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ELF User Manual

1. Best Felines Params PotDevice COM4 is Piece wise neat Farce ind pounds x Cancel 7 Mulbpotst Caiena S i Appia nextange 3 68 4 00 H qu Fa 186 Sensilivky 3 004 Fa 151 T Cal Force fi Add Fori Alencve Pol 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 45 Piece Wise Linear Calibration This calibration connects each calibration point and interpolates between the values pa Best FR Linear Peras Pol MDence coma Pero AENA e rMubport Calihan H Approx maxiange 4 97 Hep 5 397 a 4 47 NOTE if you have a Multi Handle ELF system all handles must use the same type of calibration Linear and Best Fit cannot be mixed and matched The Sensitivity or Adjustable Gain is also adjusted in the EZF Calibration dialog box This adjustment sets the data output range from the computer 0 to 100 to the actual force range output from the system handle In this way the usable force range of the sensor can be adjusted up to the rated maximum force Sensitivity settings are saved between sessions and are included with calibration files 01 18 08 r Calibration Opens eee Best F Linear Pane PoWDevice COM4 is Piece vase neat Force unit pounds Fi Multtipont Calibration Cal Force fi ELF User Manual Rev G 46 CALIBRATION GUIDELINES The following guidelines should be considered when calibrating a sensor e Apply a calibration load that approxima
2. ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard Choose Destination Location Select folder where slup wil metall hlez y Install ELF MukHhandle la CATekscariEl Fatals treld 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 14 At this point your computer has the necessary information to proceed with the installation of your ELF program Click the Install button to begin installing the program on your computer ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard Ready to Install the Program The wizard ls ready ha begin instalation instalis eld A progress bar will indicate the program is being successfully installed Note If at any time prior to this screen you wish to stop the installation process you can click the Cancel button ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard Ea Seup Salus ey er Se eS a iy E a ee re or ELF Multthandle Setup is per cemino lhe requested operations Ve ee Pe natang instalisthetd 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 15 The next screen that will appear offers you the options to place a shortcut icon on your desktop and view the README file ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard Tekzcan Installation of ELF Multi handle Click Finish to complete the ELF Mulli hardle Setup i Create a chorloul for ELF Mull handle on the Desktop and E View the README file If you elect to view the README file it will open in a MS Notepad window wh
3. Cancel Esra Default iadi eee PRP he daa ad Zeroing Preload This feature modifies the calibrated data to correct for residual pressure referred to as the Offset Load on the sensor at zero load This operation is useful if the sensor is under some load for the entire duration of the recording or if the sensor must be secured in place by hardware which would cause load to be detected by the sensor The raw data is not affected by the Zeroing Preload function but an extra calculation is performed when converting the raw data to calibrated data If the sensor is reading raw pressure it is set at zero raw before the calibration scale factor is applied Zeroing Preload is recommended only for single point calibration and may increase error when using a multi point calibration 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 40 Window Menu Window Menu same when focus is on either a Real time or Movie Window File Ede Mew Record Tools Wido w Help asada Cascade Tie Arrange Icons 1 Moviel fif ww 2 Reatimed New Window opens a copy of the currently active Real time or Movie Window A number will be added to the title of the new window to show that it is a copy For example if Moviel flf is open and the New Window menu item is selected the new window s title bar would read Moviel flf 2 This menu item is especially useful for opening multiple copies of a Movie window so you can play them back individually or with differe
4. Tekscan ELF User Manual Single Handle Multi Handle Hi Speed and Wireless Systems Economical load amp force system Teksca ELF User Manual V 3 4X Economical load amp force system Tekscan Inc 307 West First Street South Boston MA 02127 Tel 617 464 4500 800 248 3669 fax 617 464 4266 Email marketing tekscan com web www tekscan com Table of Contents WETCOME aio 3 O A AR 3 INTRODUCTION e e e ee ande o es AD 4 GETING ASSISTANCE A A sense atic 4 AA A A N 5 ASAA N e is 11 ELE COMPONENT TDEN TIFICATION oiiire a a a e aa a 12 DARNI INSTALEATION AEA E E E E EAE cee pak edo EEE E 13 HARDWARE INSTALA ON dd dao 18 USB ELE SYSTEM SPECIATION ias e ts e ao a le el oe A 19 OVER VI orando 21 A Once weet cane tte a tee eer ee 28 een nh eee erie gels eee ate 2 a Rea tes ta eet 21 SENSOR ANDE eee ide di dd ed 21 A A A detec tvctawaee 21 ELN DE AT AN E A T EE EAA E EE ANEA N A EAE peed ona be EA EEE awe 21 n T LIA RARA E RN A E AEE E EA E A da ec EA S N A A O IT EL ee 23 TEMAN MIN eaaa A a a a a A 25 VD ETE Ue E E NI A Teer 25 VE le RARA O SS A O 26 IA AAA A O A 28 MATE il AAA IN A A A 29 AE ARA ise E oe a easton ea a a deed ested de Soc E 31 TOOLS CID AAA RS E E A A AN eke tins O ante AE AT 36 WiGOWIMC UU St odia 41 Hanes DPA A MOO JOA OPREMA RR PO un O O 41 VU AN 42 SENSOR LOADING CONSIDERATIONS c0ccccccoccconnnnnoncconnnnnnnncnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnnernnnnnzanns 43 SENSOR EOADI
5. Transmitter Three AAA Alkaline batteries or an AC Adapter powers the Transmitter Up to eight Transmitters can communicate with a single Hub via the RF link Maximum distance without major signal degradation 200 foot radius AC Adapter The optional AC Adapter can be used if operation of the product is for extended period of time to save on battery life Power Hub USB powered USB voltage range is 4 75 V 5 25 V 200 mA max 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 55 Transmitter Voltage range 4 VDC min 7VDC max 180 mA max AC Adapter Input 100 VAC 240 VAC 50 Hz 60 Hz 0 6 A Output 5VDC 2 6 A Environmental Conditions TEMPERATURE F C 14 to 131 10 to 55 Prolonged use at higher end of temperature range should be avoided HUMIDITY O to 90 non condensing PRESSURE psi kPa 1 7 to 14 7 11 6 to 101 3 sea level to 50 000 ft SETTING UP THE WIRELESS ELF SYSTEM Software Installation The ELF and Wireless ELF follow the same software installation procedure Please refer to the Software Installation section for proper instructions Instructions to Connect Disconnect Power Source Hub Turn power switch off and connect disconnect the USB cable Transmitter Turn power switch off and connect disconnect the AC adapter The on off switch is bypassed if the AC adapter is in place Batieries Use AAA Alkaline batteries such as Energizer E92 in the Transmitter e These batteries are primary cells and are
6. and should be acquainted with your ELF software The rest of the manual gives you specific instructions on how to set up and run your system 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 10 INSTALLATION Note If you are using the Wireless ELF System please refer to the Wireless ELF System section for installation and usage instructions For the ZF software to function properly your system must have the following minimum requirements Pentium 300 MHz 64 MB RAM 5 MB of Hard Drive Space CD Drive One USB 2 0 port per USB Handle Windows 2000 XP Vista To use the Multi Handle EZF software with multiple USB Handles one USB 2 0 port must be available for each ELF Handle used If you require a USB hub Tekscan recommends the following 01 18 08 Belkin USB Plus Hub 7 Ports 49 99 Hi Speed USB 2 0 7 Port Hub http Avww belkin com Model F5U307 IOGEAR 29 95 MiniHub 4 port USB 2 0 Hub http Avww iogear com Model GUH264 The following displays the ELF system with USB Handles Note Our previous systems shipped with Serial handles It is not recommended to use both the Setial ELF and USB ELF handles simultaneously Note For the Hi speed Multi Handle ELF software using Windows 2000 XP Vista you will need a PCI board and we would recommend that you use no more than 4 handles ELF User Manual Rev G 11 ELF COMPONENT IDENTIFICA TION The following lists all the components that come with the ELF system 1 ELF US
7. measurement devices it is customary to exercise or condition a sensor before calibrating it or using it for measurement This is done to reduce the amount of change in the sensor response due to repeated loading and unloading FlexiForce sensors are generally repeatable within 2 5 once they have been conditioned A sensor is conditioned by loading it to 110 of the test weight four or five times Follow the full procedure in the Conditioning Sensors section LINEARITY Linearity refers to the sensor s response digital output to the applied load over the range of the sensor This response should ideally be linear and any non linearity of the sensor is the amount that its output deviates from this line A calibration is performed to linearize this output as much as possible F exiForce sensors are linear within 5 HYSTERESIS Hysteresis is the difference in the sensor output response during incremental step loading and unloading without going back to zero between measurements at the same forces For static forces and applications in which force is only increased and not decreased the effects of hysteresis are minimal If an application includes load decreases as well as increases there may be error introduced by hysteresis that is not accounted for by calibration For a conditioned sensor with 50 of the full force range applied hysteresis is less than 4 5 of full scale DRIFT Drift is the change in sensor output w
8. G 29 Number displays each COM port as numerical values Each numerical value is color coded to indicate the individual COM ports As time elapses the numbers change to indicate changes in force F MATE y Nc POUNCE Frame 64 of 142 Time 7 88 of 17 6 secs Toolbar This item is used to display or hide the Movie and Main Toolbars These toolbars can be toggled by clicking this menu item on and off If a Real time Window is active this menu item affects the Main Toolbar If a Movie window is active this menu item affects the Movie Toolbar Status Bar This item is used to display or hide the Movie and Main Status Bars These status bars can be toggled by clicking this menu item on and off If a Real time window is active this menu item affects the Main Status Bar If a Movie window is active this menu item affects the Movie Status Bar COMA 3 1 40 lbs j PEA COMS _ al SA PE a U f 1 lbs ad E LEE J 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 30 Properties opens the Properties dialog box shown following which allows you to change how the data is displayed on the screen Any changes made here will only affect the currently active Real time or Movie Window The Properties dialog box will also appear whenever you click the right mouse button over a Real time or Movie Window ne AS F Strip Chal Scale Max 3 pounds eam Scale Mri O pourds N
9. Ven Record Tools Window Heb Help Topics About ELF Help Topics opens the help file associated with the Multi Channel EZF software About ELF opens the About ELF dialog box which displays the software and hardware device version numbers for your ELF system and gives you information on how to contact Tekscan shown below About ELF El 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 42 SENSOR LOADING CONSIDERATIONS The following general sensor loading guidelines can be applied to most applications and will help you achieve the most accurate results from your tests It is important that you read the Sensor Performance Characteristics section for further information on how to get the most accurate results from your sensor readings SENSOR LOADING The entire sensing area of the Flex Force sensor is treated as a single contact point For this reason the applied load should be distributed evenly across the sensing area to ensure accurate and repeatable force readings Readings may vary slightly if the load distribution changes over the sensing area Note that the sensing area is the silver circle on the top of the sensor only It is also important that the sensor be loaded consistently or in the same way each time If the footprint of the applied load is smaller than the sensing area the load should not be placed near the edges of the sensing area to ensure an even load distribution It is also important to ensure that the se
10. a Real time or Movie Window File Edt View Record Tools window Help Copy Circ Copy saves the current Real time or Movie frame to the MS Windows clipboard This data is saved in the clipboard as a graphic bitmap image of the current window Once copied to the clipboard this data can be pasted into other Windows applications by selecting Edit gt Paste The following image shows how the copy command can be used to import an image of the current window into MS Excel Thue ee K A A A E Fe A A A 3 66 lbs 2 94 lbs aCe ay y hs ee 2 21 lbs mp mn ss ma 1 COMA coM5_ 1 47 lbs Fi is f J lalallala e oo 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 28 View Menu View Menu when focus is on a Real time Window cr 4 View Menu when focus is on a Movie Window Strip Chart is the default display mode where force value is displayed on the Y Axis and elapsed time is displayed on the X Axis 1 80 lbs 7 yp at 1 20 lbs pp 2 0 61 lbs Olbs COM4 hi q IL COM5 Column displays each COM port individually with force value displayed on the Y Axis Each column is color coded to indicate the individual COM ports As time elapses the columns indicate changes in force 1 20 lbs 7 0 61 lbs OD lbs COMA Fre of 142 Ties 7 88 of 17 6508 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev
11. connection The Wireless ELF system may be experiencing interference with the wireless internet signal If this does not solve your problem contact Tekscan Customer Service EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE e The Hub and Transmitter cannot be autoclaved e Do not let any liquid drip onto the electronics inside the Hub and Transmitter If this occurs they may stop working and must be allowed to dry for 24 hours You can use an air syringe however to significantly reduce this drying time Do not attempt to dry out the Hub and Transmitter using any other method or you may destroy the delicate electronics e To properly clean the Hub and Transmitter be sure to wipe them down with a 70 Isopropyl Alcohol solution To do this slightly dampen a cloth with the alcohol solution careful not to soak or saturate the cloth Then wipe the Hub and Transmitter after each use 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 57 WIRELESS ELF OPERATION Wireless ELF LED states Both Wireless ELF Hub and Transmitter have three LEDs Red Yellow and Green These LEDs are used to display the current state of the system Wireless ELF Hub LED states Power Up e All LEDs blink once during normal power up e All LEDs blink twice if power up is due to watchdog reset Diagnostics Diagnostic test are being performed to monitor state of the Hub If diagnostic test fails due to a missing USB communication the yellow LED turns on and watchdog reset will occur Note If the PC a
12. does not affect the Sensitivity setting See Sensitivity L Zeroing Preload Tools Menu The Zeroing Preload command modifies the calibrated data to correct for residual pressure referred to as the Offset Load on the sensor at zero load This operation is useful if the sensor is under some load for the entire duration of the recording or if the sensor must be secured in place by hardware which would cause load to be detected by the sensor The raw data is not affected by the Zeroing Preload function but an extra calculation is performed when converting the raw data to calibrated data If the sensel is reading raw pressure it is set at zero raw before the calibration scale factor is applied Zeroing Preload is recommended only for single point calibration and may increase error when using a multi point calibration 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 71
13. from the Calibration dialog for details about the calibration including slope offset and Correlation Coefficient 12 C Cal Force A value that is entered by the user on the Calibration dialog box This value is the calibration load that is placed on the sensor in order to convert the Digital output into Engineering Units Calibrate Tools Menu The Calibrate command opens the ELF Calibration dialog box which enables you to calibrate the sensor and adjust the system sensitivity See Calibration Calibration Calibration is the method by which this digital output of the sensor is related to an actual engineering unit such as pounds or Newtons If you are using the Multi Handle ELF system all selected COM ports must be calibrated with at least one point before Calibration can be completed Cascade Window Menu The Cascade command arranges multiple windows in an overlapped fashion Change Sensitivity Tools Menu The Change Sensitivity command opens the Sensitivity Dialog box You may adjust the sensitivity for each sensor COM port Use the drop down Select Buttons field to select the COM port Then drag the slider up and down until you are satisfied Adjust as many buttons as you like When you are satisfied click OK To return the system to the original sensitivity settings click the Default button See Sensitivity Change Unit Tools Menu The Change Unit command allows you to quickly change the force units displayed i
14. not rechargeable e Once the batteries are discharged replace them with fresh batteries and dispose of the discharged batteries in accordance with applicable laws and methods e Ifthe Transmitter is not to be used for an extended period of time remove batteries from the unit This avoids damage to the unit if batteries leak e Use of other types of batteries may damage unit e Use only Tekscan approved AC adapters cables and sensors Installing the Batteries To insert the batteries into the Transmitter follow the procedure below Note To prevent ESD damage to the transmitter it is recommended that a wrist or shoe grounding strap be worn while handling the bare PCB 1 With a small Phillips head screwdriver unscrew the middle screw located on the back of the Transmitter being careful not to strip the screw when loosening Remove the screw from the back i Transmitter plate shown at right STATIC DISSIPATIVE MAT 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 56 2 Remove the back Transmitter plate to reveal the electronics within shown at right 3 Insert three AAA batteries into the exposed battery compartment shown below Pa i ay fier fia ef 4 Place the top plate over the electronics Insert the screw into the back Transmitter plate Tighten the screw being careful not to strip the screw Troubleshooting If you are having problems running the Wireless ELF system try turning off your wireless internet
15. opened Only ELF calibration files extension clb can be loaded The Sensitivity setting that was saved with the calibration file will also be loaded M Main Menu The Main Menu contains important commands you use to perform functions within the software Some menu commands can be found directly in the toolbar however not all commands found under the menu are located on the toolbar the Main Menu changes depending where your focus lies The reason for this difference is because there are some commands that can only be accessed from a Movie Window and others from a Real Time Window For example if you have two windows open one a Real Time Window and the other a Movie Window the Main Menu will contain a different set of submenus and commands Main Window When you initiate the ELF software program the Main Window is displayed on your computer screen The Main Window consists of the Menu Bar Tool Bar and Main Status Bar and may contain one or more Real time or Movie Windows The window that is selected is considered the active window or the window that has focus See Focus Only one window can be active at one time and the title bars of the other windows will be grayed out Menu Bar The Menu Bar provides drop down menus submenus used to control the ELF software program It is located at the top of the Main Window Minimum Requirements The minimum hardware requirements that your computer must meet in order to run the ELF software a
16. output from the system handle In this way the usable force range of the sensor can be adjusted up to the rated maximum force Sensitivity settings are saved between sessions and are included with calibration files Sensitivity can be accessed directly from the Tools Menu or from within the Calibration dialog box Sensor Life Durability Sensor life depends on the application in which it is used Sensors are reusable unless used in applications in which they are subjected to severe conditions such as against sharp edges or shear forces FlexiForce sensors have been successfully tested at over one million load cycles using a 50 lb force Rough handling of a sensor will also shorten its useful life For example a sensor that is repeatedly installed in a flanged joint will have a shorter life than a sensor installed in the same joint once and used to monitor loads over a prolonged period After each installation visually inspect your sensors for physical damage It is also important to keep the sensing area of the sensor clean Any deposits on this area will create uneven loading and will cause saturation to occur at lower applied forces 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 69 Sensor Temperature Sensitivity The operating range for FlexiForce sensors is from 15 F 9 C to 140 F 60 C FlexiForce sensor output may vary up to 0 2 per change in degree F approx 0 36 per change in degree C In general this change will be more significant if
17. the cursor The Main Status Bar is located at the bottom of the Main Window Status Bar Movie Window The Movie Window Status Bar is located at the bottom of the Movie Window and displays the Frame count the current frame number vs the total number in the movie Status Bar View Menu The Status Bar option is used to display or hide the Movie and Main Status Bars These status bars can be toggled by clicking this menu item on and off If a Real time window is active this menu item affects the Main Status Bar If a Movie window is active this menu item affects the Movie Status Bar Stop Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Stops playback Stop Record Menu The Stop command will cause the software to stop recording the active Real time window even if the correct number of movie frames as selected in Settings have not yet been recorded Strip Chart View Menu The Strip Chart option is the default display mode where force value is displayed on the Y Axis and elapsed time is displayed on the X Axis 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 70 T Temperature Sensitivity See Sensor Temperature Sensitivity Threshold Refers to a value within the Recording Parameters that is set by the user The Threshold may be set for each individual COM port so that each sensor has a different Threshold This may be used in combination with the Trigger Force value to begin recording when force is exerted on a specific sensor See Recording Parameter
18. to complete if Frame Count is specified Recording Parameters 5 xl Fieconding Type C nike 8 Hz user stope o Frame Court 8 Hz Tngger amp Threshold Sensor Poet CO M3 COMI The Recording Parameters dialog box also allows you to trigger the start of a recording If you enter a value in the Trigger Force field and select the appropriate measurement units recording will not begin until that force is exerted on the sensor Enter a zero in this field to disable triggering Only one Trigger Force value may be entered and will apply to all sensors being used for testing Recording Parameters Ji xj Recording Type f Infinite 8 Hz user stops gt Frame Count 8 Hz O Fast Recording Frame Count Duration Until Stop Recorra Frequency al a hy 1560 ALE SA ba oe i Trigger amp Threshold Sensor Port COM3 COM Urat miim egne Frames bo record 1 500000 fi no The Threshold may be set for each individual COM port so that each sensor has a different threshold This may be used in combination with the Trigger Force value to begin recording when force is exerted on a specific sensor 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 34 Note If no calibration has been performed the only available units will be shown as a Percentage Ifa calibration has been performed you may select from a number of force units Recording Paramebers _ xj Record
19. you combine high loads on the sensor with high temperatures For loads of less than 10 lbs the operating temperature can be increased to 165 F 74 C To ensure accuracy calibrate the sensor at the temperature at which it will be used in the application If the sensor is being used at different temperatures perform a calibration at each of these temperatures save the calibration files then load the appropriate calibration file when using the sensor at that temperature FlexiForce sensors should be stored at temperatures in the range of 15 F 9 C to 165 F 74 C Sensors The FlexiForce sensor is an ultra thin 0 005 flexible printed circuit It is 0 55 14 mm wide and 9 0 229 mm in length Sensors are available in three full scale force ranges Low 25 Ibf Medium 150 Ibf and High 1000 Ibf The active sensing area is a 0 375 diameter circle at the end of the sensor The sensors are constructed of two layers of substrate such as a polyester film On each layer a conductive material silver is applied followed by a layer of pressure sensitive ink Adhesive is then used to laminate the two layers of substrate together to form the sensor The active sensing area is defined by the silver circle on top of the pressure sensitive ink Silver extends from the sensing area to the connectors at the other end of the sensor forming the conductive leads The sensor acts as a variable resistor in an electrical circuit
20. B Handle 1 Software CD single Handle systems a multiple Handle systems vary depending on requirements Standard length is 10 feet 3 FlexiForce B201 Sensors one in each of the three offered force ranges Low 0 25 1b Medium 0 150 1b and High 0 1000 Ib The force range Low L Medium M or High H is indicated by one of the 3 checkboxes near the tab end of the sensor The 12 checkboxes near the sensing area containing one row of letters and one row of numbers are internal manufacturing batch codes and do not indicate anything about the force range or functionality of the sensor Note You may be required to purchase a USB Hub for multi Handle ELF systems Refer to the Installation section for a list of recommended USB Hubs 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 12 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION Before installing the EZF software close all other applications To install the software place the CD ROM in your CD ROM drive If the autorun exe does not start automatically click on Start at the bottom left of the screen and click on the Run menu item If you put the disk in the D CD ROM Drive type d setup in the command line field of the Rua dialog box then click OK The following images outline the installation process First the InstallShield Wizard will prepare your machine for proper setup ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard Preparing Setup Please wal while lhe InstallShield Wizard prepares the
21. ERATING CONDITIONS 14 to 131 10 to 55 Prolonged use at high TEMPERATURE F ee should be avoided UMIDITY O to 90 non condensing 14 7 11 6 to 101 3 sea level to 50 000 PRESSURE psi kPa TEMPERATURE F 41 to a4 to 40 ong TG PRESSURE psi kPa _ Tto oe 11 6 to 101 J sea level to 50 000 ft 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 20 OVERVIEW This section outlines the Various Hardware and Software components that ship with your system SENSORS The FlexiForce sensor is an ultra thin and flexible printed circuit Sensors are available in three full scale force ranges Low 25 lbf Medium 150 lbf and High 1000 lbf The active sensing area is a 0 375 diameter circle at the end of the sensor The sensors are constructed of two layers of substrate such as a polyester film On each layer a conductive material silver is applied followed by a layer of pressure sensitive ink Adhesive is then used to laminate the two layers of substrate together to form the sensor The active sensing area is defined by the silver circle on top of the pressure sensitive ink Silver extends from the sensing area to the connectors at the other end of the sensor forming the conductive leads The sensor acts as a variable resistor in an electrical circuit When the sensor is unloaded its resistance is very high greater than 5 Meg ohm when a force is applied to the sensor the resistance decreases This resistance is
22. NC taras odos auna 43 SATURN TON Acct 2 hoch ace A Steak Cie Oe Oe pe kel AA A hte ca AD het tel eee ta 43 CONDITIONING SENSOR SS do a e A td dl ody 44 CATIBRATION iaa 45 CALIBRATION GUIDELINES oran a A A lia 47 CABRON OI e dee nro ou 47 SENSOR PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS 20cccceseneeeeseneeeeeeneeeeeenneeeeseneeesseueeesseueeeeseuneeeesanees 53 PEPE AA BIULY epccsin a tame ane let cura a alata o cies 53 AN WB Qa ae ema A A en OE aE eee 53 A PI CE MM AI A IO 53 A suchen ae pact saeenann enum E E sienna amen cieamsease ecesuedian tu atae deme tebe tasaetatase 53 TEMPERATURE SENSULIVINY 3 saeohtertcseRt ck A Ahi e e giana 53 SENSOR UIPE 7 DURABIGIIY AE E AE S a A a 54 WIRELESS ELF SYSTE Mona 55 COMPONENT IDENTIFICATION merie a aa 55 TECHNICAL SPEGIFIGATIONS id ies 55 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 1 EVO ERA COMMONS atando 56 SETTING UP THE WIRELESS ELE SYSTEM ea 56 SNAC TOSTA O A oa naS iaa 56 Instructions to Connect DisConnect Power SOUUCC caccccccccccccccucucucucueneuenenenenununususuaceeuenenenenenenusususususususuauauauguaugags 56 SA A bac cack hte tes Re a he as Ste tae ete ht ace dace fae ae ecole tape ty 2 56 LE OUD TOSI OIG a AAA iar ee ic aa ee Dale ice wand eld nicely Salas AAA AAA AE Ad 57 EQUIEMENT MAINTENANCE as 57 WIRELESS ELE OPERATION add iria 58 WI CIESSELETEDO SITIOS sarc von cca ese raise 58 Wireless LEIDO aan One ice 58 Wireless ELF TANS UR TED S MOS 2 E AA A PRD a td ise AS AAA et ee ad 58 Setting Up Auto D
23. USB handle to the USB ports on the Hub 2 Insert the sensor into the Handle To do this ensure that the UP printed on the sensor is correctly oriented on the same side as the blue button on the handle and then press down the blue button Slide the sensor tab into the slot until it reaches its mechanical stop and release the blue button Do not force the sensor if it will not slide into the handle easily If the sensor will not slide in easily check that there is nothing inside the handle blocking the sensor and check that the end of the sensor is not bent or folded If the software has been installed and is running when the sensor is correctly inserted an audible beep will be heard and the Sensor OK icon on the Toolbar will be a green square otherwise it will be grayed out Note Follow Static control procedures when handling the sensor while it s n use USB ELF SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS The following table outlines the specifications for the USB ELF system COMMUNICA TION DATA ACQUISITION COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL TO HOST COMPUTER USB 2 0 CAN SPEED Up to 960 Hz IGITAL PRESSURE RESOLUTION BIT ELECTRICAL POWER SOURCE USB Powered OWER CONSUMPTION 25mA MAX at 5V MECHANICAL USB CABLE non detachable LENGTH ft mm 10 3048 Standard ELF ENCLOSURE SIZE LxWxH in mm 2 75 x 1 25 x 0 5in 69 85 x 31 75 x 12 7mm WEIGHT lbs kgs w cable 3 2 Oz 90g 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 19 AMBIENT OP
24. When the sensor is unloaded its resistance is very high greater than 5 Meg ohm when a force is applied to the sensor the resistance decreases FlexiForce sensors have been successfully tested at over one million load cycles using a 50 lb force See also Sensor Life Durability Settings Record Menu Settings brings up the Recording Parameters dialog box which allows you to change the current recording parameters Under Recording Type there are three possibilities that may be selected See Recording Parameters Start Record Menu The Start command is used to make a recording movie When Start is selected the software begins recording a movie of the current Real time window data using the settings that have been selected see Settings menu item When data is being recorded the Recording In Progress message will appear shown below and the Recording On icon on the Main Tool Bar will become active the red circle will become grayed out and the square Stop button black color will become visible If Triggering is in effect and Record is selected the Waiting for Trigger message will be displayed until the trigger force is reached Movies created by the ELF system are stored as flf files Status Bar Main The Main Status Bar provides the user with feedback about what is happening inside the ELF software It will either say For Help Press F1 or will give a description of whichever Toolbar icon is under
25. application in which it is used Sensors are reusable unless used in applications in which they are subjected to severe conditions such as against sharp edges or shear forces FlexiForce sensors have been successfully tested at over one million load cycles using a 50 lb force Rough handling of a sensor will also shorten its useful life For example a sensor that is repeatedly installed in a flanged joint will have a shorter life than a sensor installed in the same joint once and used to monitor loads over a prolonged period After each installation visually inspect your sensors for physical damage It is also important to keep the sensing area of the sensor clean Any deposits on this area will create uneven loading and will cause saturation to occur at lower applied forces 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 54 WIRELESS ELF SYSTEM The Wireless ELF System allows you to transmit force readings from your FlexiForce sensors to your PC without a direct cable connection The following section explains the setup and operation of this system COMPONENT IDENTIFICA TION 1 Hub 1 Transmitter 1 AC Adapter Optional Also Included 3 FlexiForce WB201 Sensors TECHNICAL SPECIFICA TIONS Hub The Hub is powered via the USB port of the PC or Laptop An ON OFF switch is provided to control power to the unit The Hub communicates with the PC or Laptop via the USB port and to the Sensor Modules via an RE link Network topology star
26. d under the menu are located on the toolbar For this reason it is important to become acquainted with the commands found under each menu This section provides a thorough description of each command and dialog box found under these menus It is important to note that the Main Menu changes depending where your focus lies The reason for this difference is because there are some commands that can only be accessed from a Movie Window and others from a Real time Window For example if you have two windows open one a Real time Window and the other a Movie Window the Main Menu will contain a different set of submenus and commands The following display shows the difference between the two Main Menus The Main Menu as it appears when focus is on a Movie Window File Edt view Tools Window Frames Displayed Help The Main Menu as it appears when focus is on a Real time Window 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 25 File Menu File Menu when focus is on a Real time File Menu when focus is on a Movie Window Window File Edt view Record Toos Window Heb File Edk View Tools Window Frames Displayed Help wee Cole New CAN 1 C Tekscani Moviel FE A curt 2 C Tekscan Moviel0 AF 3 Carelsca noes FE 4 CalTekscan Movies FF 1 C Tekscant Movie Fl i 2 CATekscanl Movie10 1 3 CilTekscani Movias fF 4 C ATekscani Moien FF Exit New opens a new Real time Window in addition to any other Real time or Movie win
27. dows that are currently open The new Real time Window becomes the active window when it is opened If more than one Real time Window is open the force data will be displayed in all windows in unison If the sensor has already been calibrated this calibration will also apply to the new Real time Window Before your Real time Window opens the Select Button dialog box is displayed Handles connected to your system are listed as COM 4 COM 5 etc Select the handles you wish to have displayed in your Real time Window by placing a checkmark next to the COM port s and then click the OK button Select Button Avalable Bultons COM Calibrated EQ COMS Caib ated You are then taken to a new Real time Window a Realtime aor fiat L A ll fi ih A ja ee ee ee ee ee ee E as A BT z r Tr 7 Li F TE L ni o i 20 7 ee eee ee ee ee eee g 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 26 Open displays the Open dialog box which allows you to open previously recorded movie files Only ELF movie files with the flf file extension can be opened Ai HE Look in E Samples eE Movie Fit mmis A more E Moviez Af Moves Fl Movies AF E Movie 0 FlF mee Files of ype ELF Movie Fies A Cancel Close causes the currently active Real time or Movie Window to close If a movie has been recorded but not saved the software gives the option of saving the movi
28. e Start Recording icon on the Toolbar The system will begin recording data If you selected Infinite 8 Hz user stops as the recording type you must click Record gt Stop or the Stop Recording icon on the Toolbar to stop recording Otherwise recording will stop when the required number of frames have been acquired Fle Edt ew Record Tools Window Help File Edt View Record Tools Window Help njej Bal Note Before an actual recording is made the sensor should be Calibrated and Conditioned and a Sensitivity Adjustment should be done if necessary as described in later sections Any information recorded before these are successfully completed may be inaccurate The EZF software also allows you to trigger the start of a recording If you enter a value in the Trigger Force field under Record gt Settings recording will not begin until that force is exerted on the sensor Force threshold may be selected for each sensor so that a recording will not begin until the force reaches the threshold See the Calibration section for more details Recording Parameters 3 Ed Recording Type i Hecordmo Frequency nhnite 8 Hz user stops Frame Count 8 Hz C Fast Recording Frame Count Duration Until Stop E Sensor Peet COM3 COM3 Trigger Force 15 A Theeshold 00 ELF User Manual Rev G 8 10 Select File gt Save As to save the movie Under File Name enter the desired file
29. e bars of the other windows will be grayed out The Main Window and its components are shown in the figure below 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 21 NOTE that the figure below shows a Multi Handle ELF system with two handles recording data Title Bar Main Menu Toolbar ELF by Tekscan Realtimeb Fle Esk Wow Pod Tod Wes Heb Dial aj ela lmziela E Rcoltimes Real Time Legend Default Y Axis is Percentage Pounds are shown here indicating the sensor is Calibrated Default X Axis in Seconds Movie Window Playback Controls Movie Mls of A a a Window 1 50 Ibs f po A inilaban mmm mom 1 20 lbs Movie Scrollbar Moves the X Axis Timeline Frame 14206 142 Tia 17 6 oF 17 6 sec mn Main Status Bar Movie Window Status Bar Real Time Window displays the load applied to the sensor as it is happening in real time The Properties of this display can be changed in the File pull down menu or by clicking the right mouse button Properties Realtimes 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 22 Menu Bar provides drop down menus used to control the program It is located at the top of the Main Window The Main Menu as it appears when focus is on a Movie Window File Edt View Took Window Frames Displayed Help The Main Menu as it appears when focus is on a Real time Window File Edt View Record Took Window Help Note for more information see the Main Menu section Too
30. e file Save As will save the current movie with the specific file name and location of your choice ELF movie files must have the extension flf Your system may limit filenames to eight characters This menu item can be used to save a movie file under more than one filename Save As EA Eg Save in C Samples et Eee me SESH Save as type ELF Movie Fies A Cancel if Save As ASCII saves the current Movie frame as an ASCII file with the extension csv Since these files are in ASCII comma separated value format they can be imported into a spreadsheet program e g MS Excel or they can be opened in a text editor or word processing program e g MS Word in order to review and manipulate the data Save As El Ei Save irc C Samples pt Eee Cancel aa 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 27 The force data is displayed as however many sensors you are measuring 1 16 the first is the elapsed time in seconds and the others are the applied force value in the selected units at that point shown below A data point is recorded each time the sensor data is read so many more data points are recorded when Fast Recording is used refer to the Settings menu item Seconds Sensor1 Sensor2 Sensor3 0 7 894737 5 263158 5 263158 44 73684 15 78947 5 263158 97 36842 9210526 15 78947 0 375 1342105 171 0524 73 68421 Edit Menu Edit Menu same when focus is on either
31. e loaded Open Ed EI Look in L Samples ef ES ES MovieCaibration CLE File mames MovieCalbration LLB Files of type Calibration Files clb E __ Cancel Open as read only A Save Calibration allows you to save your current calibration as a file for future use When this item is selected a Save As dialog box appears and the calibration file can be saved with the specific file name and location of your choice Calibration files must have the extension clb The Sensitivity setting is also saved with the calibration file Save irc O Samples e ceke Movis aibr ation LE File nane Is ampleCalibralion Save as lype Calibration Files clb Cancel p A 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 38 Select Colors allows you to customize the background color as well as the trace color for each EZF device in your View windows When this item is selected the Select Graph Colors dialog box appears By clicking on either Trace Color or Background Color an MS Windows color palette becomes available and you can select one of the standard colors or create your own custom color for each of the COM ports sensors The color you choose will be used for all Movie and Real time Windows and will be set as the default color To restore the original color select the Default All Colors button Select Graph Colors Set Trace Color Trace Color Default Al Colors Color Basic co
32. ected The Drop down list shows the currently available COM ports ports that are communicating with windows applications Configure Wireless COM Port COM Port COM5 CO Cancel COMS COMS 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 60 6 After selecting the desired COM port the Configure Sensor Port Identity dialog opens Configure Sensor Port Identity COMS Wireless Configuration Cancel Hame COMS Channel 12 11 to 25 Listen Sensor Device Address Mame Clear Sensor Config ex 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 7 Press the Listen button to start the Auto discovery process This process will Listen for any wireless Transmitters that are communicating with connected to the Hub and automatically populate them into the available slots 1 through 8 The Sensor Device Address is input automatically by the detection process By default the Auto discovery process provides an automatic name for each connected Transmitter in the Name field This name is Autodis followed by the number 1 8 To change this name overwrite the default name Providing a unique name for each Transmitter is useful if the user wishes to differentiate between multiple Transmitters within the software Note The Auto discovery process does not discover devices based on any particular order For this reason you may want to label each Transmitter and detect them one at a time For instance if you have 2 Transmitter
33. ere you can read about new and updated information regarding the latest release of the ELF software P readme txt Notepad TEKSCAN ELF 3 40 README TXT FILE f November 2007 der rr A A A es h This file contains important information about Elf Version 3 40 It contains a description of all changes that were made to the software in the current version Tip If necessary choose word wrap from the Notepad Edit menu or wrap To window from the wordPad VWiew Options menu To wrap the text within the document window A Ll USE HANDLE SUPPORT The new USB based wired handles are supported in this version of the software e BUG FIX WELF HANDLE RECOGNITION PROBLEM UPON SOFTWARE RESTARTS The WELE transmitters and or the WELF hub might not be recognized dropped upon multiple software restarts This is now fixed 3 WIRELESS HUB amp USB HANDLE WILL INSTALL UNDER VISTA Updated INF file for the wireless HUB and the new ELF USB Handle will allow for the devices to be recognized and installed under wista 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 16 When the installation is completed you will need to restart your system Click the Finish button and your system will be automatically rebooted You cannot start the EZF software without first restarting ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard Tekscan Installation of ELF Mult handle Click Finish to exil ELF Mult handle setup Yeo want bo restar my computer
34. es and applications in which force is only increased and not decreased the effects of hysteresis are minimal If an application includes load decreases as well as increases there may be error introduced by hysteresis that is not accounted for by calibration For a conditioned sensor with 50 of the full force range applied hysteresis is less than 4 5 of full scale I Increase Decrease Decimal Two icons on the Tool Bar do not have corresponding pull down menus They are the Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal buttons When sensors have been calibrated units of force will be shown Clicking these buttons will either increase or decrease the number of decimal places displayed by the software L Last Frame Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Positions the recording at the end of the movie last frame Linearity Linearity refers to the sensor s response digital output to the applied load over the range of the sensor This response should ideally be linear and any non linearity of the sensor is the amount that its output deviates from this line A calibration is performed to linearize this output as much as possible FlexiForce sensors are linear within 5 Load Calibration Tools Menu The Load Calibration command allows you to use the calibration data from a previously saved file for your current Real time window When this item is selected an Open dialog box appears and the calibration file can be located and
35. g Typs Infinte 8 Hz user stops Frame Count 8 Hz O Fast Recording Frame Count Duration Until Stop Trigger amp Threshold Sensor Pork comz COM3 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 32 When Infinite is selected recording will continue until Stop is selected from the Record menu or by clicking its icon on the Toolbar When Frame Count is selected the number of Frames to Record may be entered at the bottom of the dialog box The recording will stop when this number of frames has been recorded regardless of the duration of the movie Recording Request TOA 2 When Fast Recording is selected the Frames to Record may be entered and the Recording Frequency Hz may be selected to the right In Fast Recording applications recordings can be obtained at user defined frequencies between 10 and 200 Hz standard system For the High Speed ELF system frequencies as high as 5 7 kHz can be obtained Recording Parameters Fecordng Type C Infinite 8 Hz user stope fe 20 Hz Recordna Frequency 10 200H2 Mi mba ee Recording F ST higget amp Threshold Sensor Port COM3 COM3 Lirak Pocetage Frames to record 1 5000000 1000 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 33 The Duration is listed below the Recording Type it will either say Until Stop if Infinite is selected or the approximate duration in seconds the recording will take
36. hen a constant force is applied over a period of time If the sensor is kept under a constant load the resistance of the sensor will continually decrease and the output will gradually increase It is important to take drift into account when calibrating the sensor so that its effects can be minimized The simplest way to accomplish this is to perform the sensor calibration in a time frame similar to that which will be used in the application In Flex Force sensors drift is less than 3 per logarithmic time TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY The operating range for FlexiForce sensors is from 15 F 9 C to 140 F 60 C FlexiForce sensor output may vary up to 0 2 per change in degree F approx 0 36 per change in degree Celsius In general this effect will be more significant if you combine high loads on the sensor with high temperatures For loads of less than 10 lbs the operating temperature can be increased to 165 F 74 C 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 53 To ensure accuracy calibrate the sensor at the temperature at which it will be used in the application If the sensor is being used at different temperatures perform a calibration at each of these temperatures save the calibration files then load the appropriate calibration file when using the sensor at that temperature FlexiForce sensors should be stored at temperatures in the range of 15 F 9 C to 165 F 74 C SENSOR LIFE DURABILITY Sensor life depends on the
37. hic bitmap image of the current window Once copied to the clipboard this data can be pasted into other Windows applications by selecting Edit gt gt Paste 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 65 D Drift Drift is the change in sensor output when a constant force is applied over a period of time If the sensor is kept under a constant load the resistance of the sensor will continually decrease and the output will gradually increase It is important to take Drift into account when calibrating the sensor so that its effects can be minimized The simplest way to accomplish this is to perform the sensor calibration in a time frame similar to that which will be used in the application In FlexiForce sensors drift is less than 3 logarithmic time Duration Refers to a setting within the Recording Parameters dialog box The Duration is listed below the Recording Type it will either say Until Stop if Infinite is selected or the approximate duration in seconds the recording will take to complete if Frame Count is specified See Recording Parameters E ELF Hardware The ELF hardware consists of the sensor handle s ELF software and the FlexiForce sensor s ELF Software The ELF software is an 8 bit application that is compatible with Microsoft MS Windows 2000 XP Vista The software allows you to view a graphical representation of the force on the sensor in real time record this information as a movie and review and analyze
38. ibrate the sensor and adjust the system sensitivity Refer to the Calibration section for the complete calibration procedure and a thorough description of the process ai O3 lt o 4 Y ra i Best Fe Linear O Piece wise meai Paani r Hutpont Calibration Cal Force fi Add Pork Remove Pont In the Calibration dialog box the calibration load is entered under Cal Force by typing in the value and selecting the appropriate units Grams Kilograms Newtons Pounds Clicking the OK button will then begin the calibration process The resulting calibration can be saved as a file by selecting Save Calibration under the same Tools menu 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 36 Calibration E Cabbration Options OOO 4 o _ ie Best F Linear Parame PodfDence coma Mat EA Ms Approx matianga 3 68 4 00 Cal Force fi If you wish to recalibrate the sensor during the same testing session you may either select File gt New to get a new Real time Window or select Tools gt Uncalibrate to reset the calibration of the current window The current calibration will be saved between sessions unless Uncalibrate is selected A dialog prompt will open asking if you are sure you want to uncalibrate It is usually a good idea to save your calibration file before you uncalibrate as there is no way to retrieve your calibration once you use this command and click OK in the mes
39. ice output no longer varies with applied force The saturation force of each sensor is based on the maximum recommended force specified by Tekscan which is printed on the system packaging or the actual sensor along with the sensitivity Sensors are available in three force ranges Low Medium and High which have specified maximum forces of 25 150 and 1000 Ibf respectively The sensor s effective force range up to the specified maximum can be altered by adjusting the system sensitivity Decreasing the sensitivity setting 1 to 20 possible will increase the force range displayed as Approx Max Range and saturation force of the sensor and vice versa It is essential that the sensors do not become saturated during testing See Sensitivity and Calibration Save As File Menu The Save As command will save the current movie with the specific file name and location of your choice ELF movie files must have the extension flf This menu item can be used to save a movie file under more than one filename Save as ASCII File Menu The Save As ASCII command saves the current Movie frame as an ASCII file with the extension csv Since these files are in ASCII comma separated value format they can be imported into a spreadsheet program e g MS Excel or they can be opened in a text editor or word processing program e g MS Word in order to review and manipulate the data Save Calibration Tools Menu The Save Calibration com
40. ing Type Heco Henen ick C Frame Count 8 Hz E cea O Fast Recording dra Frame Counl Hecordna Hequerer 10 200 i Help Duration Until Stop M Trigger amp Threshold Device Name Coma Tiipger Force 20 Unit pelcentage Threshold 0 0 Frames to record 1 650001 Uncalibrated Calibrated ELF Hi Speed Recording Parameters If you have purchased the EZF Hi Speed system the software will record at a higher range of speeds up to 5760 Hz and your Recording Parameters dialog box will look slightly different Your choices for Recording Type include Infinite Frame Count and High Speed Recording Parameters Hi speed Frequency Hz 360 Recording Type Infinite 8 Hz user stops Frame Court 8 Hz 1920 High Speed Frame Count C 3640 5760 Trigger amp T nes hod aa Sensu Pot com7 COM Trigger Force jo 0 Unit percentage 7 Threshold 0 0 Frames lo record 1 11520000 f 000 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 35 Tools Menu Tools Menu when focus is on a Real time Tools Menu when focus is on a Movie Window Window Fie Ede View Record Tools Window Help Fie Edit view Tools Window Frames Displayed Help Select Colors Change Unit Calbrate Uncalbrate Load Calibration Save Calibration Select Colors Change Unit Change Sensitivity Zeroing Preload Calibrate Opens the EZF Calibration dialog box which enables you to cal
41. iscovery for the Wireless ELF SySICM scccccccccucccsueessueenaueenaueenaeessnsessuessanensenenseesaeessaaessasesansenaags 59 Auto discovery with Multiple Hubs and POS a a aia 63 A zasa E 65 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 2 WELCOME ISO Tekscan is registered to the following standard s e SO 9001 2000 e ISO 13485 2003 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G INTRODUCTION This manual describes how to use Tekscan s Economical Load amp Force ELF Multi Handle ELF Hi Speed ELF and Wireless ELF systems These systems are ideal for designers researchers or anyone who needs to measure forces without disturbing the dynamics of their tests The Flex Force sensors can be used to measure both static and dynamic forces up to 1000 Ibf and are thin enough to enable non intrusive measurement Each ELF system is comprised of FlexiForce s Microsoft MS Windows based software the associated electronics and FlexiForce sensors The ELF system hardware includes the sensor handle with USB adapter and the sensors One of the major advantages of this system is that it is simple to install and requires very little hardware The ELF sensors use a resistive based technology The application of a force to the active sensing area of the sensor results in a change in the resistance of the sensing element in inverse proportion to the force applied After a simple calibration is performed this force can be displayed on the screen in the measurement uni
42. it later There are a number of options for displaying the Real time force data it can be displayed as a strip chart column graph or digital readout Recorded movie frames can be saved as ASCII text files which can be imported into a spreadsheet program or opened in a text editor or word processing program Real time data or movie frames can also be copied to the Windows clipboard and pasted into other applications as a bmp bitmap file F Fast Recording Refers to one of the Recording Parameter options When Fast Recording is selected the Frames to Record may be entered and the Recording Frequency Hz may be selected to the right In Fast Recording applications recordings can be obtained at user defined frequencies between 10 and 200 Hz standard system For the High Speed ELF system frequencies as high as 5 7 kHz can be obtained See Recording Parameters First Frame Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Positions the recording at the beginning First Frame Focus The currently selected Window within your ELF software Only one window can be selected at a time A window is selected by clicking on it and when selected the title bar will turn blue When a window is selected in this manner it is said to have focus Frame Count Refers to one of the Recording Parameter options When selected the number of Frames to Record may be entered at the bottom of the dialog box The recording will stop when this number of f
43. ith a known force 3 Click Tools gt Change Sensitivity If you have the Multi Handle EZF system adjust sensitivity for each sensor if necessary by either dragging the slider up and down or entering an integer between 1 and 20 default is 12 The Sensitivity should be adjusted whenever necessary to keep the force display in a usable range Change Sensitivity 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 47 4 Click on Tools gt Calibrate This brings up the Calibration dialog box f Calibration a ee z Cal tae al BPa MEE VAL i 5 Select Best Fit Linear calibration or Piece Wise Linear calibration Calibration a ond r a h TE o p Mubpont Calibrator ea m m a esae aaa aaou i a co or i a Da F h k Mal cacti pa 4 T aTi Y BJ _ 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 48 01 18 08 Select the Port Device you wish to calibrate first If you have the Multi Handle EZFsystem all Port Devices must be calibrated before you may select Finish r Calbrabon Options F Best FR Lires Peamss E Piece wise nea Cal Force 100 Calibration r Calbrabon Options BestFi Linear Peas O Piece wise nea Cal Force 100 p Add Pairk Remove Pont Load the sensor with a known force The key to an accurate calibration is applying a stable load Enter the known load in the Cal Force field If the applied force is not
44. lable channels are 11 25 Channel 12 is the default Channel and can be left as is RAPE if it is the only wireless device connected to your computer l Avallable Sensor Ports 9 Click OK to close the Configure Sensor Port Identity dialog COMI Autodise poe 10 Press the New button on the ELF software Help Toolbar The Select Sensor Port dialog displays with all available Transmitters Configure Select the Transmitters to be monitored within the software see image at right 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 62 11 Optional Repeat steps 1 10 for any additional Hubs Auto discovery with Multiple Hubs and PCs Up to 8 transmitters can be auto discovered and assigned to a single hub If additional Transmitters are needed a maximum of 2 Hubs can be associated with a single PC yielding 16 total Transmitters The maximum number of Transmitters that can be utilized within a single RF area 200ft radius is 104 transmitters with 13 Hubs max 2 per PC In order to configure this network the following must be taken into consideration Each Hub needs to be configured to its own channel to prevent channel conflicts If a channel conflict occurs the following window will be displayed on all PCs where the Hubs are sharing the same channel ELF by Tekscan A Channel Conflict on channel 12 detected on Hub ak COM Please reset your wireless configuration settings and choose a new channel Note The channel warning wind
45. lbar provides some of the same options as the Menu Bar but with icons replacing drop down menus It is located directly below the Menu Bar at the top of the Main Window Note that not all items in the Menu Bar have a corresponding icon on the Toolbar Open Start Cali Increase Zeroing Movie Recording bration Decimal Preload co Copy New Siop Change Decrease Real Time Recording Sensitivity Decimal Window Two icons on the Toolbar do not have corresponding pull down menus They are the Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal buttons When sensors have been calibrated units of force will be shown Clicking these buttons will either increase or decrease the number of decimal places displayed by the software Main Status Bar will either say For Help Press F1 or will give a description of whichever Toolbar icon is under the cursor The Main Status Bar is located at the bottom of the Main Window For Help press Fl Calbrated 4 Movie Window The Movie Window displays a previously recorded movie It consists of the display area a scroll bar the Movie Toolbar with playback controls and the Movie Window Status Bar 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 23 Movie Tool Bar This bar is located at the top of the Movie Window and consists of the movie playback icons and the Save As icon Movie Lil COMA i in Dh fi Fi kr m la PA 1 40 lhe Ya y re beet oad i E a LCOMS a Fa Wia pe E Mil 7 O
46. le Pe Frame 142 of 142 Time 17 6 oF 17 6 oot Play Play Save As Backward Stop Forward lL J ft W mo po First Previous Wext Last Frame Frame Frame Frame e The Save As icon allows you to save the current movie file under a different filename The Playback icons control the movie playback functions They are from left to right in the Movie Toolbar e First Frame Positions the recording at the beginning first frame e Play Backward Plays the recording in reverse e Previous Frame Plays the recording in reverse one frame each time it is clicked e Stop Stops playback e Next Frame Plays the recording forward one frame each time it is clicked e Play Forward Plays the recording forward Last Frame Positions the recording at the end last frame 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 24 e Movie Window Status Bar is located at the bottom of the Movie Window and displays the Frame count the current frame number vs the total number in the movie Directly above this status bar is a scroll bar which can be used to move to any point frame in the movie Pile Es 3 51 Ibs 2 80 Ibs 2 11 Ibs sy ae oe SAI 14 45 Frome 142 of 142 Time 17 6 of 17 6 secs THE MAIN MENU The Main Menu The Main Menu contains important commands you use to perform functions within the software Some menu commands can be found directly in the toolbar however not all commands foun
47. lors e al E FAENA O i ITE I A E E E E i EEREEEEES ZEB E Custom colore CA A a a im Hie Hed RO eee NJ E a Demetrio Les Lume 136 Blue 211 Eaa Carcel Add lo Cuslom Colees Change Unit This feature allows you to quickly change the force units displayed in all windows To use this feature however you must have performed a calibration Otherwise all force will be displayed as raw values Change Unit ES 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 39 Change Sensitivity This feature opens the Change Sensitivity Dialog box below You may adjust the sensitivity for each sensor COM port Use the drop down Select Buttons field to select the COM port Then drag the slider up and down until you are satisfied Adjust as many buttons as you like When you are satisfied click OK To return the system to the original sensitivity settings click the Default button When you change the Sensitivity a message will open up explaining that your calibration will be discarded if you have Calibrated the sensor If you want to continue click Yes ELF by Tekscan WARNING Changing sensitivity wil discard the current calibration data of the ports selected into this real time window This wil also effect all other windows which use the same ports Go you want bo continue Cen e You then have the option to change the Sensitivity of the sensor Change Sensitivity Select Buttons UN JCOMA Serbal
48. mand allows you to save your current calibration as a file for future use When this item is selected a Save As dialog box appears and the calibration file can be saved with the specific file name and location of your choice Calibration files must have the extension clb and can contain up to eight characters The Sensitivity setting is also saved by the calibration file Scroll Bar Movie Window The Scroll bar is located directly above the status bar in a Movie Window at the bottom of the movie window below the force data It can be used to move to any point frame in the movie Select Colors Tools Menu The Select Colors command allows you to customize the background color as well as the trace color for each ELF device in your View windows When this item is selected the Select Graph Colors dialog box appears By clicking on either Trace Color or Background Color a Windows color palette becomes available and you can select one of the standard colors or create your own custom color for each of the COM ports sensors The color you choose will be used for all Movie and Real time windows and will be set as the default color To restore the original color select the Default All Colors button Sensing Area The Sensing area is the silver circle located on the top of the sensor Sensitivity Also referred to as Adjustable Gain This adjustment sets the data output range from the computer 0 to 100 to the actual force range
49. n or Number and also change the Scale Max Scale Min and Units R Real Time Window A Real time Window displays the load applied to the sensor as it is happening in Real time The Properties of this display can be changed in the File pull down menu or by clicking the right mouse button Recording Parameters The recording parameters act as settings for your Movie Before you record a movie you should access the Recording Parameters dialog box by going into Record gt Settings Within this dialog box you can select what type of recording you are going to create Things that can be selected are the amount of frames speed of recording any triggering options that need to occur before the recording starts which sensor will trigger the recording and the type of units Pounds Newtons Kilograms etc Repeatability Repeatability is the ability of the sensor to respond in the same way to a repeatedly applied force As with most measurement devices it is customary to exercise or condition a sensor before calibrating it or using it for measurement This is done to reduce the amount of change in the sensor response due to repeated loading and unloading FlexiForce sensors are generally repeatable within 2 5 once they have been conditioned A sensor is conditioned by loading it to 110 of the test weight four or five times 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 68 S Saturation The saturation force is the point at which the dev
50. n Options Best FaLinesr Parame PotvDevice coma gt is Piece wise nea E pound F r Mubport Calibration Approx nexiange 5 58 Cal Force 3 i Add Poirt 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 51 Be Realtime 10 T 3 01 1 81 1 20 0 61 14 If you wish to save the calibration file for future use select Tools gt Save Calibration and enter the desired destination and file name in the Save As dialog box Calibration files must be saved with the Ibs lbs COMA pena anna nenes COMS iL I Ibs ma lbs clb file extension Sensitivity settings are saved with calibration files EE Ae ER MovieCalibration CLE Save as type Calibration Files clb 15 If you wish to recalibrate the sensor during the same testing session you may either select File gt New to get a new Real time Window or select Tools gt Uncalibrate to reset the calibration of the current window A calibration will be saved between sessions unless Uncalibrate is selected 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 52 SENSOR PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS There are a number of characteristics of sensors which can affect your results This section contains a description of each of these conditions and recommendations on how to lessen their effects REPEATABILITY Repeatability is the ability of the sensor to respond in the same way to a repeatedly applied force As with most
51. n a circuit This circuit produces a digital output value between 0 255 Raw based on the sensor resistance and the system handle s adjustable gain sensitivity Calibration is the method by which this digital output is related to an actual engineering unit such as pounds or Newtons If you are using the Multi Handle ZF system all selected COM ports must be calibrated with at least one point before Calibration can be completed To calibrate apply a known force to the sensor The software then equates this applied force to the digital output that it reads and performs a linear interpolation between zero load and the known calibration load In this way the software determines the actual force range that matches the digital output range of 0 255 Raw To perform a multi point calibration apply at least two known forces to a sensor The software then equates this applied force to the digital output that it reads and performs one of two types of interpolation between zero load and the known calibration loads In this way the software determines the actual force range that matches the digital output range of 0 255 Raw e Best Fit Linear Calibration This calibration creates a best fit curve through two or more known force values After a known load is added as a calibration point select the Params button for details about the calibration including slope offset and Correlation Coefficient 12 m Calibration Opio
52. n all windows To use this feature however you must have performed a calibration Otherwise all force will be displayed as raw values Close File Menu The Close command causes the currently active Real time or Movie window to close If a movie has been recorded but not saved the software gives the option of saving the movie file Column View Menu The Column option displays each COM port individually with force value displayed on the Y Axis Each column is color coded to indicate the individual COM ports As time elapses the columns indicate changes in force COM Port The hardware which connects the sensor to your computer Each sensor is designated a COM Port on your PC When you open a new Real Time Window you must select the Ports that are to be displayed in your Real Time Window such as COM 4 COM 5 etc Conditioning Exercising the sensor prior to Calibration and use To ensure the most accurate results it is always recommended to condition the sensor by placing 110 of the test weight on the sensor allowing it to stabilize and then removing the weight This process should then be repeated four or five times Conditioning your sensors helps lessen the effects of Drift and Hysteresis and is required for new sensors or sensors that have not been used for a length of time Copy Edit Menu The Copy command saves the current Real time or Movie frame to the MS Windows clipboard This data is saved in the clipboard as a grap
53. n data is being recorded the Recording message will appear shown at right and the Recording On icon on the Main Toolbar will become active the red circle will become grayed out and the square Stop button black color will Recording in progress become visible If Triggering is in effect and Record is selected the Waiting for Trigger message will be displayed until the trigger force is reached Movies created by the ELFsystem are stored as flf files Stop will cause the software to stop recording the active Real time Window even if the correct number of movie frames as selected in Settings have not yet been recorded Settings brings up the Recording Parameters dialog box which allows you to change the current recording parameters Under Recording Type there are three possibilities that may be selected Recording Parameters Ed Recording Typ Infinte 8 Hz user stops Frame Count 8 Hz C Fast Recording Frame Count Duration Until Stop Taper e T raahe Sensor Peet COM3 COM3 Note The Frequency or acquisition rate is measured in Hertz Hz which is the number of times per second the sensor output is read by the software Standard ELF Recording Parameters If you have purchased the standard ELF system the software will record at a lower range of speeds and your choices for Recording Types include Infinite Frame Count and Fast Recording below Recordn
54. name e g test1 flf and select the destination path where you want to save your recording Recordings must be saved as ELF Movie Files with the extension flf Chrl4S 11 Click on one of the Playback Control icons on the toolbar at the top of the Movie window to play the movie forward or backward move one frame forward or backward move to the first or last frame or stop the movie Playback Controls Ml Moviel Hl a CEAAL 3 51 Ibs y 2 80 bs A Bm pg A dd Fi ir ES A ra peta fa A 2 11 lbs j y 1 40 Ibs p0 Ad i 0 71 lbs Olbs Frame 142 of 142 Time 17 6 of 17 6 secs Movie Window Status Bar 12 Select Edit gt Copy or click the Copy icon on the Toolbar The contents of the window will be copied to the Windows clipboard and will be available to be pasted as a graphic bitmap into other Windows applications 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 9 13 Select File gt Save ASCII to save the movie data as a text file ASCII files must be saved with the extension csv This data can then be viewed by importing it into a spreadsheet program such as MS Excel or by opening the text file in a word processing program such as MS Word File Ede view Tools Window Frames Displayed Help Cave As HEA New H i ra att joo se Save irc Samples e 0 Eee Save as bene ASCII Files csv Cancel i You have now completed the Quick Start section
55. nd operate the hardware successfully The minimum requirements are Pentium 300 MHz with 64 MB RAM and 5 MB of Hard Drive Space In addition a CD Drive One USB port per ELF handle and Windows Operating System one of the following 2000 XP Vista See Hardware Movie Toolbar Playback Controls This bar is located at the top of the Movie Window and consists of the movie playback icons and the Save As icon See Playback Controls Movie Window The Movie Window displays a previously recorded movie It consists of the display area scroll bar the Movie Toolbar with playback controls and the Movie Window Status Bar Multi Point Calibration Multi Point Calibration is a method in which at least two known forces are applied to the sensor and then calculated to convert Digital Output into Engineering Units See Calibration 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 67 N New File Menu The New command opens a new Real time window in addition to any other Real time or Movie windows that are currently open The new Real time window becomes the active window when it is opened If more than one Real time window is open the force data will be displayed in all windows in unison If the sensor has already been calibrated this calibration will also apply to the new Real time window Next Frame Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Plays the recording forward one frame each time it is clicked Number View Menu The Number option displays each COM
56. ng sent to a channel e Green LED Off means that after a Scan Probe message is sent to all channels 11 25 the channel is changed or sleeping Normal Operation State e Red LED Off means Normal operation The Sensor is past channel scanning state initial handshake with Hub has been performed e Green LED On means the Sensor is transmitting a message to the Hub e Green LED Off means there are No messages to transmit e Yellow LED On means the Sensor is receiving messages from Hub e Yellow LED Off means there are No messages to receive Setting Up Auto Discovery for the Wireless ELF System Following is the proper procedure for Auto discovery 1 Connect the Hub to the computer via the USB RF cable and turn it on 2 Turn on the Transmitter s that you want to connect to the Hub 3 Start the ELF software The Select Sensor Port window appears This window shows all available Transmitter s and Sensor Ports In this case the only port that is found is COMS Press the OK button Select Sensor Port Available Sensor Ports OF Cancel Help Configure 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 59 4 From the FlexiForce software main window press the Configure Wireless COM button on the toolbar ELF by Tekscan File View Tools Help Dia j lt a 50 Go 12 Configure Wireless COM Configure a Wireless COM Port 5 The Configure Wireless COM Port dialog opens This is where the Hub Port is sel
57. now Alo wall testa my computer later Remove any dicks mom thei dives and then cick Finish lo complete setup ls y Cansel The LFsplash screen will be shown below This indicates the EZF software is successfully loaded on your machine Economical Load amp Force system Data Acquisition System from Tekscan Inc Teksean Inc is an S0 9001 registered company The installation process is now complete When your computer is rebooted the application can then be launched by clicking on the Start button at the bottom left of the screen and selecting Programs gt Tekscan gt ELF You can also launch the program by double clicking the ELF icon on your desktop provided you opted to place an icon on your desktop during the installation procedure ELF Multi 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 17 HARDWARE INSTALLATION The EZF system hardware includes the Sensor Handle s ELFsoftware and the flexiForce sensor s If you are using the Multi Handle EZFsystem refer to the instructions included Connect one ELFhandle to each COM port you wish to use during testing The image below displays the USB connection for the ELF system 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 1 Connect the Handle s USB connector to an available USB port on the PC or laptop Or in a multi handle configuration you may choose to use a USB hub to connect your Handles Connect the Hub to the USB port of the PC or laptop Then connect each
58. nsing area is the entire load path and that the load is not supported by the area outside of the sensing area If the footprint of the applied load is larger than the sensing area it may be necessary to use a puck A puck is a piece of rigid material smaller than the sensing area that is placed on the sensing area to ensure that the entire load path goes through this area The puck must not touch any of the edges of the sensing area or these edges may support some of the load and give an erroneous reading The FlexiForce sensor reads forces that are perpendicular to the sensor plane Applications that impart shear forces could reduce the life of the sensor If the application will place a shear force on the sensor it should be protected by covering it with a more resilient material If it is necessary to mount the sensor to a surface it is recommended that you use tape when possible Adhesives may also be used but make sure that the adhesive will not degrade the substrate polyester material of the sensor before using it in an application Adhesives should not be applied to the sensing area however if it is necessary ensure that the adhesive is spread evenly Otherwise any high spots may appear as load on the sensor SATURATION The Saturation force is the point at which device output no longer varies with applied force The saturation force of each sensor is based on the maximum recommended force specified by Tekscan which is prin
59. nt view properties Copies of Real time Windows will display the sensor data in unison with the original window Cascade arranges multiple windows in an overlapped fashion Tile arranges multiple windows in an overlapped fashion either vertically or horizontally Arrange Icons arranges the icons for minimized windows at the bottom of the main window Frames Displayed Menu Frames Displayed Menu only available when focus is on a Movie Window File Edt View Took Window Frames Displayed Help Ml Movie1 Af Pile Ea The Frames Displayed Menu provides various display options for the 3 68 Ibs amount of frames shown within the Movie Window along the X axis In addition you can opt to view the Entire Movie within the window s display area The following image at right shows 50 frames within a movie 01 18 08 Frame 51 of 142 Time 6 25 of 17 6 secs Z 2 94 Ibs Je a is n AT nT pip T p T pr pi A ome N i 2 21 Ibs m 1 47 lbs 0 74 bef ae Olbs y Iis 2 0 ELF User Manual Rev G 41 The following image shows the same movie but this time with the Entire Movie option selected 3 68 Ih se py y 2 94 a iS ee Ti 1 47 Ibs Af aa ieee ei See i a ge ath al D Ta Lap ppt tes Epe seit o F Le Dlbs j 8 6 11 5s E lds 17 3 s Frame 142 of 142 Time 17 6 of 17 6 secs Help Menu Help Menu same when focus is on either a Real time or Movie Window He Ede
60. omputer language in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Tekscan Inc 307 West First Street South Boston MA 02127 1309 Tekscan Inc makes no representation or warranties with respect to this manual Further Tekscan Inc reserves the right to make changes in the specifications of the product described within this manual at any time without notice and without obligation to notify any person of such revision or changes FlexiForce and ELF are registered trademarks of Tekscan Inc Windows 2000 XP Vista MS DOS Word Notepad and Excel are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation QUICK START This is a quick look at how to use your EZF system This Quick Start procedure should be followed as a general outline it will give you the basics on how to view sensor force data in a Real time Window record this data play the recording back and analyze the data However you must read the entire manual before designing your application Note This procedure assumes that the ELF software has been successfully installed on your system In addition a familiarity with MS Windows is assumed 1 Make sure the sensors are inserted correctly into the handles Run the program by clicking the Start button at the bottom left of the screen selecting Programs and then clicking the ELF Multi icon ELF Multi 2 Ifyou have the Multi Handle ZZF system and have connected multiple handles you will be prompted to selec
61. ow will only be displayed once per channel change To correct this perform the following procedure 1 Repeat steps 4 6 from the previous section Setting Up Auto Discovery for the Wireless ELF System 2 In the Configure Wireless Devices window press the Clear Sensor Config button to empty the previous Transmitter list Configure Sensor Port Identity COMS Wireless Configuration Cancel Mame coMs Channel 12 11 to 25 Listen Sensor Device Address Mame Clear Sensor Contig ee 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 017 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 63 01 18 08 Choose an available channel number and Press the OK button Repeat steps 4 9 from the previous section Setting Up Auto Discovery for the Wireless ELF System to auto discover the available Transmitters in the new channel Repeat until all operational hubs are allocated to their own channel ELF User Manual Rev G 64 GLOSSARY A About Elf Help Menu The About Elf command displays a dialog window with information about the software version as well as contact information for Tekscan Adjustable Gain See Sensitivity Arrange Icons Window Menu The Arrange Icons arranges the icons for minimized windows at the bottom of the main window B Best Fit Linear Calibration This calibration creates a best fit curve through two or more known force values After a known load is added as a calibration point select the Params button
62. port as numerical values Each numerical value is color coded to indicate the individual COM ports As time elapses the numbers change to indicate changes in force 0 Open File Menu The Open command displays the Open dialog box which allows you to open previously recorded movie files Only ELF movie files with the flf file extension can be opened P Piece Wise Linear Calibration This calibration connects each calibration point and interpolates between the values Play Backward Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Plays the recording in reverse Play Forward Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Plays the recording forward Playback Controls The Playback controls are used for movie playback functions The following functions are available First Frame Play Backward Previous Frame Stop Next Frame Play Forward and Last Frame See Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Port See COM Port Previous Frame Movie Toolbar Playback Controls Plays the recording in reverse one frame each time it is clicked Properties View Menu The Properties command opens the Properties dialog box which allows you to change how the data is displayed on the screen Any changes made to the Properties will only affect the currently active Real time or Movie window The Properties dialog box will also appear whenever you click the right mouse button over a Real Time or Movie Window You can select a display option Strip Chart Colum
63. pplication is not running it is normal behavior for the Hub to be cycling Watchdog reset repetitively Initialization State e The Red LED On means that the hardware is Initializing The hub requires an operational transmitter in either scan mode or normal operation mode to complete its initialization Initialization is complete when the Red LED blinks continually Normal Operation State e Green LED On indicates the Hub is receiving messages from USB and passing them to the sensor Green LED Off indicates No messages to receive Yellow LED On indicates the Hub is receiving messages from Sensor and passing those to the USB Yellow LED Off indicates there are No messages to receive Blinking Red LED indicates idle state and ready to process RF and PC messages e Steady Red LED indicates a Communication error collision is detected either with USB or RE connection Wireless ELF Transmitter LED states Power Up e All LEDs blink once during normal power up e All LEDs blink twice if power up is due to watchdog reset 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 58 Diagnostics e If the sensor does not receive keep alive messages from Hub the yellow LED turns on and watchdog reset occurs Note If the sensor is not in range of any Hubs it is normal behavior for the Sensor to cycle through Watchdog reset repetitively Channel scanning state e Red LED On means Channel Scanning state e Green LED On means a Scan Probe message is bei
64. rames has been recorded regardless of the duration of the movie See Recording Parameters Frames Displayed A submenu of the Main Menu The Frames Displayed Menu provides various display options for the amount of frames shown within the Movie Window along the X axis In addition you can opt to view the Entire Movie within the window s display area H Handle The handle is a piece of hardware that gathers data from the sensor processes it and sends it to your computer through a USB port See ELF Hardware and COM Port Help Topics Help Menu The Help Topics command opens the help file associated with the Multi Channel ELF software About ELF opens the About ELF dialog box which displays the software and hardware device version numbers for your ELF system and gives you information on how to contact FlexiForce Hi Speed Recording Parameters Refers to the options available under the Recording Parameters dialog box If you have purchased the ELF Hi Speed system the software will record at a higher range of speeds and your Recording Parameters dialog box will look slightly different Your choices for Recording Type include Infinite Frame Count and High Speed See Recording Parameters 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 66 Hysteresis Hysteresis is the difference in the sensor output response during incremental step loading and unloading without going back to zero between measurements at the same forces For static forc
65. read and an 8 bit analog to digital converter changes the output to a digital value in the range of 0 to 255 There are three types of FlexiForce sensors available as outlined in the chart below A 201 For use with your own electronics Force ranges A201 1 0 1 lb A201 25 0 25 Ibs and A201 100 0 1000 lbs Force ranges Low 0 25 Ib Medium 0 150 Ib and High 0 1000 Ib Force ranges Low 0 25 lb Medium 0 150 Ib and High 0 1000 Ib SENSOR HANDLE The sensor s tab is placed into the sensor handle The handle gathers data from the sensor processes it and sends it to your computer through a USB connection Note Our previous systems shipped with Serial handles It is not recommended to use both the Setial ELF and USB ELF handles simultaneously SCREEN DISPLAY This section is a comprehensive look at the LF screen display Each component of the display as well as each Main Menu option will be described in detail Note Familiarity with MS Windows is assumed so menu items that have the same function in standard Windows applications are not described in this manual Main Window When you initiate the ELF software program the Main Window is displayed on your computer screen The Main Window consists of the Menu Bar Tool Bar and Main Status Bar and may contain one or more Real time or Movie Windows The window that is selected is considered the active window Only one window can be active at one time and the titl
66. s Tile Window Menu The Tile command arranges multiple windows in an overlapped fashion either vertically or horizontally Toolbar The Toolbar provides some of the same options as the Menu Bar but with icons replacing drop down menus It is located directly below the Menu Bar at the top of the Main Window Note that not all items in the Menu Bar have a corresponding icon on the Tool Bar Toolbar View Menu The Tool Bar option is used to display or hide the Movie and Main Tool Bars These tool bars can be toggled by clicking this menu item on and off If a Real time window is active this menu item affects the Main Tool Bar If a Movie window is active this menu item affects the Movie Tool Bar Trigger Force See Triggering Triggering Refers to the Recording Parameters dialog box This dialog box allows you to trigger the start of a recording based on a force value If you enter a value in the Trigger Force field and select the appropriate measurement units recording will not begin until that force is exerted on the sensor Enter a zero in this field to disable triggering Only one Trigger Force value may be entered and will apply to all sensors being used for testing See Recording Parameters U Uncalibrate Tools Menu The Uncalibrate command removes the sensor s calibration data When this item is selected a dialog box will appear giving the option of canceling the Uncalibrate operation Uncalibrate
67. s connected label the Transmitters 1 and 2 Then turn on Transmitter 1 Press the Listen button and when the Transmitter is detected and the Sensor Device Address is listed in slot 1 in the dialog provide a useful name for the Transmitter in the Name field Next turn on Transmitter 2 and repeat the process In this way each Transmitter is detected one at a time and logically Named one at a time 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 61 Configure Sensor Port Identity COM Wireless Configuration Hame coms Channel 12 Eanes 11 to 25 Sensor Device Address Name 00 13 42 00 40 00 30 7E Autodis1 00 13 42 00 40 00 30 36 Autodis2 Clear Sensor Config ex O0 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 8 Once each Transmitter is detected press the Stop Listen button Note The Listen Stop Listen button is a toggle When Listening for a signal the text on the button changes to Stop Listen and when not actively listening for a signal the text on the button changes to Listen If you wish to clear the Transmitters from the Detected list at any point in time click the Clear Sensor Config Button All connected Transmitters are cleared and their connection is dropped from the Hub If you have more than one wireless device connected to your computer for example if you have 2 Hubs connected make sure they are assigned different channels in the Channel field at the top of the dialog Avai
68. sage prompt below ELF by Tekscan El Do you really want bo uncalbrater Uncalibration wall effect all of your real time windows cas Calibration Ea Calibration Optio mo PetDevice coma gt Piece wise ine ito pound Sensitivity or Adjustable Gain is also adjusted LC Force pounds TI in the Calibration dialog box The Sensitivity Mukiport Calibration should be adjusted whenever necessary to keep the force display in a usable range Sensitivity settings are saved between sessions and are included with calibration files The sensitivity adjustment is described in detail in the Calibration Procedure f Best Fk Linear Cal Force fi 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 37 Uncalibrate This option removes the sensor s calibration data When this item is selected a dialog box will appear giving the option of canceling the Uncalibrate operation Uncalibrate does not affect the Sensitivity setting ELF by Tekscan Ea Do you really want bo uncalbrater Uncalibration will effect all of your real time windows Load Calibration allows you to use the calibration data from a previously saved file for your current Real time Window When this item is selected an Open dialog box appears and the calibration file can be located and opened Only EZF calibration files extension clb can be loaded The Sensitivity setting that was saved with the calibration file will also b
69. setup ELF Muli handle Setup is preparing the InstallShield Wizard which will guide you through the rest of lhe sehup process Please wail Bret ee i ee A O lla Prel Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for ELF Mulihandie The InelalS hielo Wizard vil install ELF Mulli hande on you comouler To contre chek Hed 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 13 You will be taken to the License Agreement page When you have read the License and agree to the terms click the Next button to continue with your installation ELF Multi handle InstallShield Wizard ELF Multi handle License Agreement Engish Tekcan Inc Solwae License Agreement Single Use License PLEASE READ THIS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT LICENSE CAREFULLY BEFORE PRESSING THE AGREE BUTTON EY PRESSING AGREE YOU ARE GREEING TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE IF OU DO NOT GAEE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE PRESS DISAGREE AND IF IC4BLE RETURN THE TERSCAN SOFTWARE TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU OBTAINED IT FOR 4 REFUND accept the terms of the licence agreement do not accept the terms of the license agreemert lt Back Ned gt Cancel atals feld Next the installation program will copy the necessary files to your computer The default location is C Tekscan Elf however you can change this location by clicking the Change button and designating a destination of your choice on your computer s hard drive
70. stable an error message will appear which requires you to either accept or cancel the current calibration ELF User Manual Rev G 49 It is recommended that you stabilize the force otherwise your calibration may be inaccurate In the example below we have loaded the sensor with a 1 pound weight at 20 R Aea imei 105s 205s 30s 40s 50 esate ESE Bea Fi Linear Paas Pea Deviee foo al Piece wise Inea FEAR IAE LENA 9 Click Add Point A point will appear in the Multipoint Calibration box shown above 10 Repeat the steps with as many known loads as you wish 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 50 11 If you wish to discard any points click to highlight them in the Force Raw column Then select Remove Point Labbrabor Option eee 7 Of BestFiLinear Paame PodDevce Coma is Piece wise lineal Force ind pounds x Cancel Multipont Calibraticn i Help Appia mariang 5 98 Cal Force 3 j Add Point Remove Fiort 12 If you have the Multi Handle EZF system continue selecting Port Devices and adding as many known loads as you wish until at least one calibration point has been added for each sensor 13 Once all Calibration points have been added for all Ports Devices click Finish The Real time window will now display force in units of force rather than raw force Calibration Ea r Calbrabo
71. t the COM ports handles you wish to use for testing Click to place a check in each box and then select OK Select Button Avatable Bultons CO Caliteated E COMm5 Calibrated 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 5 oF 01 18 08 A new Real time window will appear The size of this window will vary since MS Windows cascades new windows If the window is too small to view comfortably enlarge it by dragging an edge of the window with the cursor shown below a Realtime 5 186 lbs 4 149 Ibs 3 112 lbs 2 075 lbs 1 0397 lbs FEE AAA ees en 2 2 O Ibs Apply the test force to the sensing area of the sensors refer to the Sensor Loading Considerations section and ensure that the sensors are conditioned before use The force data will be displayed in the window in the default mode which is as a Strip Chart This shows the data in the form of a chart with elapsed time in seconds on the X axis and the selected units default is percentage on the Y axis Be Realtime 1 05 2 0 3 0 5 4 05 5 0 5 6 0 5 ELF User Manual Rev G 6 5 Click on View gt Properties or click the right mouse button with the cursor over the Real time Window to open the Properties dialog box Make any desired changes to the display settings and click OK Properties Realtimes Ea Views f Stip Chast Scale Max E 3 pounds Number Uras pound Pause Carcel He 6 Ifyou wo
72. ted on system packaging or the actual sensor along with the Sensitivity Sensors are available in three force ranges Low Medium and High which have specified maximum forces of 25 150 and 1000 Ibf respectively The sensor s effective force range up to the specified maximum can be altered by adjusting the system sensitivity refer to the Calibration section Decreasing the sensitivity setting 1 to 20 possible will increase the force range displayed as Approx Max Range and saturation force of the sensor and vice versa It is essential that the sensor s do not become saturated during testing 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 43 CONDITIONING SENSORS Exercising or Conditioning a sensor before calibration and testing is essential in achieving accurate results from your ELF system It helps to lessen the effects of driftand Aysteres s Conditioning is required for new sensors and for sensors that have not been used for a length of time To condition a sensor place 110 of the test weight on the sensor allow the sensor to stabilize and then remove the weight Repeat this process four or five times The interface between the sensor and the test subject material should be the same during conditioning as during calibration and actual testing IMPORTANT Sensors must be properly conditioned prior to calibration and use 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 44 CALIBRATION The ELFsystem sensor acts as a variable resistor i
73. tes the load to be applied during system use using dead weights or a testing device such as an MTS or Instron If you intend to use a puck during testing also use it when calibrating the sensor See Sensor Loading Considerations for more information on using a puck e Avoid loading the sensor to near saturation when calibrating If the sensor saturates at a lower or higher load than desired adjust the Sensitivity e Distribute the applied load evenly across the sensing area to ensure accurate force readings Readings may vary slightly if the load distribution changes over the sensing area Note Read the Sensor Performance Characteristics section before performing a Calibration CALIBRATION PROCEDURE IMPORTANT Sensors must be properly conditioned prior to calibration and use 1 Select File gt New to open a new Real time window If you wish to use a previously saved calibration file select Tools gt Load Calibration enter the calibration file name and path and click OK Realtime 100 9 Sn 80 96 de PA mem mmm mmm mm E E E E e e a a l 60 E in Spey RAN pom mm mm m omm m n a m gt A a eee a at cere jE JA LT Lo 40 2 any A ee eet ee eee ee peer ee ee Se ee EA AU z ii e mm m m a m om alee lal Ct 1 al A ir a ll A A a e ii e o 30 Og Serre i o e O EN E F E yal r m Ai a y ve a J E E d Wie h Fi e a mW O mu e 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s rn 2 Load each sensor w
74. ts that you choose such as Pounds or Newtons The ELF software is an 8 bit application that is compatible with Microsoft MS Windows 2000 XP Vista The software allows you to view a graphical representation of the force on the sensor in real time record this information as a movie and review and analyze it later There are a number of options for displaying the real time force data it can be displayed as a strip chart column graph or digital readout Recorded movie frames can be saved as ASCII text files which can be imported into a spreadsheet program or opened in a text editor or word processing program Real time data or movie frames can also be copied to the Windows clipboard and pasted into other applications as a bmp bitmap file GETTING ASSISTANCE Tekscan Inc will provide technical assistance for any difficulties you may experience using your ELF system Write call or fax us with any concerns or questions Our knowledgeable support staff will be happy to help you Comments and suggestions are always welcome FlexiForce a division of Tekscan Inc 307 West First Street South Boston MA 02127 1309 Phone 617 464 4500 Fax 617 464 4266 E mail flexiforce tekscan com 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 4 Copyright O 2008 by Tekscan Incorporated All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced transmitted transcribed stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language or c
75. uld like to change the background color of the window select Tools gt Select Colors The Select Graph Colors dialog box will open and enable you to customize the background color Select Graph Colors Set Trace Color ES gt Trace Color Background Color Defauh All Colors 7 Calibrate the sensor s so that an actual force range can be determined for the sensor s digital output 0 to 255 Refer to the Calibration section for the calibration procedure and guidelines It is also recommended that you perform a Sensitivity Adjustment which is described in the Calibration section T Calbrabon Options BestFiLinear Params Pet Device COM E Piece wise nea Forceunit pounds Multipoint Calibe ation Approx maxiange 3 60 4 00 Cal Force fi 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 7 8 01 18 08 Select the desired recording parameters under Record gt Settings The default Recording Type is Infinite 8 Hz user stops but you are given the option to stop the recording after a specific number of frames You may also set recording frequency trigger and threshold as well as frames to record in this dialog box Recording Parameters Recording Type Infinte 8 Hz user stops Frame Count 8 Hz C Fast Recording Frame Count Duration Until Stop Tope e T raahe Sensor Peet COM3 COM3 Click Record gt Start or th
76. umber Urtz pounds Pause T OK Cancel Help Under View you can select whether to display the force data as a Strip Chart Column or Number Strip Chart shows the pressure data in the form of a chart with elapsed time in seconds on the X axis and the selected units on the Y axis Column displays the data as a single column with the force values on the Y axis Number displays the force data as a digital readout In the Properties dialog box you may also change the Scale Max Scale Min and Units Under Units the display units Percentage Grams Kilograms Newtons and Pound are selected Scale Min and Scale Max set the range of values that will be displayed Certain default maximum and minimum values will be displayed for the selected units and these values can be changed by clicking on the up and down arrows to the right of the numbers Selecting Pause causes the current Real time window to freeze or to ignore all commands When this is selected the word Pause will be added to the Title Bar of the window Movie windows cannot be paused Record Menu Record Menu only available when focus is on a Real time Window File Edt View Record Took Window Help 01 18 08 ELF User Manual Rev G 31 Start is used to make a recording movie When this is selected the software begins recording a movie of the current Real time window data using the settings that have been selected see the Settings menu item below Whe

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