MTS Series 793 - Manual (Page 44)

MTS Series 793 Tuning and Calibration
About Calibration
Introduction 44
About Calibration
Calibration is the act of certifying:
• Part of the system
• Against a standard or known value
• To ensure that measured variables precisely represent the actual physical
properties involved
All sensors require calibration to ensure that their outputs accurately represent
the physical condition they sense (e.g., force or displacement). When you
calibrate a sensor you are ensuring the test system properly interprets the sensor
signal.
Sensors included with your test system are usually factory-calibrated, and the
corresponding sensor calibration files are included with your system software. If
you change a sensor or add a new sensor to your system, you must calibrate the
new sensor/conditioner pair against a standard to ensure the sensor’s accuracy.
You must calibrate all sensors before they can be used to support control modes
or auxiliary data channels.
System Calibration
System calibration is performed by a program that calibrates the analog-to-digital
(A/D) converters and the digital-to-analog (D/A) converters of the digital
controller. You input a precision 10-volt reference voltage, and monitor the
output of each converter with a precision voltmeter. Any difference between the
reference voltage and a converter output becomes a calibration factor. The
calibration factor for each converter is recorded in a data file.