We perform all our data acquisition over TCPIP. For low-speed acquisition, which we define as 1 MByte/s or slower, we achieve control and readout with our Long-Wire Data Acquisition (LWDAQ) protocol. For high-speed acquisition, we achieve control with a text exchange socket and readout with a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) socket.
Our Long-Wire Data Acquisition (LWDAQ) hardware provides synchronous control of a large number of instruments, as well as low-speed readout of images and measurements. The largest LWDAQ systems consist of several relays, dozens of controllers, hundreds of root cables, hundreds of repeaters, hundreds of multiplexers, thousands of branch cables, and thousands of devices. The smallest LWDAQ systems consist of a relay, a controller, and a single device built one enclosure. The relay is the component that provides an Ethernet socket and TCPIP messaging. The oldest relays, such the one built into the A3037E LWDAQ Driver with Ethernet Interface, provided a 10-BaseT interface and required a separate 24-V power adaptor. The newest relays, such as the A3042 Telemetry Control Box (TCB), provide a 100-Base-T interface and run on Power-over-Ethernet (PoE).
Our Raspberry Pi Data Acquisition (RPDAQ) hardware provides high-speed readout of video frames. We use the RPDAQ in our Animal Cage Cameras (ACC). All RPDAQ devices are 10/100/1000-Base-T, Power-over-Ethernet (PoE)devices. The RPDAQ provides on-board data buffering and real-time video compression. The Raspberry Pi runs a pre-emptively multi-tasking operating system, so it does not lend itself to synchronous control of sensors and actuators, but for streaming of compressed data it performs well.
Control and readout of all our instruments is provided by our open-source data acquisition software. This software is named simply "LWDAQ", and is available in our OSI-INC GitHub repository. The LWDAQ software provides control and readout for both LWDAQ and RPDAQ devices. It also provides a diverse library of data analysis algorithms. These algorithms are available at the LWDAQ command prompt, but are also built into the program's instruments and tools. The Rasnik Instrument provides pattern recognition and decoding for chessboard alignment images. The Neuroplayer Tool provides machine-learning event detection for telemetry signals.