| Handheld acoustic emission tester runs Windows CE |
Apr. 16, 2007
Physical Acoustics Corp. has introduced an intelligent handheld instrument for acoustic emission (AE) testing and crack/leak detection. The Pocket AE-1 runs Windows CE 5.0, and performs "advanced" waveform-based signal acquisition and processing, as well as more traditional feature-extraction tasks, according to the company. (Click here for larger image)
The Pocket AE-1 is a wide-bandwidth, single-channel AE tester with 16-bit analog-to-digital conversion and a 16-bit parametric input channel to correlate AE with other variables. It displays readings in alphanumeric and graphics form on a 3.52-inch-diagonal, QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) format color LCD screen with touch input. A custom test-oriented keypad is also integrated.
The device comes equipped with a passive AE sensor with preamp and application software for performing a variety of AE tests and creating multiple 200 x 200-pixel graphs, including waveforms, histograms, line graphs, and point plots.
According to the company, "The combined results of our acoustic emission instrument hardware and software is a complete characterization of the suspect AE (signal) and thus, a reliable characterization of the source phenomenon of the acoustic emission, be it caused by a crack, leak, friction, etc."
The unit has 64MB of built-in flash memory, which accommodates its Windows CE-based operating system, set-up information, and captured data. Data can be transferred to a PC for subsequent analysis and visualization over the handheld's USB 2.0 interface, but the device also provides CompactFlash slot that can be used for manual data transfers.
Key performance features and specs, as listed by the company, include:- AE frequency response -- 1.0 kHz to 1.0 MHz
- Software-selectable filters:
- 4th-order Butterworth filters
- High pass filters -- 1, 5, 20, 100 KHz
- Low pass filters -- 1 MHz fixed
- 0.1 x sample rate variable
- Digitizing rate -- 16-bit, 10M samples/sec maximum
- Digital signal processing performed by dedicated "feature extraction processor"
- Extracted "hit" features -- typical AE features, including time of first threshold crossing ("time of hit"), counts to peak, peak amplitude, envelope strength, duration, Rise Time, Counts, True Energy, RMS, ASL, parametric input
- Parametric Input -- single parametric input via an SMB connector, +10V input range, sampled by a 100K samples/sec, 16-bit A/D converter
The Pocket AE-1 measures 9.5 x 3.5 x 1.4 inches and weighs 1.5 lb. Its typical power dissipation is 3W, and it can be operated from -5 to +45 degrees Celsius.
 The Pocket AE-1 tester and its accessories Included accessories are a 1-meter sensor cable, 2-meter parametric cable with BNC connector, DC power supply, and carrying case. Available options include a rechargeable 7.2V NiMH battery pack providing between four and six hours of intermittent use, and an application software package for carrying out acoustic analysis on a PC.
The Pocket AE-1 appears to be shipping now. Pricing was not disclosed.
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