Sensors, Control & Data
Data loggers, DAQ systems, industrial IoT devices and remote monitoring hardware and software.
Data acquisition turns a set of sensors into a record. The hardware decides how many channels are captured, at what interval and with what resolution, while the software decides whether that record is still useful six months later when somebody actually needs to read it. Both halves belong in the specification, and treating the second as an afterthought is how sites end up with a large archive nobody consults.
Industrial loggers are distinguished from laboratory acquisition mainly by environment and autonomy. They run unattended, in a cabinet or outdoors, for weeks or months, and they have to keep their data when the power or the network fails. That single requirement reshapes the specification: memory depth, clock accuracy, battery behaviour and the way data is retrieved all matter more than the headline sample rate.
The recurring selection error is to choose the sample rate first. A phenomenon that changes slowly needs no more than an interval short enough to capture it, and buying a fast system for a slow process usually means paying for resolution, storage and complexity that the application never uses - while giving up the ruggedness and the autonomy the site actually needed.
| Product type | What it does | Usually specified for |
|---|---|---|
| Data logger | Accepts one or more sensor inputs and stores readings against a real-time clock | Unattended recording over weeks or months, where the record has to survive without a network in place |
| Multi-channel data acquisition system | Samples many channels through shared conversion circuitry and passes them to a host | Laboratory and test-bench work where several signals have to be captured together and related to each other |
| Paperless recorder | Displays and stores trends locally, often with alarm outputs and a screen for an operator | Plant cabinets where someone should be able to see what is happening without opening a computer |
| Temperature and humidity logger | Records climate conditions with an internal or remote sensor | Storage, transport, cold chain and room monitoring, where a defensible record over time is the deliverable |
| Wireless data logger | Transmits readings over a radio link to a gateway or receiver | Retrofit work where cabling is impractical, and sites spread across an area rather than inside one cabinet |
| IoT sensor and gateway | Converts a physical measurement into a transmitted data point, with a gateway aggregating the devices | Distributed monitoring where the data has to reach a system rather than a person, subject to power and radio range |
| Remote monitoring system | Collects from several sites and presents them together, frequently with alarm notification | Assets that are unattended, where the value lies in knowing about a condition without visiting |
| Monitoring software | Stores, plots, compares and reports the collected records | Turning a growing set of readings into something a decision can be based on, rather than an archive |
Monitoring systems, industrial IoT devices and the accessories that complete an installation are listed under this category as well.
There is rarely a single correct instrument for a duty, but there is always a shortlist that can be justified and a set of answers that eliminates the rest. These are the questions that decide it.
| Approach | Best suited to | Limits | Record produced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone logger with internal memory | Unattended sites where no network exists and the record is collected on a visit | Record length is set by interval against memory, and clock accuracy matters across a long deployment | A local record, retrieved later |
| Multi-channel system with shared conversion | Test benches and laboratories with many channels to be related to each other | Per-channel sample rate falls as channels increase, and wiring and grounding affect the result more than the electronics | A synchronised multi-channel record |
| Paperless recorder with local display | Plant cabinets where an operator should see the trend at a glance | Screen size and storage are sized for a cabinet installation rather than for analysis | A displayed and stored trend |
| Wireless and IoT sensing | Retrofit work, and dispersed points where cabling is not viable | Battery life, radio range and data cost set the limits, and the radio path has to be surveyed rather than assumed | A transmitted record |
| Remote monitoring platform | Several unattended assets that have to be watched from one place | The communication route becomes a single point of failure, and alarm behaviour has to be designed rather than defaulted | A centralised view with notification |
| Monitoring software | Making a long record readable and comparable over time | Needs a defined data model and an owner, or the records accumulate unread and the investment is wasted | Reporting and analysis |
What is left after the technology is chosen is a list of values that only the installation can supply. These are the ones that change the model, the price or the lead time:
Specifications vary by model and application, so no performance figure is stated on this page. Where a parameter has not been documented for a particular model, the product page says so rather than filling the gap with a plausible number. Send the values above and we will return the ones the selected model actually holds.
Frequently asked
The questions that come up before an order rather than after it. If yours is not here, send it with the requirement and we will answer it in the quotation.
From how fast the fastest thing you are recording actually changes, with enough margin to capture it, rather than from what the instrument can do. A shorter interval than the phenomenon requires costs memory, power and analysis time without improving the answer. State the phenomenon and the resolution you need to see in the record, and the interval follows.
That depends on the unit, and it is one of the few questions worth asking before the choice rather than after. Some loggers hold their record in non-volatile memory and resume when power returns, while others lose the interval or restart their sequence. For an unattended installation, the behaviour during and after an outage belongs in the specification together with the battery or backup arrangement.
They need their radio path understood, because range quoted in open air rarely survives an industrial building. Metal structures, cabinets, machinery and competing networks all reduce it, and a gateway placed at the far end of a plant may not reach the points that matter. Confirming the route before the system is specified avoids a purchase that works on the bench and not on site.
More than most applications need, but the useful figure is the per-channel rate, because a multiplexed system shares conversion circuitry and the rate falls as channels are added. If a few channels have to be recorded quickly and many more slowly, the requirement may call for two systems rather than one large one. Give the channel count with the rate each channel needs.
How the record will be read, and by whom. Plotting, comparing two periods, exporting to a format someone else can use and aligning time bases are the functions that decide whether the record is consulted. A system bought without a defined reader, report or owner tends to become an archive that nobody opens, which is an expensive way to collect data.
In most installations it does, and it brings the additional benefit that the record can be searched and compared rather than only read where the pen drew. Where a paperless recorder is preferred it is usually because an operator should see the trend in the cabinet, and that is a legitimate requirement rather than a technical one. The two overlap, so the deciding question is whether anyone has to look at the trend locally.
Available now
ESPC3-20 / N4 · Wireless Data Loggers
Two-port wireless serial data logger that records equipment traffic to a TF card and serves live and historical logs over Wi-Fi, with UDP and MQTT reporting.
MIK-R200T / MIK-R5000C / MIK-R6000C / MIK-RN3000 · Industrial Data Loggers
Panel-mount paperless recorders in four model ranges, from 6 to 48 input channels, accepting current, voltage, resistance thermometer and thermocouple signals directly and storing the record in internal flash memory.
Send the specification and we will confirm the matching instrument, availability and lead time. Minimum order quantity is 1 pc.
Request for quotation
Send the technical detail and we will confirm availability, lead time and terms. In-stock items ship within 48 hours; customized specifications typically take 2-10 days. Minimum order quantity is 1 pc.