REPORT 4: Data acquisition using MATLAB

1st Milton Arroyave, 2nd Marily Hincapie, 3rd William Martinez, 4th Daniver Leon
Grupo n°1
(milton.arroyave, marily.hincapie, willian.martinez, d.leon)@.utp.edu.co
Electrical Engineering Program- Measurement and instrumentation lab
Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira
March 14 of 2023

Abstract—In this practice a DAQ was used to acquire signals
generated in Matlab in the first part, then in the second part
audio signals were acquired corresponding to the recording of
the musical note LA, at different frequencies, this was possible
thanks to the Matlab script which allows to visualize the graphs
corresponding to the acquired signal in the time and frequency
domain, this allowed to identify the fundamental frequency of
each recording and its harmonics. Finally, a recording was taken
in order to reconstruct it identifying the harmonics with greater
magnitude and at what frequency they occur, this in order to
reconstruct the signal and that the captured spectrum and the
reconstructed spectrum are as similar as possible.
Index Terms—Generate, acquire, signals, Matlab, acquisition
board, programming, harmonic analysis, musical notes, charac-
terization, information, instrumentation, measurement, parame-
ters.
I. R ESUMEN
En esta práctica se utilizó una DAQ para adquirir señales
generadas en Matlab en la primer parte, posteriormente en la
segunda parte se adquirieron señales de audio correspondientes
a la grabación de la nota musical LA, a diferentes frecuencias
esto fue posible gracias al script de Matlab el cual permite
visualizar las gráficas correspondientes a la señal adquirida
en el dominio del tiempo y la frecuencia, esto permitio
identificar la frecuencia fundamental de cada grabación y
sus armónicos. Finalmente se tomo una grabacion cualquiera
con el fin de reconstruirla identificando los armonicos con
mayor magnitud y en que frecuencia se dan, esto con
el fin de reconstruir la señal y que el espectro capturado
y el espectro reconstruido sean tan parecidos como sea posible.
II. I NTRODUCTION
The data acquisition card is a hardware device that acts
as an interface between a computer device that acts as an
interface between a computer and the physical physical signals
from sensors on the plant floor. It transforms the analog
analog codes provided by the instruments into digital signals
that can be digital signals interpretable by a computer through
an analog-to-digital converter.In addition to this component,
they are usually provided with a signal conditioning circuit
to eliminate noise and a bus connector to the computer. All
these features are redundant in any other type of DAQ device.
The conditioning circuit is necessary to eliminate the
instability characteristic of this type of signal and to be able
to be read by the converter. For this purpose, this circuit has
the ability to amplify or reduce the magnitude of the signal
based on the correct value, filtering it magnitude of the signal
based on the correct value, filtering it by eliminating improper
signal peaks and keeping them stable, and isolating external
disturbances that affect the collection of the signals.[1]
These cards are commonly used in industrial control and
monitoring applications, laboratory instrumentation, prototype
testing and process control systems. Data acquisition boards
take a signal from a sensor (analog system), and that signal
is transformed into data that can be recorded and recognized
by a digital system so that a user can read it and perform
tasks. They consist of three elements: The signal conditioning
circuit, followed by the analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
and finally the informational bus.[2]
Data acquisition is the process of measuring an electrical
or physical phenomenon such as voltage, current, temperature,
pressure or sound. A DAQ system consists of sensors, DAQ
measurement hardware and a PC to store and process the
data. Compared to traditional measurement systems, PC-based
DAQ systems leverage the processing power, productivity,
visualization and connectivity abilities of industry standard
PCs providing a more powerful, flexible and affordable mea-
surement solution.
III. C ONTENT
A. Report of practice
1) Part 1: Generating a signal and capturing it with the
same DAQ:
1) The terminals were connected AO-0 with AI-0+ and
AGND with AI-0- as shown in figure 1.
2) A sinusoidal signal was generated with routine MyPrat-
ice21.m as follows:
x(t) = 3 · Sin(2π60t + θ) (1)
From which figure 3 was acquired.
3) Making the necessary changes to the routine MyPrat-
ice21.m to simultaneously generate the signal in the
following way:
◦ ◦ ◦
x(t) = 5Sin(2π60t + 10 ) + 2Sin(2π180t + 60 ) + 1Sin(2π300t − 30 ) (2)
 Fig. 1. Connection NI-myDAQ
Fig. 2. Signal generated 1
Fig. 3. Signal acquired 1
The signal in Figure 5 was acquired.
2) Part two: Audio signal analysis:
1) The 1x1 cable plug connection was made as indicated
Fig. 4. Signal generated 2
Fig. 5. Signal acquired 2
and as can be seen in figure 6.
2) The files in the Instrument 2 folder were listed as shown
in Figure 7.
3) The LA 5 octave of 880Hz was chosen and the corre-
sponding frequency domain plot of instrument 1 and 2
was obtained in Figures 8 and 9 respectively.
4) It can be observed that the fundamental frequency of
the two signals are very close, being the frequency of
instrument 1 closer to 900kHz and that of instrument 2
closer to 880Hz. With respect to the magnitudes they
are also very similar being the magnitude of instrument
2 a little larger than that of instrument 1.
5) The difference between the same musical note generated
with different instruments is almost imperceptible.
The reason why the difference between the same musical
note generated with different musical instruments is

Fig. 6. Connection plug
Fig. 7. Folder instrument 2 - Organization
almost imperceptible is due to the physical properties
of sound. When a musical note is produced, sound
waves are generated that contain information about the
frequency, amplitude and sound quality of the note.
The frequency determines the pitch of the musical note,
and is the property that remains constant for a specific
musical note, for example, the note LA4 has a frequency
of 440 Hz in standard pitch. Musical instruments come
in different shapes and sizes, which affects the acoustic
properties of the sound waves they produce. This means
that different instruments can produce sounds with dif-
ferent combinations of harmonics, which are multiples
of the fundamental frequency. These overtones influence
the timbre of the sound, which is the property that
Fig. 8. Instrument 1 - LA 5 (880Hz)
Fig. 9. Instrument 2 - LA 5 (880Hz)
distinguishes the sound of different instruments.
Since the fundamental frequency is the same for a
specific musical note, different instruments playing the
same note will have different overtones, which affects
the timbre of the sound. However, the difference between
overtones can be very subtle and difficult for the human
ear to detect, especially if the note is short or played in
a middle register. In addition, the human brain can be
fooled by sight, which means that if you see a musician
playing a particular instrument, your brain may interpret
the sound differently than if you hear the same sound
without seeing the musician producing it.
That is, the difference between the same musical note
generated with different instruments can be subtle due
to the physical properties of the sound and the interpre-
tation of the human brain.
6) To reconstruct the chosen signal, the harmonics were
characterized in terms of frequency and magnitude.
 Fig. 10. Captured signal sound spectrum LA
The captured and reconstructed spectrum will now be
compared.
B. Answer to the questions proposed
1) What are the important considerations for data
Fig. 11. Spectrum of the captured signal
7) When reconstructing a sound with the Fourier transform,
a mathematical technique is used to decompose the
sound into its spectral components, in the frequencies
that compose it. These spectral components are known
as harmonics and each has an associated amplitude and
phase.
The reason why the reconstruction of the sound with
the Fourier transform resembles the original sound is
because most of the sounds we hear in everyday life
are composed of a set of frequencies that are integer
multiples of a fundamental frequency. For example, in a
sound produced by a guitar, the fundamental frequency
corresponds to the lowest string being played, and
the harmonics correspond to integer multiples of this
Fig. 12. Spectrum of the reconstructed signal
fundamental frequency.
The Fourier transform allows decomposing this complex
signal into its corresponding spectral components, and
reconstructing the signal from these components allows
recovering the complete spectral information of the
original signal. Although the individual harmonics may
have different amplitudes and phases compared to the
original signal, the sum of all harmonics produces a
signal that is very similar to the original sound, because
most sounds in everyday life are composed of multiple
harmonics related in a simple way.
acquisition, such as sampling rate, noise and signal
quality?
R//=
• Sampling Frequency
The sampling rate is the number of times the signal
is sampled per unit time. It is important to ensure
that the sampling rate is high enough to adequately
capture the signal characteristics. Too low a sam-
pling rate can cause aliasing, which is an effect
where frequencies above half the sampling rate are
confused with lower frequencies, which can distort
the signal.
• Noise
Noise is any interference or unwanted signal that
is added to the measured signal. It is important
to minimize noise as much as possible, as it can
affect the quality and reliability of the acquired data.
Measures can be taken to reduce noise, such as
using filters and minimizing sources of interference.
 • Signal Quality
Signal quality refers to the fidelity with which the
acquired signal represents the actual signal. It is
important to ensure that the signal quality is high
enough for the data to be accurate and reliable. Mea-
sures can be taken to improve signal quality, such as
the use of amplifiers and interference suppression.
• Dynamic Range
Dynamic range refers to the difference between
the lowest and highest level that can be accurately
measured. It is important to ensure that the dynamic
range is wide enough to adequately capture all
variations in the signal.
• Sensitivity
Sensitivity refers to the ability of a measurement
system to detect small variations in the signal. It
is important to ensure that the sensitivity is high
3) What are the challenges or limitations of data acquisition
enough to detect any significant changes in the
with Matlab, and how can they be addressed?
signal.
R//=
2) How can the data acquisition process be automated in
Matlab? What tools are used to program real-time data
acquisition?
R//=
In Matlab, you can automate the data acquisition process
using the Data Acquisition (DAQ) toolbox. This toolbox
provides a set of functions and tools for real-time data
acquisition. The following are some general steps to
automate the data acquisition process in MATLAB using
DAQ:
a) Configure input/output devices: Before acquiring
data, the required input and output devices must
be configured. This is done using DAQ functions
and tools that allow configuring the input/output
channels, sampling frequencies, signal type, among
others.
b) Define the acquisition parameters: Once the in-
put/output devices have been configured, the ac-
quisition parameters must be defined, such as ac-
quisition duration, sampling frequency, number of
samples, etc.
c) Acquire data: The DAQ data acquisition function
is used to start data acquisition in real time. This
function returns the acquired data in an object that
can be analyzed later.
d) Analyze the data: Once the data has been
acquired, it can be analyzed using MATLAB
signal processing tools. For example, you can
apply filters, Fourier transforms, statistical
analysis, among others.
• To program real-time data acquisition, Matlab DAQ
functions and tools are used. Some of these tools
are:
a) Data Acquisition Toolbox: This is the main Matlab
toolbox for data acquisition. It provides a wide
variety of functions and tools for data acquisition,
from device configuration to signal analysis.
b) Simulink: Matlab also offers the possibility to
program real-time data acquisition by creating
Simulink models. Simulink provides predefined
blocks that can be used to build models of real-
time data acquisition systems.
c) Instrument Control Toolbox: This Matlab toolbox
provides tools for measurement instrument control
and test automation. It can be used in conjunction
with the Data Acquisition Toolbox to program
real-time data acquisition.
• Limited sampling frequency: The sampling rate
is the number of samples per second taken from
a signal. Insufficient sampling rate can result in a
loss of information and inaccurate representation of
the signal. To address this problem, the sampling
rate can be increased, however, this may require
increased processing and storage capacity.
• Noise: Noise can be a problem in data acquisition,
especially in noisy environments or on weak signals.
One way to address this is by using signal filtering
techniques, such as low-pass filters or adaptive
filters, which can help reduce noise and improve
signal quality.
• Hardware limitations : Data acquisition can be
limited by available hardware, such as input and out-
put capabilities of devices, accuracy of analog-to-
digital converters, among other factors. To address
this problem, high quality input and output devices
with larger capacities can be used, and calibration
techniques can also be used to improve accuracy.
• Processing and storage time : Data acquisition
can generate large amounts of data, which can
require significant processing and storage capacity.
Data compression techniques, such as lossless signal
compression, can be used to address this problem,
and the algorithms used can also be optimized to
reduce processing time.
• Multi-channel synchronization: In applications
that require the acquisition of multiple data chan-
nels, it can be important to ensure synchronization
between them. To address this problem, hardware-
or software-based synchronization techniques, such
as the use of high-precision clocks and event-based
synchronization, can be used.
 IV. P ROBLEMS AND DISADVANTAGES [7] C. M. W EI AND Y. H. W U , ”D ESIGN OF DATA ACQUISITION S YSTEM
U SING MATLAB AND MY DAQ,” 2017 IEEE I NTERNATIONAL
There were no inconveniences in the performance of the C ONFERENCE ON I NFORMATION , C OMMUNICATION AND
E NGINEERING (ICICE), X IAMEN , 2017, PP. 43-47, DOI :
laboratory practice. 10.1109/ICICE.2017.8279744.

V. C ONCLUSIONS [8] M. J. ATKINSON , T. A. H ABETLER AND R. G. H ARLEY, ”A

HIGH - SPEED , HIGH - RESOLUTION DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR
MOTOR DRIVE TESTING USING NI- MY DAQ AND MATLAB,”
• Data acquisition is a critical task in many engineering
2014 IEEE E NERGY C ONVERSION C ONGRESS AND E XPOSITION
and science applications, and may require a combination (ECCE), P ITTSBURGH , PA, 2014, PP. 3672-3678, DOI :
of specific hardware and software to obtain accurate and 10.1109/ECCE.2014.6953931.
reliable results.
[9] A. A MMAR , N. B. S AHNOUN , H. C HAOUCHI AND M. A BID , ”R EAL -
• The NI-myDAQ tool provides a complete, easy-to-use TIME IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR FOR
platform for data acquisition, including a variety of A SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR USING MATLAB AND NI- MY DAQ,”
analog and digital inputs and outputs, as well as data 2016 3 RD I NTERNATIONAL C ONFERENCE ON C ONTROL , D ECISION
AND I NFORMATION T ECHNOLOGIES (C O DIT), S AINT J ULIAN ’ S ,
acquisition and analysis software. 2016, PP. 1132-1137, DOI : 10.1109/C O DIT.2016.7593587.
• Matlab is a very powerful and widely used programming
tool for data acquisition, with a wide variety of functions [10] J. D. M URRAY, ”DATA ACQUISITION WITH MATLAB: FROM
SOUND WAVES TO SEISMOGRAPHS ,” C OMPUTING IN S CIENCE
and tools for signal analysis. E NGINEERING , VOL . 11, NO . 3, PP. 38-49, M AY-J UNE 2009, DOI :
• The combination of NI-myDAQ and Matlab provides an 10.1109/MCSE.2009.52.
effective and efficient solution for real-time data acqui-
[11] P R ÀCTICA 4:A DQUISICI ÓN DE DATOS USANDO MATLAB Y INETH
sition, with the ability to process large amounts of data M ARTINEZ A RMERO , E DUARDO G IRALDO, Universidad Tecnològica
and provide high measurement accuracy. de Pereira
• Data acquisition can present several challenges and lim-
itations, such as limited sampling frequency, noise and
signal quality, but these can be addressed using specific
techniques and tools.
• In general, data acquisition using Matlab and NI-myDAQ
can be a valuable tool for a wide range of applications,
including process monitoring and control, biological and
biomedical signal measurement, and general science and
engineering research.

VI. B IBLIOGRAPHY
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