Designing a Microcontroller Based Temperature Data Logger

Abstract

With the advancement of technology, the processes are becoming more and more complex. Due to this increase in complexity, for efficient analysis of process the number of parameters required for data acquisition also increases. Data Acquisition is simply the gathering of information about a system or process. It is the process of collecting data in an automated fashion from analog and digital measurement sources such as sensors and devices under test. Before the computer age, most data was recorded manually or on stripchart recorders. Many new generation data acquisition products have been developed due to emergence of microcontroller that enables real-time gathering, analysis, logging and viewing of data. To meet these requirements the demand of an improved, efficient and upto- date data logger is increasing. A data logger is an electronic instrument that can record digital or analog measurements over a period of time. It consists of a sensor, microcontroller, and a data storage device. Data loggers have an on-board memory that is large enough to hold data that is recorded over a longer period of time. The memory in these data loggers may be flash memory, EEPROM or Static Random Access Memory that is battery backed. Data loggers are provided with real time clocks to record the date and time of acquisition. In this thesis, a data logger for specific application has been designed. The system works around the famous 8051 family. The system is designed and developed to measure the temperature with the help of temperature sensors and the result is stored in memory such as EEPROM for post process analysis. During the testing, it is verified that there is continuous and correct acquisition of data. It is also verified that the data is sequentially stored in memory. This verification is done by using an LCD display. The focus of design is on portability and low power consumption for battery operated applications. The designed system is tested under different conditions: at room temperatures, at low temperatures, at different temperatures, readings taken over long time. For all these conditions, the system performed accurately.