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Set up a scope display

Learn how to monitor data and analyze data in an oscilloscope display.

This tutorial uses a Wireless Sound Sensor (PS-3227) to measure and display the waveform produced by tuning forks. If you have a PASPORT or Science Workshop sensor, see Connect a sensor to Capstone for more information.

Set up the experiment

Connect the sensor to Capstone and set up a Scope display.

  1. Click New Experiment to create a new Capstone file.

  2. Click the Sensor Data menu and select Fast Monitor (Scope).

  3. Turn on the sensor by pressing the power button until the lights turn on.

  4. Select the sensor that matches the device ID printed on your sensor.
  5. Click Hardware Setup in the Tools palette to close the Hardware Setup panel.

Collect data

In this step, we're going to monitor the waveform produced by the tuning fork. It is important to recognize that we are monitoring the data instead of recording it. Monitoring is required for high sample rates due to limitations in transferring large amounts of data.

  1. Click Monitor to begin monitoring data.
  2. Select the trigger to get a stable trace.
  3. Strike a tuning fork to produce a sound.
  4. Adjust the axis scales to a useful range. As you adjust the Time axis, Capstone automatically adjusts the sample rate to an optimal value.
  5. Click Stop to freeze the trace on the display.

Record the run

As mentioned previously, we have been monitoring the data instead of recording the data. If you want to keep a run, you need to click the Snapshot tool. This records a run called Monitor Run-ScopeSnapshot1.

You can now monitor additional data without losing your original data. Additionally, you can display multiple runs in the Scope display or display this run in a Graph display for further analysis.

Determine the frequency

Use the delta tool to measure the time difference between multiple cycles.

  1. Click one of the peaks to analyze.
  2. Click the coordinates tool . A box displaying the coordinates appears.
  3. Click the coordinates box then select the delta tool . A second coordinates box appears.
  4. Drag the second coordinates box to a new peak to determine the difference between the two points. Boxes showing the difference in y and the difference in x appear.
  5. Determine the frequency by dividing the delta time value by the number of complete cycles, then taking the inverse of the result. For the image shown above, the frequency is equal to 1/(0.012 s / 5 cycles), or approximately 416.7 Hz.

Alternatively, you can display the run in a Graph display and fit a Sine curve to the data, using the curve fit tool.

Next steps

Learn more about the Scope display by reading the Scope display article.