Acqgen DataAcquisition

= AcqGen Data acquisition or control

Acqgen is a piece of software for generating real-time measurement or control software for plain Matlab for EtherCaT devices, such as the E-Box.

== Required equipment To use Acqgen, you need

1. A Linux computer (tested with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS), with an Ethernet port compatible with the Soem EtherCat master software (that is, a normal TU/e laptop).

  Since these laptops usually have Windows that you want to keep, you can use an USB stick to boot and run a Linux operating system from it, rather than install Linux at the hard disk.

2. One or more EtherCaT compatible measurement devices, like an E-Box. The software supports several devices, the full list is in the manual, which is included in the software distribution.

3. A Matlab (tested with R2015a, newer should also work) installed at the Linux system. The software generates a C module that must be compiled, which means the Linux system must have a working C compiler compatible with Matlab Mex (that is, the normal gcc program).

3. The Acqgen software distribution at the Linux computer (for details see below).

4. An experiment to measure or control.

5. Cables, power, etc to hook the EtherCaT measurement device(s) to the experiment, and to connect the EtherCaT devices to the computer.

== Using the Acqgen software