-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 55 www.windmill.co.uk February 2003 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- We only send Monitor to people who have subscribed - should you wish to cancel your free subscription please do so at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * Windmill News * Windmill measures powder flow rate in recently published research * Excel Corner * Data Acquisition Exhibitions and Conferences ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill News ________________________________________________________ Many thanks if you returned last month's survey - your answers were very helpful. There's still time if you wish to make a contribution. The survey is now on the web site at https://www.windmill.co.uk/monitor54.html#Survey Last month we launched an RTD monitoring package comprising Windmill software and a 752 data acquisition unit which plugs into the PC's USB port. We've now made the Manual to this package available from the web site in pdf format. To view the Manual visit https://www.windmill.co.uk/help.html and select 752 User Manual. For more details of the package see https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/rtd-pt100.html ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill Monitors Powder Flow Rate in Recently Published Research ________________________________________________________ Knowing the rate that different powders flow can improve pharmaceutical processes such as capsule filling, tableting, blending and storage. This month a scientific paper investigating powder flow rate was published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics. As part of the study the researchers used Windmill software to monitor the mass flow rate of powders. When doing this they allowed powder to flow through an orifice directly upon an electronic balance. The balance was connected to a computer through its RS232 serial COM port. Windmill Logger, running on the computer, continuously recorded readings from the balance and stored them alongside the time the readings were taken. The data was then transferred to an Excel spreadsheet. From the slope of mass versus time plots, the scientists could calculate the flow rate in grams per second. For more on Windmill's part in the process see https://www.windmill.co.uk/powder.html For the full paper see Kachrimanis K., Karamyan V., Malamataris S., 2003, Artificial neural networks (ANNs) and modeling of powder flow. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 250 (1), 13 - 23. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03785173 To obtain the Windmill software suite together with our latest serial driver (called COMIML) see https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/rs232-modbus.html For less sophisticated but free serial interface software subscribe to this newsletter. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Excel Corner: Naming Ranges, Constants and Formulas ________________________________________________________ Carrying on from the last Excel corner - more tips on naming cells in Excel. The Quick Way to Create Names ============================= You can use existing column and row labels to quickly create and name ranges in Excel. Select an area of data, making sure that the column labels are in the top row (for example "Channel1", "Channel2", etc) and the row labels in the left-hand column (for example "Day1", "Day2", etc). Go to Insert>Name>Create and check the Top Row and Left Column options. Click OK. Each column of data will now be a range named after the Channel, and each row will be a range named after the Day number. To see the ranges select the drop arrow to the right of the name box and choose one of the newly created names (eg Day2), you will be taken directly to that row or column of data. This can save much time and mis-typing with large tables of data. What we can now do is cross reference our table and very easily extract information at the intersection of two named ranges. For example, if we wanted to find Channel3's value on Day4, all we need to do is type =Channel3 Day4 and push Enter. (Note the space between the two named ranges.) This method can be used in place of some very deeply nested Look-up formulas like VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP. * Naming Non-Contiguous Ranges ============================ The ranges that we name are usually contiguous, in other words all cell boundaries are adjoining. However, if we need to name non-contiguous ranges, we can do this simply by selecting cells and holding down the Control key. Once we have our selection, we can simply go again to the Name Box and type in our name. Let us assume we have named our non-contiguous range "MyRange" and it incorporates many different cell references. We can now replace a formula that may have looked like =SUM(A1:A5,D6:D10,Q50:Q57,BB30:CC43) with =SUM(MyRange). Be careful when doing this as not all Excel's functions that take ranges as their arguments will exclude the cells between the non-contiguous named range. As with all things, if uncertain, give it a thorough test first. * Naming Constants ================ Often when developing a spreadsheet you will be regularly referring to a specific figure for calculations. This often means either referring to a cell containing the value or simply typing the value in the cell itself. What we can do is instead of naming a cell or range of cells, is name a constant value. To do this: 1. Go to Insert>Name>Define 2. Type the name of the constant in the Names in Workbook box 3. Click in the Refers to: box and enter the value of the constant. 4. Click Add then OK. * This article by Ozgrid Business Applications. Ozgrid are specialists in distance online Excel and Excel VBA training, plus worldwide sellers of Excel add-ins and business software. Their web site offers many more Excel tips and tricks - https://www.ozgrid.com/ For tips on using Excel with Windmill see https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/ https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/excel-charting.html For more on naming ranges see Issue 53 of Monitor. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Data Acquisition Exhibitions and Conferences ________________________________________________________ Every other month we list forthcoming exhibitions and conferences related to data acquisition and control. Electronic House Expo 26 February - 1 March Orange County Convention Center Orlando Florida USA Product demonstrations and seminars on home networking, automation, entertainment and security. Midlands Manufacturing 19-20 March NEC Birmingham UK Latest developments and technology in subcontract assembly, automation, fabrication, packaging, labelling, materials, CAD/CAM & IT, inspection and electronic components. http://www.industry.co.uk/ Intertronic 25-28 March Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles Paris France. Focuses on design, systems integration, production, test and measurement. http://www.intertronic.com/en/ Hannover Messe 7-12 April Hannover Germany World Fair for Industrial Technology includes factory automation and innovations market for research and technology. Admission $22 for one day. http://www.hfusa.com/hannoverfair/ ISA Ireland 29 April Cork. Ireland The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society exhibition and seminar http://www.iol.ie/~isaire/exp.html Sensor 2003 13-15 May Nuremberg Exhibition Centre Germany Features sensors plus measuring and control technology. http://www.sensorfairs.de/neu/indexe.html ________________________________________________________ * Copyright Windmill Software Ltd * Reprinting permitted with this notice included * For more articles see https://www.windmill.co.uk We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and use extracts from it on your own web site or publication, providing the above notice is included and a link back to our website is in place. An archive of previous issues is at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html and an index of articles at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html Windmill Software Ltd, PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK Telephone: +44 (0)161 834 6688 Facsimile: +44 (0)161 833 2190 E-mail: monitor@windmillsoft.com https://www.windmill.co.uk/ https://www.windmillsoft.com/
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