Software Support for Multiple Files

Stephen Hanly

Objective

Develop a set of scripts and then a GUI for summarizing a large number of files and displaying it.

Description

Many users are utilizing triggering to record many different events and/or are using multiple devices. Right now all of our software is written for analyzing a single file at a time, but many customers now finish a test with hundreds, even thousands of recording files - or a very large file that can be cumbersome to analyze (and could be broken into smaller files). A set of example Python scripts which loop through a large number of recording files and then generates a database or table that is indexed by timestamp and recorder serial number is needed. In this table, some sensor information can be included with simple analysis such as max, min, mean, RMS levels, even frequency peaks. If the code is open, users could develop their own custom metrics they'd like to classify files based upon.

Then a GUI will be needed to assist with this characterization, but more importantly, display it. This display should include a snapshot of the mission with some simple plots, maybe a table of the "worst" 10 events and the ability for the user to then pull up individual files/events as needed. This display should ideally be in a format for easy export to include in user internal reports they may be generating.

Requirements

• Open source Python scripts
• Canned cataloging of recording files (recorder serial number, time stamp, sensors enabled, sample rate, max/min/mean, RMS, dominant frequency and corresponding amplitude, second dominant frequency and corresponding amplitude)
• GUI to initate characterization and then display
• Display should include a report function which is a one page PDF for easy integration in customer reports. This report should include a small table of the "worst" events.

Deliverables

A few stages would be utilized to receive feedback and buy-in:

• Open source scripts for summary and plotting
• GUI for simple summary and display
• GUI report generator

Cost to the Customer

This will be available for free.

Example Use Cases

1. Post-processing of many files: A mechanical engineer has performed a test over the course of several days with multiple devices. The test was a shipment from the facility in the US to one in Europe where an engineering team and/or end customer can download the data from the devices. The test has generated hundreds of recording files and they need to understand how things changed over time, and find specific files of interest.