Miniaturized, Synchronized, Data Acquisition System

The objectives of the Phase I program were successfully met with the development of a wireless breadboard communication system demonstrating that data acquisition recorders could be precisely and synchronously triggered with an RF connection. A selfcontained miniature, distributed data acquisition system with its own wireless local area network (LAN), based on the IEEE 802.11b specification, will be developed for airblast and explosion property measurements. This development will improve reliability(no wires to break) and significantly reduce setup and data acquisition times as well as cost. As many as 30 recorders can be configured on a LAN with data transfer speeds of 11 Mbps and communication distances of more than 1 kilometer. Frequency HoppingSpread Spectrum (FHSS) with a 2.4 GHz center carrier frequency was used to achieve security and interference rejection. Up to 8 megabytes of nonvolatile storage will be available in each recorder with a conversion speed of 1 megahertz and a resolution of12 bits. An assortment of programmable front ends will be available on each recorder to service all of the sensors required for this program. A low cost, wireless prototype module will be designed and constructed in a volume of less than 4 cubicinches.Both the Military and commercial industry will benefit from this product by being able to measure events in harsh environments. Synchronized measurements of events will allow distributed measurements over a wide area . The aerospace, utilities,telecommunications, petrochemical, NRC, EPA, and NASA organizations will benefit from this technology as well as automobile and aircraft impact characteristics, vehicle safety improvements, and cargo impact monitoring.