Data acquisition

Data acquisition systems, abbreviated by the acronyms DAS, DAQ, or DAU, typically convert analog waveforms into digital values for processing.

There are also open-source software packages providing all the necessary tools to acquire data from different, typically specific, hardware equipment.

These expensive specialized systems were surpassed in 1974 by general-purpose S-100 computers and data acquisition cards produced by Tecmar/Scientific Solutions Inc.

A data acquisition system is a collection of software and hardware that allows one to measure or control the physical characteristics of something in the real world.

A sensor, which is a type of transducer, is a device that converts a physical property into a corresponding electrical signal (e.g., strain gauge, thermistor).

Various other examples of signal conditioning might be bridge completion, providing current or voltage excitation to the sensor, isolation, and linearization.

A controller is more flexible than a hard-wired logic, yet cheaper than a CPU so it is permissible to block it with simple polling loops.

The device driver performs low-level register writes and reads on the hardware while exposing API for developing user applications in a variety of programs.