Forrest Mims' Science Experiments

Chapter 15 Using Sensors with Dataloggers

Data logging is the automatic collection and saving of information. Having the ability to automatically log a string of measurements and save them for later study and analysis can help transform you from an experimenter into a scientist.

Electronic data logging provides an enormous range of opportunities for amateur scientists. Back in the 1980s, I would connect a sensor to the joystick port of a PC like RadioShack’s Color Computer or IBM’s PCjr and write simple data logging programs in BASIC. When analog-to-digital interface boards became affordable, my logging became more sophisticated. Still, these methods required a computer dedicated solely to the logging operation.

Data logging changed dramatically ...