Design and implementation of a wireless data acquisition system

The purpose of this project was to design and implement a system containing all the equipment necessary to monitor, record and control an experiment while still maintaining portability. A portable data acquisition system, with wireless Local Area Network (LAN) connection, was designed and implemented using off-the-shelf and custom-made components. Engineering Faculty was consulted regarding their individual needs in data acquisition. Components were selected in accordance to the Department's needs while taking into account the most cost-effective solutions. Furthermore, a virtual instrument written in LabVIEWTM was created to accommodate the most common situations in data acquisition. The program uses the information provided by the user (such as sample rate, number of data points, etc.) to acquire and process data from the selected channels. The program also provides for instrument calibration and save-to-file functionality among other things. Proper measures where taken to make the system as intuitive as possible and to prevent system crashes due to erroneous settings provided by the user. The system was tested with different users including Biomedical Engineering students and faculty members. The reliability and flexibility of the system have been verified in different environments and circumstances obtaining satisfactory results.