Oven temperature heat survey

[mtwood65]

Hello,

We currently use 10 to 45 thermocouples during the performance of our oven heat survey. My goal is to capture data, regardless of thermocouple quantity, and place the captured data within a table, and/or graph for a report which will be generated in excel using the report generation tool kit. I seek this approach to prevent from having to generate several different formats, which would normally be required to accommodate ovens requiring 10 thermocouples -Vs- ovens requiring 20 or 40 thermocouples.

Let me know your thoughts, any assistance will be most appreciated.

Thank you,

Marshall Wood, PMP

Manufacturing Engineer

[Matthew_Williams]

One approach would be to use an error indication on the individual readings to qualify
which sensors are actually in use.  Record only those sensors returning valid readings,
assume all others are not part of the test.  Scan all sensors at program startup to
establish a base population so that sensors that fail during the test can be identified.

Something like:
a) scan all sensors, note which are reading properly (active)
b) while(testing)
c)      for each active sensor
d)                read value
e)      write all readings to report file with timestamp
f)       pause, check stop button
g) print/save report

Kind of crude but should be a pretty simple user interface.  I might be able to give
a little more concrete suggestions if you can provide some information about hardware,
test protocol, etc.

Thanks.

Matt
215-884-8123 x.111

---- Commercial Statement ----
We have prototyped a device we call the Chamber Mapper to validate/characterize
environmental chambers using up to 32 temperature sensors.  I'd be happy to discuss
it with you if you think it might be appropriate.
---- End ----

[mtwood65]

Matt,

Thanks a bunch for repsonding to my inquiry. I will give your suggestions a try and let you know how it goes. As for hardware, we are using an NI FP-1601 to retrieve data across our intranet. Once collected, we would like to upload the data into an excel spreadsheet, in the form of an administrative, numeric, and graphical representation, or survey report if you will, then provide for historical/archival retrieval during reporting and assessment. The actual system will be much more robust than I am describing, however these tid-bits should provide you with a glimpse of our approach.

It sounds like your Chamber Mapper is in essence a heat survey, or working envelope survey if you will. I would be pleased to discuss your approach in further detail. When I have a moment I will give you a call...

Marshall