Introducing LabVIEW and Arduino as Data Acquisition System Alternatives

In the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas, LabJack is used throughout the undergraduate curriculum for data acquisition (DAQ) in labs and projects.However, data acquisition techniques are not taught, and other DAQ systems are not used.When doing research or starting a capstone project, students are presented with the struggle of trying to cater LabJack to their needs or learning a new program, taking away from the time working on solving the problem at hand.LabVIEW and Arduino are two programs that allow the creation of DAQ systems and utilize similar techniques.However, the creation of DAQ systems using LabVIEW and the storage and analysis of data with Arduino is not covered.Critical to the creation of DAQ systems is the knowledge of the basics of data acquisition.Introducing these things alongside LabJack would allow students to make the best decision for their projects.Using these ideas, the benefits and drawbacks of LabVIEW and Arduino as DAQ systems are explored as well as the basics of data acquisition in this Student Paper.