Rugged data-acquisition systems speed tests of off-highway equipment

Just as engineers of consumer vehicles are being asked to shorten development cycles and improve performance, reliability, and safety, so are developers of off-highway vehicles, such as construction equipment and agricultural machinery. From a practical point of view, this means running more tests and acquiring and analyzing more data in a shorter time than ever before. Good measurement data is, after all, important for optimizing designs.

Consider the following types of vehicles:

A tractor plowing the dusty expanses of a Kansas wheat field, powering through the mud in blistering heat.

A crane at a skyscraper building site, conveying tons of materials up several hundred meters high.

A ship carrying needed supplies to offshore oil rigs that must get through no matter how bad the weather.

A truck transporting material carrying tons of recently-mined ore.