Crystal Instruments CoCo Handheld Data Acquisition System

The CoCo series is Crystal Instruments' portable platform for handheld data acquisition, vibration monitoring and predictive maintenance, made up of a CoCo analyzer and the Engineering Data Management (EDM) software. EDM's Route and OnSite modes set up the hardware and define routes before field work, then download data to a PC for analysis and archiving; EDM's graphical interface can be customized to the task.

The CoCo measures several data types: gage readings, time waveforms, FFT spectra and demodulated spectra. Readings include values entered by the user plus numerically displayed time-averaged RMS, peak-to-peak and peak amplitude values computed from live data. A waveform is a time-stream recording of the sampled sensor signal, typically showing machine acceleration or velocity over time. Spectra transform the signal into the frequency domain via FFT to identify frequency components and monitor the levels that predict faults, such as unbalance producing a peak at running speed that grows as dirt builds up. Demodulation extracts low-amplitude, high-frequency impact signals and traces an envelope, detecting bearing tones before they appear in a normal acceleration spectrum. A tachometer signal from any 0-10 V pulse source measures rotating speed more accurately than a nominal value.

The CoCo offers 2, 4, 8 or 16 input channels and accurately measures both dynamic and static signals; its flash memory records 8 channels of streaming data up to 102.4 kHz while an embedded signal source stays synchronized with the input sampling rate. For dynamic work it delivers high dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio, cross-channel gain and phase match, and spectrum flatness over an analysis range up to 46.08 kHz; for static signals it is highly accurate near DC. Weighing under 1.7 kg with fanless thermal design and up to 10 hours of battery life, it stores VDC data in an SQL relational database and DSA data in the ASAM-ODS standard, exporting to UFF, BUFF, NI-TDM, ASCII, MATLAB, Excel or WAV. Interfaces include two USB ports, 100Base-T Ethernet, an SD card slot, audio I/O, a 5.7-inch color LCD and a keypad.