<s>
Data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
sampling	B-Algorithm
signals	O
that	O
measure	O
real-world	O
physical	O
conditions	O
and	O
converting	O
the	O
resulting	O
samples	O
into	O
digital	B-General_Concept
numeric	I-General_Concept
values	I-General_Concept
that	O
can	O
be	O
manipulated	O
by	O
a	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
systems	I-Algorithm
,	O
abbreviated	O
by	O
the	O
acronyms	O
DAS	O
,	O
DAQ	O
,	O
or	O
DAU	O
,	O
typically	O
convert	O
analog	O
waveforms	O
into	O
digital	O
values	O
for	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
components	O
of	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
systems	I-Algorithm
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
applications	O
are	O
usually	O
controlled	O
by	O
software	O
programs	O
developed	O
using	O
various	O
general	O
purpose	O
programming	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
Assembly	B-Language
,	O
BASIC	O
,	O
C	B-Language
,	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
Fortran	B-Application
,	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
LabVIEW	B-Application
,	O
Lisp	B-Language
,	O
Pascal	B-Application
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stand-alone	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
systems	I-Algorithm
are	O
often	O
called	O
data	O
loggers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
packages	O
are	O
usually	O
custom-fit	O
but	O
more	O
general	O
DAQ	O
packages	O
like	O
the	O
Maximum	B-Application
Integrated	I-Application
Data	I-Application
Acquisition	I-Application
System	I-Application
can	O
be	O
easily	O
tailored	O
and	O
are	O
used	O
in	O
several	O
physics	O
experiments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1963	O
,	O
IBM	O
produced	O
computers	O
that	O
specialized	O
in	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
7700	I-Device
Data	I-Device
Acquisition	I-Device
System	I-Device
,	O
and	O
its	O
successor	O
,	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
1800	I-Device
Data	I-Device
Acquisition	I-Device
and	I-Device
Control	I-Device
System	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
expensive	O
specialized	O
systems	O
were	O
surpassed	O
in	O
1974	O
by	O
general-purpose	O
S-100	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
and	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
cards	O
produced	O
by	O
Tecmar/Scientific	O
Solutions	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1981	O
IBM	O
introduced	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
and	O
Scientific	O
Solutions	O
introduced	O
the	O
first	O
PC	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
begins	O
with	O
the	O
physical	O
phenomenon	O
or	O
physical	O
property	O
to	O
be	O
measured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Regardless	O
of	O
the	O
type	O
of	O
physical	O
property	O
to	O
be	O
measured	O
,	O
the	O
physical	O
state	O
that	O
is	O
to	O
be	O
measured	O
must	O
first	O
be	O
transformed	O
into	O
a	O
unified	O
form	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
sampled	O
by	O
a	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
system	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
system	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
software	O
and	O
hardware	O
that	O
allows	O
one	O
to	O
measure	O
or	O
control	O
the	O
physical	O
characteristics	O
of	O
something	O
in	O
the	O
real	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
complete	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
system	I-Algorithm
consists	O
of	O
DAQ	O
hardware	O
,	O
sensors	O
and	O
actuators	O
,	O
signal	O
conditioning	O
hardware	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
computer	O
running	O
DAQ	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
sensor	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
transducer	B-Algorithm
,	O
is	O
a	O
device	O
that	O
converts	O
a	O
physical	O
property	O
into	O
a	O
corresponding	O
electrical	O
signal	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
strain	B-Algorithm
gauge	I-Algorithm
,	O
thermistor	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Signal	O
conditioning	O
may	O
be	O
necessary	O
if	O
the	O
signal	O
from	O
the	O
transducer	B-Algorithm
is	O
not	O
suitable	O
for	O
the	O
DAQ	O
hardware	O
being	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
be	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
modules	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
ports	O
(	O
parallel	B-Device
,	O
serial	B-Protocol
,	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
or	O
cards	O
connected	O
to	O
slots	O
(	O
S-100	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
,	O
AppleBus	O
,	O
ISA	O
,	O
MCA	B-Device
,	O
PCI	O
,	O
PCI-E	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
in	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
motherboard	I-Device
or	O
in	O
a	O
modular	O
crate	O
(	O
CAMAC	B-Architecture
,	O
NIM	O
,	O
VME	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sometimes	O
adapters	O
are	O
needed	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
case	O
an	O
external	O
breakout	B-Protocol
box	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
are	O
accessible	O
via	O
a	O
bus	B-General_Concept
by	O
a	O
microcontroller	B-Architecture
,	O
which	O
can	O
run	O
small	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
signals	O
from	O
some	O
sensors	O
and	O
Data	B-Algorithm
Acquisition	I-Algorithm
Systems	I-Algorithm
can	O
be	O
streamed	O
via	O
Bluetooth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
tools	O
used	O
for	O
building	O
large-scale	O
data	B-Algorithm
acquisition	I-Algorithm
systems	I-Algorithm
include	O
EPICS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
programming	O
environments	O
that	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
build	O
DAQ	O
applications	O
include	O
ladder	O
logic	O
,	O
Visual	B-Application
C++	I-Application
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
,	O
LabVIEW	B-Application
,	O
and	O
MATLAB	B-Language
.	O
</s>
