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Abstract
The Boomerang is a device developed by Power Monitors for the purpose of allowing continuous monitoring of voltage, current, and power data. The Canvass web application and data storage service enables Boomerangs to measure and store large amounts of measurement data at one-second intervals in the cloud, and enables users to analyze this data in the form of graphs via Canvass’ web application interface.
Basic Graph Navigation
To graph data from a device, click the device either from the “Recorders” list on the left-hand side of the application, or click the device’s icon on the map view. This will present you with the device’s Menu Window, from which you can select a supported graph type*.
* Supported graph types will differ depending upon the device platform and its features. For example, clicking a Revolution will cause the device’s Menu Window to present the user with four graph type options (Stripchart, Histogram, Daily Profile, and Voltage Unbalance), however clicking on a Boomerang will present only three options (Stripchart, Histogram, and Daily Profile)
Zooming
To zoom into a portion of a graph, click and drag directly on the graph to select that portion of the graph (as shown in Figure 1). This will be expanded to fill the full width of the graph. To restore the original zoom level, press the “U” key on the keyboard. It’s worth noting that one-second values are always visible at every zoom level.
Figure 1. Zooming on a voltage unbalance trace
Date Range
The date range for Canvass graphs always defaults to “Last 4 Hours.” You can adjust the displayed time span of any graph by clicking the “Show” button at the top, center of the graph window, and selecting one of the date range options, such as “Last Week” and “Last Month.”
You can also set a specific time range for your graph by selecting the last option “Custom” from the “Show” date range menu. This will cause two sets of date/time inputs to appear in the toolbar, with which you can specify the start and end date and time. After adjusting the date and time values for the custom range, you must click the “Graph” button at the far left of the graph window’s toolbar.
If, when graphing data from a particular device, there is no data available for the default date range (the last 4 hours), you will briefly see the error message “No data in timespan.” If you receive this message, try adjusting the date range to an earlier time span.
Multiple Devices
You can overlay traces from multiple devices in
order to find correlations in the data. To do this, expand the graph window’s right pane (if not already expanded), and then expand the Devices list ( as shown in Figure 2). From here you can add and remove devices to and from your graph. Stripchart graphs will even allow you to select specific channels from a device.
Figure 2. Data from multiple devices
Averaging Interval
You can adjust the averaging interval seconds for a graph by entering the number of seconds in the “Ave Interval (seconds)” field in the toolbar at the top of the graph window, and then clicking the “Graph” button at the far left of the toolbar. Canvass data is recorded at one-second intervals, and is displayed by default at the same. Adjusting the averaging interval to greater than one second allows you to smooth out the trace representation of the recorded data.
Per Unit Scaling
Per Unit scaling may be enabled by selecting the “Per Unit” checkbox in the graph window toolbar, and then pressing the “Graph” button at the far left of the toolbar. Enabling per unit scaling allows you to compare traces from two different sources with differing nominals, such as when comparing data with a 120 volt nominal to that with a 240 volt nominal. The traces would then reflect the percent above or below nominal, instead of absolute value, allowing for a 1:1 comparison.
Trace Mode
To enable trace mode, select the “Trace Mode” checkbox in the graph window’s toolbar. With trace mode enabled, click anywhere on the graph to view precise readings for all traces at that point. To view the trace data, you will first need to expand the right side panel of the graph window (if not already expanded), and then expand the “Point Trace” list (See: Figure 3, below). Here you will see trace data, broken down by device, and then further broken down by channel, in some instances.
Figure 3. The Point Trace List, for viewing Point Trace data
Exporting Data
To download the data represented in a particular graph window, click the “Export Data” button in the toolbar of that graph window. You will be notified that the data export process has begun. Once the data export process has completed, you will receive a message notification within the Canvass application itself, indicated by the “New Message” icon in the upper right-hand corner of the application interface (See Figure 4). Click the icon to open the Messages window, then look for a message titled “Your CSV Export is Ready.” Click this message to open it, and then click the “here” link to download the CSV export file.
Figure 4. “New Message” icon
NOTE: Exported CSV files may be opened and viewed in spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel. However, CSV exports may be extremely large, depending on selected options such as the number of device traces graphed, and the specified date range. Spreadsheet software will be unable to open CSV exports over a certain number of records. For Microsoft Excel 2010, the record limit (or maximum number of rows) that can be opened and displayed is 1,048,576 records.
Conclusion
Canvass’ graphing interface, paired with the Boomerang, provides a powerful tool set for analyzing vast amounts of voltage, current and power data. It has the benefit of never having to provide storage for, or back up this data yourself, and provides you the ability to access and analyze your data from anywhere, using a powerful graphing interface, on any Internet-connected device via the browser.
Jason Pecor
Web Designer
jpecor@powermonitors.com
http://www.powermonitors.com
(800) 296-4120
