Data Acquisition Toolbox

Chapter 1
Getting Started with the Data Acquisition Toolbox

Collecting Live Data

Perhaps the most effective way to get started with the Data Acquisition Toolbox is to collect some live data. If you have a sound card installed, you can run the following code which collects one second of data.

ai = analoginput('winsound')
addchannel(ai, 1)
set(ai, 'SampleRate', 8192);
start(ai)
data = getdata(ai);
plot(data)

With just six lines of code, you can connect the Data Acquisition Toolbox to your hardware, acquire data, and plot the data. These six lines are described below.

1.: Create a device object - Device objects allow you to connect the toolbox to specific hardware subsystems.

2.: Add one or more channels to the device object - A device object can perform a useful task only when at least one channel is added to it.

3.: Control acquisition behavior by assigning values to properties - Any property not explicitly assigned a value uses its default value.

4.: Execute the device object -The device object must start before data can be acquired

5.: Extract acquired data - Once data is acquired, it must be stored in a MATLAB variable.

6.: Analyze the data.

These six basic steps are followed for even the most complex applications.

The Display Summary

Summary information for your data acquisition application is displayed whenever a reference to a device object or channel is not suppressed with a semicolon. You may find the display summary is a convenient way to quickly evaluate your acquisition status.

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Chapter 1Getting Started with the Data Acquisition Toolbox

Chapter 1
Getting Started with the Data Acquisition Toolbox