A digital data acquisition system was developed for unattended data collection and reduction for use aboard US Navy vessels. Data obtained will be used for performance evaluations, validation of trending algorithms, equipment failure analysis, and generation of operating profiles.
The system consists of a shipboard data acquisition unit and a desk-top data reduction processor/report generator. Both units are portable. The shipboard unit operates unattended (except for periodic replacement of the data storage media), is user-configurable, contains a 20-minute uninterruptible power supply, and can monitor up to 64 channels, 32 boolean and 32 analog.
Software was developed to support periodic data logging, cumulative signal level versus time profiles, high sample rate look-back for out-of-limit conditions, CRT displays, and interactive system configuration by the user.
An application of the system for long terra profiling is described.