Data Acquisition (DAQ) and Control from Microstar Laboratories

Data Acquisition Software Released

DAPtools Basic, Standard, Professional now available in version 6.30

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DAPtools 6.30 software improves Data Acquisition Processor integration on a Windows 10 system. Python, penguin images: Julien Tromeur/Shutterstock.com

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Bellevue, WA, May 18, 2016 -- Microstar Laboratories, Inc., maker of Data Acquisition Processor (DAP) systems for PC-based high-performance measurement and data acquisition applications, has announced the release of version 6.30 of the DAPtools software packages for use with its DAP and xDAP products. Though primarily intended for improved Windows 10 integration, several incremental improvements are also included.

DAPtools software is available in three levels: Basic, Standard, and Professional. Each DAP board and xDAP system comes with the DAPtools Basic package. DAPtools Standard adds filter generation software, specialized DSP modules, and support for third-party software environments such as LabVIEW and MATLAB. DAPtools Professional adds a full license for DAPstudio development software, full network support, and software for custom development for experienced programmers. All levels are now upgraded to version 6.30.

Back Compatibility

DAPtools software continues to support Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. This DAPtools software will work with 32-bit or 64-bit operating systems, with 32-bit or 64-bit applications, and with 32-bit or 64-bit processor hardware. The DAPIO programming interface is functionally compatible with binary applications dating back as far as 2001. All DAP models supported in DAPtools Software version 6.20 continue to be supported in this version.

New System Support

Included with the DAPtools 6.30 software, in all editions, are copies of the Accel32 and Accel64 Services for Linux, enabling DAP access from all major distributions based on Linux kernels in the 3.XX and 4.XX series.

New Service Monitor Features

The DAPcell Server that coordinates drivers and applications now provides integrated diagnostic features for noninvasive "viewing" of communications between a host application and DAP boards. Were configuration commands actually delivered as intended? Were error diagnostics generated that the application missed? The monitors can reveal a lot about what is going on behind the scenes.

New Internal Features

New processing features in the DAPL 3000 embedded operating system enrich expression evaluation tasks, with new numerical data types, operators, and precedence rules patterned after the C and C++ languages. "Postfix" notations and flexible casting operators provide explicit control of intermediate representations, so results can be delivered in any desired numerical data type. A new "conditional expression" allows alternative calculations to be applied depending on a "guard" expression.

New Application API

The DAPIO programming interface is the basis for all interaction with DAP boards, but syntactic requirements are different in each programming environment. The DAPtools 6.30 version provides two new "API" options for accessing DAPIO functions. The Standard and Professional editions provide the DAPtools for MATLAB version 5.11 API, supporting either a 32-bit or 64-bit version of the MATLAB numerical software. All DAPtools editions provide the new DAPtools for Python API, enabling rigorous but low-cost data acquisition applications using ordinary desktop versions of the Python programming language.

New Signal Processing Features

Advanced signal processing commands in the DAPL 3000 system provide some new features, allowing a more general mix of data types for input and output data streams. Alternative configuration schemes allow generation of test signal sequences at frequencies not tied to fixed samples-per-cycle ratios. User-configured or preconfigured digital filtering commands can now process multiple signal channels in parallel within a single task.

New Advanced Processing Modules

Some new advanced processing modules are provided in the DAPtools Standard and DAPtools Professional editions for DAPL 3000, including the following.

  • The Time Base Synchronization and Wave Synchronization modules enable synchronization of data streams to digital or sine waveforms without specialized sample clocking connections.
  • The Sensor Conditioning Module supports high-accuracy linearization and calibration of sensor devices in various configurations, such as voltage divider or full bridge.

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Editorial Overview: (70 words)

Microstar Laboratories announces DAPtools version 6.30 for its line of Data Acquisition Processor products. Though primarily intended for improved compatibility with Windows 10, the new DAPtools Software also provides some significant new features. Among these are: noninvasive monitoring of host-to-DAP board communications, more control over numerical representations in embedded calculations, multi-channel digital filtering capabilities, new advanced processing modules for data-driven synchronization, and updated support for MATLAB and Python software environments.

Note to the Editor:

Microstar Laboratories suggests this text as a caption for the available image:

DAPtools 6.30 software improves Data Acquisition Processor integration on a Windows 10 system.

Snake, penguin images: Julien Tromeur/Shutterstock.com

Microstar Laboratories, Inc. claims Microstar Laboratories, Data Acquisition Processor, DAP, xDAP, DAPL, DAPIO, DAPtools, DAPcell, and DAPstudio as trademarks. Microsoft Corporation has registered Microsoft and Windows as trademarks. National Instruments claims LabVIEW as a trademark. The MathWorks, Inc. has registered MATLAB as a trademark. "Python" and the Python logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Python Software Foundation. Other organizations may claim – or may have registered as trademarks – other trade names, logos, and service marks that appear in this document but not in the list above.

Microstar Laboratories makes it a practice to use an appropriate symbol at the first occurrence of a trademark or registered trademark name in a document, or to include trademark statements like this with the document.