SmartSoft Application Software

Our SmartSoft suite of LabVIEW based applications is supplied free of charge with every interrogation system. It's a simple and easy to use application that will provide you with up to date information in a variety of formats to suit your application needs

Smart Fibres provide fully customised software solutions to meet the particular requirements of your overall monitoring system, enabling you to get the most out of your instrumentation. Whether it's a simple interface to one of Smart Fibres' products or a complete integration of different types of measurement and control apparatus, SmartSoft can provide you with an affordable, high performance solution, that is user friendly, easy to install and completely tailored to your needs.

Past SmartSoft projects include: 
- Advanced Data Logging and Post Acquisition Analysis 
- Graphical Representation of Monitoring Systems 
- Report Generation and Event Logging 
- Integration and Networking of different Instrumentation 
- Remote Communication using a variety of Industrial Protocols.
- Automated data reporting to web sites and via email

An example SmartSoft Product Manual for a standard SmartScan interrogator is available for download below. If you have another interrogator type, please contact us for SmartSoft updates.

Important: SmartSoft requires that the LabVIEW run-time engine is installed on the host PC, available via this link.

Current SmartSoft versions:

Interrogator ModelSoftware Version
SmartScanv3.2.0
SmartScan CANv3.2.0 
SmartScan USBv4.0.17 
SmartScan Aerov4.0.17 
SmartScan Aero Miniv4.0.17 
SmartScan SBIv4.1.1
Modular SmartScanv4.1.6 
SmartScopev4.2.4 
Wellhead SmartScopeDPS Diagnostic Tool v1.1 
SmartSonicAEx_0.6

 

Related FAQs

FAQ. What does the message 'data buffer full, losing data' mean?

It means the PC being used is not able to handle the data at the selected speed - there are a few things that can be done to improve the data capturing:

1) In the Instrument Set Up panel > Acquisition Rate tab, configure the number of Channels and FBGs/Channel that are actually connected. If you leave it as the defaults (4 Channels and 16 FBGs) then the interrogator will pad the data messages with zeroes.

2) If just wavelengths are being logging then Basic Acquisition could be used. SmartSoft will perform less processing than in Enhanced Acquisition because it doesn't need to check the coefficients set up in the Sensors table.

3) Use a PC with higher processing power. It can be tricky to assess but generally the faster the processor and the newer the processor technology the better.

Please Email Technical Support or call +44 1344 484111 if you need more help on this point.

FAQ. Can the acquisition system make a measurement at a fast scan rate and then average these values over a longer time period?

Yes, SmartSoft software has the functionality for the user to set both the scan rate and averaging rate. This will reduce the number of data points being logged to file.

FAQ. Can I increase the SmartScan scan rate higher than 2.5 kHz?

Yes, the scan rate is user definable in the SmartSoft software. Table below gives an indication of the scan rates available:

Scan Rate
(All channels simultaneously)
Scan Bandwidth

2.5 kHz

40 nm

5 kHz

20 nm

10 kHz

10 nm

20kHz

5nm

FAQ. Can SmartScan synchronise to a National Time Protocol (NTP) server?

SmartScan can synchronise to a NTP time signal via its Ethernet port. 

In this scenario SmartScan would need to be connected on a Local Area Network (LAN) and would also need to be able to access an NTP server, either on the same LAN or over the Internet.

All the data from SmartScan is time stamped, so if an NTP signal is received the timestamps would be synchronised to that signal. See “Plug-in for NTP synchronisation” in the SmartSoft user manual.

FAQ. How can I convert the UTC time stamp to a date & time?

There are three ways:

  • Smart Fibres can provide an executable app which runs with the LV8 RTE.
  • Use a website conversion tool like: http://www.epochconverter.com/
  • Work it out with a calculator, don’t forget to count leap days!

FAQ. Is data averaging done on the instrument itself?

No on-board averaging is done. Averaging is done in SmartSoft on the PC connected to the instrument.

FAQ. What is the format of the log file produced by SmartSoft?

Our SmartSoft software logs the data to a text file. The SmartSoft allows the user to log the SI engineering units (kPa, bar, °C, °F, µε) or FBG wavelengths (nm).

 

FAQ. Can I synchronise SmartScan data with data from other types of measurement system?

All data from SmartScan is transmitted with a Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) time stamp. The SmartScan’s UTC time is synchronised with the host PC’s clock every time SmartSoft connects to the interrogator. Therefore SmartScan data can be synchronised with time stamped data from other measurement systems.

FAQ. Can I make changes to the software supplied or write my own software to control a Smart Fibres FBG Interrogator?

There are four options for customising the SmartSoft interface software of our instruments:

Option 1) Write your own LabVIEW plug-in

Option 2) Write your own custom LabVIEW interface

Option 3) Write your own custom interface in another programming language

Option 4) Request Smart Fibres to customise SmartSoft to your specific requirements

Email Technical Support or call +44 1344 484111 for more information.

FAQ. Can you recommend a PC specification for use with Smart Fibres' interrogators?

Generally speaking the faster the processor speed and the newer the processor technology the more likely it is to cope with the speed of data. Nearly all new off-the-shelf laptops and desktops would be fast enough, and these typically have an i3 with a processor speed of 2 GHz or better. Older desktops with Intel Duo ~3 GHz processors are also fast enough.

FAQ. What software is supplied with an FBG interrogator?

All of our interrogators are supplied with our standard SmartSoft suite of LabVIEW based applications.

For further information about SmartSoft please visit our SmartSoft Software Product Page via the below link.

For options about customising the software, please refer to our further FAQ below.

FAQ. Is it possible to log SmartScope data via the USB connection?

No. The USB is not active on SmartScope.

FAQ. Can a SmartScan FBG interrogator be operated as a standalone datalogger?

Yes, any SmartScan interrogator can initially be configured with a PC and then disconnected to log the measurement data to a USB solid state storage device or, in the case of SmartScan Aero Mini, it's onboard flash memory.

FAQ. Can you set the time reference in the interrogator?

Yes, the time can be set manually using the web browser interface, instructions in section 2.5 of the Manual Addendum for On-board Storage that is included on the disc.

FAQ. What communications protocol options are available for Smart Fibres interrogators?

For data transmission we can offer Ethernet, CANopen, Modbus/TCP, Modbus/RTU and Profibus DP but not all are available on all our interrogator models.

Please note that some communications protocols will limit the acquisition rates of the instrument, e.g., CANopen is up to 250Hz.