A Versatile Platform for Programming and Data Acquisition:  Excel and Visual Basic for Applications

Harold T. Evensen

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Engineering Physics & Physics Division Technical Session 2
Tagged Division: Engineering Physics & Physics
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 24.125.1 - 24.125.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20017
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/20017
Download Count: 2352

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Harold T. Evensen University of Wisconsin, Platteville

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Hal Evensen earned his doctorate in Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he performed research in the area of plasma nuclear fusion. Before joining UW-Platteville in 1999, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Washington, part of group that developed automation for biotechnology. His recent research includes collaborations in energy nanomaterials.

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Abstract

A versatile platform for programming and data acquisition: Excel and Visual Basic for Applications We have switched to a new software platform to for instrument interface and data collection in our upper-‐division Sensors Laboratory course. This was done after investigating several options and after several meetings with our industrial advisory board. This change was motivated by a campus-‐mandated change in operating system, plus expiring software licenses. We decided on the Visual Basic for Applications platform (VBA), which resides in the Microsoft Office suite (in particular, MS Excel). This meets the recommendations of our advisory board, which strongly urged that we use a “traditional” programming language, as opposed to a graphical one, in order to provide our students the broadest possible applied programming “base.” Further, it has the advantage that the platform is widely available and the required add-‐ins are free, so that graduates (and other programs) are able to use this as well. Finally, this approach has the added benefit of extending the students’ prerequisite computer programming into VBA, which is useful beyond the realm of instrument control and data acquisition. This paper will describe the resources that were collected – and modified – by the author, for the apparently novel combination of VBA, 64-‐bit programming, and access to both serial/USB and GPIB instrumentation, and provides examples of implementation. The basic principles of VBA for non-‐experts will also be given, as well as strengths and drawbacks of this approach. We will also report on the first offering of the redesigned course and remark on future improvements.

Citation
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Evensen, H. T. (2014, June), A Versatile Platform for Programming and Data Acquisition: Excel and Visual Basic for Applications Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--20017

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - A  versatile  platform  for  programming  and  data  acquisition:    Excel  and  Visual  Basic  for  Applications    We  have  switched  to  a  new  software  platform  to  for  instrument  interface  and  data  collection  in  our  upper-‐division  Sensors  Laboratory  course.    This  was  done  after  investigating  several  options  and  after  several  meetings  with  our  industrial  advisory  board.    This  change  was  motivated  by  a  campus-‐mandated  change  in  operating  system,  plus  expiring  software  licenses.    We  decided  on  the  Visual  Basic  for  Applications  platform  (VBA),  which  resides  in  the  Microsoft  Office  suite  (in  particular,  MS  Excel).    This  meets  the  recommendations  of  our  advisory  board,  which  strongly  urged  that  we  use  a  “traditional”  programming  language,  as  opposed  to  a  graphical  one,  in  order  to  provide  our  students  the  broadest  possible  applied  programming  “base.”    Further,  it  has  the  advantage  that  the  platform  is  widely  available  and  the  required  add-‐ins  are  free,  so  that  graduates  (and  other  programs)  are  able  to  use  this  as  well.    Finally,  this  approach  has  the  added  benefit  of  extending  the  students’  prerequisite  computer  programming  into  VBA,  which  is  useful  beyond  the  realm  of  instrument  control  and  data  acquisition.    This  paper  will  describe  the  resources  that  were  collected  –  and  modified  –  by  the  author,  for  the  apparently  novel  combination  of  VBA,  64-‐bit  programming,  and  access  to  both  serial/USB  and  GPIB  instrumentation,  and  provides  examples  of  implementation.    The  basic  principles  of  VBA  for  non-‐experts  will  also  be  given,  as  well  as  strengths  and  drawbacks  of  this  approach.    We  will  also  report  on  the  first  offering  of  the  redesigned  course  and  remark  on  future  improvements.  
AU  - Harold T. Evensen
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A Versatile Platform for Programming and Data Acquisition:  Excel and Visual Basic for Applications
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/20017
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--20017
ER  -