DAQ1200 User Guide

Part 1: Setup

Welcome to the DAQ1200 user guide! In order to get started, make sure you have the following hardware on hand:

• DAQ1200 - 4x Digital Input Phidget
• VINT Hub
• Phidget cable
• USB cable and computer
• something to use with the DAQ1200 (e.g. switch or digital sensor with a digital output)

Next, you will need to connect the pieces:

1. Connect the DAQ1200 to the VINT Hub using the Phidget cable.
2. Connect the VINT Hub to your computer with a USB cable.
3. Connect a switch or digital sensor to one of the DAQ1200's inputs.

Now that you have everything together, let's start using the DAQ1200!.

Phidget Control Panel

In order to demonstrate the functionality of the DAQ1200, the Phidget Control Panel running on a Windows machine will be used.

The Phidget Control Panel is available for use on both macOS and Windows machines.

Windows

To open the Phidget Control Panel on Windows, find the icon in the taskbar. If it is not there, open up the start menu and search for Phidget Control Panel

macOS

To open the Phidget Control Panel on macOS, open Finder and navigate to the Phidget Control Panel in the Applications list. Double click on the icon to bring up the Phidget Control Panel.

For more information, take a look at the getting started guide for your operating system:

• Getting started with Windows
• Getting started with macOS

Linux users can follow the getting started with Linux guide and continue reading here for more information about the DAQ1200.

First Look

After plugging the DAQ1200 into your computer and opening the Phidget Control Panel, you will see something like this:

The Phidget Control Panel will list all connected Phidgets and associated objects, as well as the following information:

• Serial number: allows you to differentiate between similar Phidgets.
• Channel: allows you to differentiate between similar objects on a Phidget.
• Version number: corresponds to the firmware version your Phidget is running. If your Phidget is listed in red, your firmware is out of date. Update the firmware by double-clicking the entry.

The Phidget Control Panel can also be used to test your device. Double-clicking on an object will open an example.

Part 2: Using Your Phidget

About

Read four digital output devices with the DAQ1200. This Phidget is best suited for reading switches, or 5V logic level devices.

The DAQ1200 is an active-low device. You interact with the DAQ1200 through the Digital Input Channel Class. The Digital Input state equals true when grounded and false when connected to a high voltage.

Explore Your Phidget Channels Using The Control Panel

You can use your Control Panel to explore your Phidget's channels.

1. Open your Control Panel, and you will find the following channels:

2. Double click on a channel to open an example program. Each channel belongs to the Digital Input channel class:

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Digital Input: Read the state of a 5V digital signal

In your Control Panel, double click on "Digital Input":

For more information about Digital Inputs, take a look at the Digital Input Primer.

Part 3: Create your Program

• Code Sample Generator
• Setting up your Programming Environment
• Phidget Programming Basics

Part 4: Advanced Topics and Troubleshooting

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How do I know what channel, serial number, or hub port to use in my program?

Before you open a Phidget channel in your program, you can set these properties to specify which channel to open. You can find this information through the Control Panel.

1. Open the Control Panel and double-click on the red map pin icon:

2. The Addressing Information window will open. Here you will find all the information you need to address your Phidget in your program.

See the Phidget22 API for your language to determine exact syntax for each property.

How can I plot or record sensor data?

Note: Graphing and logging is currently only supported in the Windows version of the Phidget Control Panel.

In the Phidget Control Panel, open the channel for your device and click on the icon next to the data type that you want to plot. This will open up a new window:

If you need more complex functionality such as logging multiple sensors to the same sheet or performing calculations on the data, you'll need to write your own program. Generally this will involve addressing the correct channel, opening it, and then creating an Event Handler and adding graphing/logging code to it.

The quickest way to get started is to download some sample code for your desired programming language and then search google for logging or plotting in that language (e.g. "how to log to csv in python") and add the code to the existing change handler.

Filtering

You can perform filtering on the raw data in order to reduce noise in your graph. For more information, see the Control Panel Graphing page.

Graph Type

You can perform a transform on the incoming data to get different graph types that may provide insights into your sensor data. For more information on how to use these graph types, see the Control Panel Graphing page.

Using the DAQ1200 with a Switch

To interface a switch with the DAQ1200, simply connect the switch across the input and ground terminals for a channel.

Using the DAQ1200 with 5V Logic Level Devices

The DAQ1200 can also detect signals from 5V logic level devices. Be aware that the input is active-low, which means that LOW voltages will be detected as TRUE, and HIGH voltages as FALSE.

Isolation with Optocouplers

In some applications, particularly where there is a lot of electrical noise (automotive), or where you want maximum protection of the circuitry (interactive installations, kiosks), electrical isolation buys you a huge margin of protection.

If wired according to the diagram, driving the LED will cause the DAQ1200 to report TRUE.

Note that in cases where many isolated inputs are required, or for simplicity's sake, you may want to consider using the DAQ1300 or DAQ1301, which are (more sophisticated) ready-made isolated digital input Phidgets.