Do I need an Instron device to calibrate my ELF system?

Question: Do I need an Instron device to calibrate my ELF or WELF?

Answer: No! You can use dead weights and that will work fine. The video calibration tutorial uses one, but it's not necessary.

 

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How do I check for Software Updates?

The "Software Update" feature is an automatic notification system that lets you know when there is an update for your software. You can also schedule how often the system checks for updates using the "Available Updates" dialog. By default, the software will check to see if there is an update each time the software is opened. It is recommended to keep this scheduling option as it is.

Note: The software update feature searches for an update each time the software is opened. You must first close your software and then open it again for the check to be performed.

 

Start by opening the T-Scan™ software. If the software is already opened, close it and reopen it again.

If an update is available, a balloon opens from your Taskbar (located at the lower right corner of your screen) to inform you. You can double-click this Link, where is states  Update Available (shown below).

Alternately, you can manually check for updates by going into Help > Update (shown below):

The "Available Update" screen opens (shown below). To set up scheduling to check for software updates, click the Notify me of update drop-down list. To update the software, click the Run Update button.

The "Confirm Run Update" dialog opens. Click the Continue button to download the software update, or the Cancel button to cancel the update process.

Once the Continue button is pressed, the software starts to download. Once the software download is completed, your software will close, and the Software update wizard opens. Run the wizard to install your software. When finished, you can open your software again by clicking on the software icon on your desktop or going into Start > Tekscan > [Product Name] to launch the software.

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How to improve calibration accuracy and repeatability with ELF?

Issue: After calibration with a known load (via the INSTRON) we get errors of approximately +/-20%. We used different sensors but the error remains the same.

Solution: Make sure the sensitivity is set correctly. (The maximum load should be about 80%-90% of the full range.) Check this before the sensor is calibrated by applying the maximum load and making sure the number that is output (% Digital Output) is between 80-90% on the screen. Since the system uses an 8-bit analog-to-digital converter, this would translate to a “Raw” digital output value of about 200-230 out of a maximum of 255 (8-bit).

In the calibration screenshot below, the "Raw" value is 34 (out of 255) for the highest calibration point.

Calibration menu screeshot

This point, 34 (out of 255) is at the very beginning of the Sensor's curve, which is not very predictable. Since the repeatability error is based on the full-scale value of 255 Raw, you will want to increase the Sensitivity until the load you are measuring will use 80%-90% of the full range.

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