Extended Support Program
ARC (Auto Range, Calibrate & Zero)
Monitoring with Snap-Master™
Custom User Interface (CUI)™
InstrumentPlayer
Comparison of InstrumentPlayer™ and AutoPilot™
AutoPilot™
Network Extension
Run-Time Versions
Programmer’s Toolkit
Extended Support Program
- Includes one-year of technical support via telephone, fax, and e-mail
- Eligible for major version updates.
- Discounts on training classes.
Users eligible for the Extended Support Program must be registered. When you purchase Extended Support, the current version of the software is automatically included. Please provide your serial number(s) for the products you wish to upgrade.
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ARC™ (Auto Range, Calibrate & Zero)
ARC™ (Auto Range & Calibrate) is an accessory software product to Snap-Master. ARC’s features include:
- Auto Zero to remove unwanted amplitude offsets.
- Auto Range the voltage input on a per channel basis to optimize amplitude resolution.
- Auto Calibrate sensors by measuring both the Offset and Scale Factor (inverse of sensitivity) to increase amplitude accuracy and make it faster and more convenient to calibrate sensors.
ARC works with any linear sensor. The sensor calibration can be based on two points or curve fitting is used for up to 50 measured points to calculate the Scale Factor. The Scale Factor and Offset are stored in Snap-Master’s Sensor Database for conversion to engineering units, convenience, and an historical record. Auto Zero will zero all channels that you designate simultaneously!
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Monitoring with Snap-Master™
In various processes, it is often useful for selected signal values to be continuously monitored and warnings to be given if abnormal behavior occurs. To meet this need HEM Data Corp. has developed software called Monitoring with Snap-Master™ software. It is designed to run unattended to monitor a machine or the parts produced by the machine. It is ideal for monitoring the performance of a part or subsystem for pass/fail analysis. It will monitor the environment to determine if conditions such as floor vibration or a magnetic field level drifts outside of the acceptable limits. The Monitoring with Snap-Master software is also designed for durability testing so that once a part degrades or breaks, the events leading up to this can be captured to help determine the product’s expected life or the root cause of a failure. Up to 8 million data points can be captured and stored prior to a failure or other major event.
The software product called Monitoring with Snap-Master™ consists of Snap-Master™ and two utility programs: InstrumentPlayer™ and MonitoringLimits™. Monitoring with Snap-Master also includes example Snap-Master instruments for monitoring and example set-up files for InstrumentPlayer and MonitoringLimits.
Incorporating the monitoring and alarm functions into Snap-Master allow the full power of the Snap-Master time and frequency domain analysis capabilities to be conveniently utilized. Thus, raw signals can be used as is or can be processed in the Snap-Master analysis modules to derive more meaningful signals (e.g., RMS) for comparison to specified alarm criteria. An unlimited number of channels can be monitored.
The Monitoring utilities allow for selective recording of data to disk. If any of these channels are in an alarm condition, then data can be written to disk. The benefit is that only data taken under alarm conditions will be recorded to disk, thereby ignoring long periods of normal behavior. (Selected periods of alarm pre-conditions can also be recorded.)
Depending on the capabilities of your computer hardware and software, other alarm responses may be included:
- Send out an analog or digital signal to perform an action such as shutting down a machine, sounding an alarm, flashing a light, or closing a valve, etc.
- Within the Snap-Master display, a set of indicators can be made to change colors to indicate an alarm or warning condition. Digital meters can change colors, or dial meters can have colored ranges to show alarm and warning conditions. Any combination of meters and indicators may be used to provide the desired display.
- Send out a DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) command from Snap-Master to another software application. This software application could possibly perform various functions and is a separate executable from Snap-Master. (This software application could be one of various packages on the market, be custom written by the user, or developed by HEM Data Corp. If such an application is needed, contact HEM Data for more information.) Possible actions include sending a message to a pager or sending an email message that corresponds to the problem found. This other application could also perform advanced diagnostics, store data in a database, or write a detailed error message to the screen or a file.
The following figure illustrates representative time domain and frequency domain channel displays with limits assigned.
In the top waveform, the limits for the Time Domain display are straightforward since the user only needs to define one value for the upper limit and one for the lower limit. Therefore, the time domain dialog can be relatively simple. Red horizontal lines (printed white dotted lines on a B&W printout) show the lower and upper limits.
The Frequency Domain display (middle plot) shows that there can be various amplitude limits, depending on the frequency band. Therefore, the frequency domain dialog must allow the user to define each frequency domain template as a set of amplitudes with values assigned to each frequency band. The frequency bands must be defined by a series of breakpoints. An example frequency domain template is shown in red (printed white dotted line on a B&W printout) on the middle plot.
The indicators in the bottom third of the figure have been designed to turn red if any alarm condition occurs. You can also define warning conditions and have the indicators turn yellow if one of the warning conditions is met.
The above display shows only one time domain channel and one frequency channel. All monitored channels could be shown on one display page, but this could lead to overcrowded data. Since eight display pages are available, the three types of display for the channels can be distributed over the eight available display pages by using the Layout table in the Display Window.
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Custom User Interface (CUI)™
The purpose of the Custom User Interface (CUI) software is to customize the input and output of your test. CUI is an add-on product to HEM Data’s Snap-Master data acquisition and analysis software.
The input includes a custom graphical user interface (GUI). The output is an integrated report of the user-defined test parameters and a summary of the test data.
The benefits and features are:
- Standardizes and documents test procedures to increase data quality.
- Makes it quicker and easier to define a test, thereby minimizing the chances for errors and increasing productivity.
- Has a new custom GUI so users will have a standard interface that only requires them to answer the questions that are critical to their test. The questions are defined in terms familiar to the user, and the answers are multiple choices (if possible) to make it easy for the user to quickly and accurately answer the questions.
- Has logic based on model number of the device being tested to then select:
- The correct Snap-Master instrument.
- The correct data limits to pass/fail the device under test (if desired). - Produces an integrated report that includes the user-defined test parameters and the test data on one page.
- Offers the option of password protection to keep tests standardized and empowers the test designer to change settings in Snap-Master but does not allow the average user to do this.
- Automatically adds the correct data limits to the plot so that it is apparent when looking at the plot whether the new test data exceeds any of the limits.
GUI Front Panel
The custom Setup dialog is a major part of the GUI interface and a sample dialog is shown in the figure below. Wherever there are drop down lists, the test designer will initially supply them, and can then easily modify these lists without going into the code of CUI.
CUI automatically configures Snap-Master with the appropriate Snap-Master instrument based on the model number of the device to be tested. All of the test settings are part of the instrument including the display format, fonts, text, pages, etc. (also includes the Snap-Master DIS file in), and the acquisition parameters. This also includes reading the correct data file that contains data limits.
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InstrumentPlayer™
InstrumentPlayer (IP) plays (loads and starts) a series of instruments. It is designed to run an automated test sequence or post processing sequence, or combination of the two. Virtually an unlimited number of instruments can be run in a sequence, and then repeated. A delay can be inserted before running the next instrument. InstrumentPlayer is included when you purchase Monitoring with Snap-Master or it can be purchased with AutoPilot.
Examples of when to use InstrumentPlayer to automate a process are:
- Acquiring data differently. Several different acquisition or monitoring instruments can be played in sequence. This could have different channel assignments, sample rates, etc
- Conditionally saving data. Snap-Master always creates a data file if a Disk Out is used, so if the user does not want to save the data, there still remains the header in the file. InstrumentPlayer (
- Switching between acquire and replay instruments. The user may wish to replay the data he just acquired for further visual review or analysis. Often the visual review or analysis cannot be done in real-time. At times, the analysis may be so complex that it requires more than one instrument. Other times the event occurs so quickly that there is no time for analysis or even the display, so multiple instruments are required.
- Running a test sequence. The user can send out DDE, analog or digital values for open-loop control of a test sequence. Various instruments can send out commands and other instruments can acquire data that is coordinated with the test sequence. IP will then play these instruments automatically.
InstrumentPlayer allows the user to do the following:
- Create a new list of instruments to run automatically
- Open an existing list of instruments to run automatically
- Save setting for InstrumentPlayer
- Add instruments to the list
- Edit the settings for the instruments in the current list
- Remove instruments from the list
- Rearrange the list with the Move Up and Move Down buttons
- Run series of instruments only once
- Run series of instruments continuously until manually stopped in IP
- Let the instrument finish on its own, or to stop it after a specified time.
- Add a delay after the instrument is stopped and before starting the next instrument
- Automatically delete unwanted data while monitoring.
Comparison of InstrumentPlayer™ and AutoPilot™
Both InstrumentPlayer and AutoPilot are utilities that coordinate Snap-Master instruments. Both use DDE to manage Snap-Master. InstrumentPlayer’ s focus is on multiple instruments, while Autopilot’s focus is on processing multiple data files. If only one data file is used and printouts are not needed, often InstrumentPlayer will be a better solution. If multiple data files need to be processed or automated printouts are important, AutoPilot is generally the better choice. For certain cases, both may solve your application.
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AutoPilot™
AutoPilot is an automated batch processor for Snap-Master. Using AutoPilot, you can have Snap-Master run a series of tests and perform specific commands automatically, without any additional user intervention.
With AutoPilot you can…
- Automatically print a series of hard copy printouts when convenient,
such as during lunch or overnight - Print various Display Pages from Snap-Master
- Run a series of tests
- Post process a series of data using the Analysis or FFT elements
- Convert multiple data files from DAT to CSV (or vice versa)
- Split multiple frame DAT files into single frame files
- Combine multiple frame files into single frame files.
Network Extension
Allows five, ten, or twenty-five users to access a shared network copy of Snap-Master. This lets users share a common Sensor Database and makes distributing Snap-Master updates easier. Pricing requires purchase of a single user license for each user, and a single copy of the Network Extension for the number of users required.
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Run-Time Versions
System integrators and OEMs may qualify for special run-time versions of Snap-Master. Contact HEM Data for licensing information and eligibility.
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Programmer’s Toolkit
Snap-Master’s™ Programmer’s Toolkit allows you to program advanced application-specific features to extend Snap-Master’s standard capabilities. The Toolkit’s philosophy is to provide a fully adaptable solution to your application by building on Snap-Master’s standard no-programming products. The Programmer’s Toolkit includes two developer tools: Front Panel Library and Data Gateway.
Front Panel Library™
The Front Panel Library enables you to program custom human interfaces for Snap-Master using Visual Basic, Delphi, or C languages. These new interfaces, referred to as “front panels,” automate a test procedure, emulate a specific piece of hardware, generate a report, and create application specific products.
The heart of the Front Panel Library is a special DLL (Dynamic Link Library) which lets you operate Snap-Master from another application, such as starting/stopping a test or adjusting a parameter. The DLL utilizes Snap-Master’s extensive DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) capabilities containing over 250 commands and parameters. Example source code is provided, illustrating many different tasks from custom PID Control Panels to Data Animation. The Front Panel Library increases the security of your test by limiting operator access to Snap-Master. For example, create a button or toggle switch to start a test, perform analysis routines, and save to disk without additional operator intervention. Or, create fields to ensure the operator enters specific data, such as a model number, before a test.
Data Gateway™
The Data Gateway provides tools for C and C++ programmers to create custom Snap-Master elements. These elements provide the tools to generate custom time and/or frequency domain analysis routines, to read and write custom data formats, or create custom data displays. All data for your custom element is processed in real-time, just like other Snap-Master elements. Data Gateway consists of linkable libraries, example source code, standard user interface dialogs and a special DLL that handles all of the complex data management for your element. After you compile your DLL and include it with Snap-Master, it resides in the Toolbox so it looks and acts like other Snap-Master elements. Simply drag your custom icon element from the toolbox and drop it in to your instrument.
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