Silicon ChipShockLog: Monitoring The Things That Go Bump - November 2000 SILICON CHIP
  1. Outer Front Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Publisher's Letter: Anyone should be able to do their own house wiring
  4. Feature: Quick Circuit 5000 PC Board Prototyping System by Peter Smith
  5. Feature: ShockLog: Monitoring The Things That Go Bump by Silicon Chip
  6. Project: Santa & Rudolph Christmas Lights Display by John Clarke & Ross Tester
  7. Project: 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier by John Clarke
  8. Product Showcase
  9. Order Form
  10. Serviceman's Log: Most customers are reasonable by The TV Serviceman
  11. Project: Message Bank & Missed Call Alert by Leo Simpson & Rick Walters
  12. Project: Programmable Electronic Thermostat by Michael Jeffery
  13. Feature: Tektronix TDS7504 Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope by Leo Simpson
  14. Vintage Radio: The intriguing Philips "Philetta" by Rodney Champness
  15. Book Store
  16. Back Issues
  17. Project: Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.3 by Leo Simpson
  18. Notes & Errata
  19. Market Centre
  20. Advertising Index
  21. Outer Back Cover

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Items relevant to "Santa & Rudolph Christmas Lights Display":
  • Santa & Rudolph Christmas Light Display PCB pattern (PDF download) [16111001] (Free)
  • Santa & Rudolph Christmas Light Display panel artwork (PDF download) (Free)
Items relevant to "2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier":
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Articles in this series:
  • 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier (November 2000)
  • 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier (November 2000)
  • 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier, Pt.2: Digital Reverb (December 2000)
  • 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier, Pt.2: Digital Reverb (December 2000)
  • Digital Reverb - The Missing Pages (January 2001)
  • Digital Reverb - The Missing Pages (January 2001)
  • 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier, Pt.3 (January 2001)
  • 2-Channel Guitar Preamplifier, Pt.3 (January 2001)
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  • Message Bank & Missed Call Alert PCB pattern (PDF download) [12111001] (Free)
  • Message Bank & Missed Call Alert panel artwork (PDF download) (Free)
Articles in this series:
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.1 (September 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.1 (September 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.2 (October 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.2 (October 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.3 (November 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.3 (November 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.4 (December 2000)
  • Protoboards: The Easy Way Into Electronics, Pt.4 (December 2000)

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ShockLog monitoring the things that go bump! Want to know when and where a valuable shipment was damaged in transit? This gadget rides shotgun with your goods and can indicate whether the damage was due to poor packaging, rough handling or inappropriate transport methods. D AMAGE PREVENTION special ists Shockwatch Pty Ltd have un­veiled their latest weapon in the fight against poor product handling – a “black box” (well, blue actually) which quietly sits and logs shocks and vibrations on an object for periods of one year or more. Called “ShockLog” it is a compact “tri-axial moni­toring system” which can be unobtrusively attached to items in transit or storage to record bumps, vibration and climatic chang­es. Designed to be fitted to vehicles, 10  Silicon Chip containers or delicate valuable equipment, ShockLog has three piezoelectric accelerome­ters and a temperature sensor. These sensors, along with some low-power electronic circuitry, are housed in an extruded alumin­ium case which is bolted to the object it is monitoring. An additional sensor can be attached to record humidity, pressure (as in air pressure) and temperature, if required (this is known as an HPT sensor). Shockwatch’s Jeremy Scott says the ShockLog is effectively a “spy in a box” to aid the safe transport of valuable, hazardous or fragile goods. It can also be used as an aid to designing cost-effective packaging and for testing different transport methods and routes. For example, you can put a Shock­ Log inside different types of packaging, send them on a trial journey and then examine the event graphs when the consignments are received. That way, ShockLog makes it easier to develop the right packaging for the job. Similarly, you could use a ShockLog monitor in several identical consignments sent by different transport methods to identify which is the best one to use. ShockLog is also an ideal diagnostic tool for the future development of low-cost, stick-on “damage indicating labels”, which change colour to indicate when a product is roughly han­dled. ShockLog is already being used The optional HPT sensor is attached to one end of the ShockLog and is used for recording humidity, air pressure and external temperature. by the container industry in Europe and the United States to monitor the movement of critical cargos, such as hazardous chemicals and nuclear fuel. Other ShockLog users include museums, art galleries, laboratories, a major guided-missile manufacturer, optical equipment manufactur­ers and Rolls Royce Engine. Fig.1: the ShockLog is programmed by attaching it to the serial port of a PC and running the software. This is the setup screen which, among other things, allows you to program the starting date and time, the “wake-up” threshold, the run time, the acceleration range and the parameters to be recorded. How it works? ShockLog is powered by a single 1.5V alkaline or lithium C-cell battery and can be user preprogrammed to monitor a range of conditions. It then records a summary of the data recorded over a specified time period in its non-volatile memory – you can set this from 10 minutes up to 24 hours. ShockLog can record a maxi­ mum of 512 “summaries”, so you have to choose a summary period that will allow you to cover the full period for which you wish to record. If preset handling limits are exceeded, the user will be given a visual warning via a LED. This “time-triggered” mode is designed to monitor complete journeys. The peak “G” records in each axis are recorded across any defined “time slot”, along with the other parameters such as temperature, humidity and pressure. To conserve battery life, the unit normally operates in “sleep” mode. Then, if suddenly exposed to conditions which exceed a specified “wake up” threshold (eg, if the unit it is attached to is dropped), the sensor will activate itself within 1.5 microseconds and begin recording the incident. By using the sleep mode, the unit can maintain a 500-day battery life. Once activated, ShockLog can Fig.2: the setup can be saved to disk as a file and loaded back in at a later date for downloading to the ShockLog. This feature allows a number of predefined setups to be stored and quickly recalled. record up to 4000 samples/second and the 2MB memory is sufficient for detailed records of up to 400 significant events. It can handle up to ±250G accel­eration and is designed to function in difficult environ­ments, operating at temperatures between -40°C and 85°C. Programming Programming the ShockLog is easy. It connects to the serial port of a PC (75MHz Pentium or better) via a supplied serial cable and works with Windows-based software that’s in­stalled from an accompanying CD ROM. This software allows the operator to program such things as the starting date and time, alarm thresholds from 1G to 100G, summary intervals, the record­ing length of each event (up to 32K), the parameters to be recorded, November 2000  11 Fig.3: after downloading data from the ShockLog, the “Examine Data” window shows the recording sessions, the number of events and alarms during each session and a host of other data. Fig.4: double-clicking a session in Fig.3 brings up cascading “Event data” windows – one for each recorded event. You can view the data in graphical form as shown here or, by clicking the Data button, display it in data format as shown below. Fig.5: the data format shows acceleration figures for each axis (in this case, X, Y & Z). The data can be printed out and exported to other applications such as Microsoft Excel. 12  Silicon Chip The ShockLog is supplied in a large plastic carry case, complete with software and a serial cable. the total run time and the maximum number of events to be recorded. Once the setup is completed on screen, it is simply saved to disk and downloaded to the ShockLog unit. The save to disk feature is particularly handy, as it allows a number of prede­ fined setups to be stored on the hard disk. These setups can then be loaded to the setup screen and downloaded to the ShockLog with just a few mouse clicks. Naturally, the software also allows the recorded data to be downloaded to the PC, saved to disk and displayed in text or graphical form. These reports and graphs may be viewed on-screen, printed out or exported to other applications such as MS Excel or Matlab. The software also features a single-screen report that allows all key data for a journey or test to be viewed, stored or emailed as a single sheet. Tamperproof Because ShockLog has no external switches, it is virtually tamperproof. In addition, all data is stored in non-volatile flash memory, ensuring that information can’t be erased without password authorisation. It’s use greatly reduces the risk of damage to valuable shipments by providing users with a complete record of an item’s handling and shipping history. For further information on ShockLog and a range of related products, contact Jeremy Scott at Shockwatch Pty Ltd on (07) 5534 3811; fax (07) 5534 3822; email jeremys<at>onthenet.com.au Shockwatch markets a broad range of solutions for product damage prevention and industrial safety. It is an arm of the Dallas-based Shockwatch Corporation in the USA, which has sold more than 100 million products during the last 15 years for monitoring impact, tilt and temperature events in product ship­ments. You can check out SC their website at www.shockwatch.com