), but im more looking for general info on Modbus protcol, Dcon, device wiring best practices etc.

thanks in advance guys.

I know that you can run MySQL on the WAGO PFC series PLC with no trouble. We've also used Microsoft Access to read and write to the tables (and of course you can do this from within the PLC.)

I am assuming that you can do something with a Raspberry PI 3 but you'll need to condition the inputs for your signal range(s). I'd look at Node Red if you're not a PLC programmer. Lots of this kind of stuff is automated.

Good Luck,

Yosi

There is no step-by-step instruction, unless the ICP people have made one up.

Typically, using the datalogging sofware for same brand as the I/O is fairly straightforward. I've never used ICP's, but I get one or two emails per week inviting me to webinars on topics like data acquisition, so I suspect that they can provide some help.

No vendor can do the job for you, (that effort is not built into the cost of the hardware/software) the most they can do is provide the help.

I'm an instrument guy who does some light configuration for data acquisition and PAC's. I am not a programmer. Hence I would avoid Codesys based systems, like Wago, like the plague. Those systems assume you are a code programmer first and foremost who needs to do some process work involving hardware but without a programmer's background, one is lost at starting line.

Your question to ICP should be, "how easy is it to connect an RS-485 I/O module to the PC running their software?" If they recommend a converter, buy it, assuming they can tell you how to set it up. I have no idea what dcon is, some proprietary protocol?

Google will bring up other 'datalogger' vendors who have I/O-software packages to do similar tasks.

danw said:

There is no step-by-step instruction, unless the ICP people have made one up.

Typically, using the datalogging sofware for same brand as the I/O is fairly straightforward. I've never used ICP's, but I get one or two emails per week inviting me to webinars on topics like data acquisition, so I suspect that they can provide some help.

No vendor can do the job for you, (that effort is not built into the cost of the hardware/software) the most they can do is provide the help.

I'm an instrument guy who does some light configuration for data acquisition and PAC's. I am not a programmer. Hence I would avoid Codesys based systems, like Wago, like the plague. Those systems assume you are a code programmer first and foremost who needs to do some process work involving hardware but without a programmer's background, one is lost at starting line.

Your question to ICP should be, "how easy is it to connect an RS-485 I/O module to the PC running their software?" If they recommend a converter, buy it, assuming they can tell you how to set it up. I have no idea what dcon is, some proprietary protocol?

Google will bring up other 'datalogger' vendors who have I/O-software packages to do similar tasks.

Click to expand...

thanks for the replies gentlemen,

sorry for the delay... i made this account so long ago i forgot it was on my greymail account, hence it did not pop up on my phone.


@ danw, thanks for the input. Im basically trying to hack together a remote data logging system similar to that of which i have seen recording thermistor values.... only exception being id like to use a PC instead of a fancy PLC system. I dont want to mess with PLC systems again because of my lack of knowlage.

regarding ICP software. Basically i went with the ICP modules because the software had a 70 page manual and i felt more comfortable with that.... other vendors ( advantech from what i recall) provided drivers and some references to free logging software, but nothing native from the vendor themselves.

i appreciate your comment about software based systems... i too am not a programmer. only programming education i had was in C++ with an ancient compiler, and 2 semesters working with matlab. Matlab was not terribly difficult, but i seriously doubt that its relevant to anything related to data logging.

(8{)} ( .) said:

I know that you can run MySQL on the WAGO PFC series PLC with no trouble. We've also used Microsoft Access to read and write to the tables (and of course you can do this from within the PLC.)

I am assuming that you can do something with a Raspberry PI 3 but you'll need to condition the inputs for your signal range(s). I'd look at Node Red if you're not a PLC programmer. Lots of this kind of stuff is automated.

Good Luck,

Yosi

Click to expand...

im really interested in data integrity here. the dewpoints are going to be critical, and i plan on investing a great deal of time calibrating the RH sensors.

forgive my ignorance... but i just trust the ICP software way more than anything i could come up with on the PI. yea i get that the IO module is handling all of the A/D conversion, but i need to be able to play with the calibrations within the software

the "ezdatalogger" software requires the .net framework hence i cannot use any Pi hardware... nor do i have any linux experiance.

i still have a while to decide, but im looking at an old Atom based PC system running win. 7 or Xp sp3. trying to keep the power consumption below 10-20 watts as this is going to run for 2 years ideally. it would be real nice if the software ran on windows CE... but alas it does not.

problem is im not finding much hardware that has a bios watchdog timer to reset the PC(within my budget at least).
then again, maby im not being realistic in what i can come up with seeing as to how green i am with respect to data logging... perhaps i could just get a bios real time clock schedule to reset the computer every 24 hours or something like that.