Cooper Instruments & Systems ELF 4200 Flexiforce Paper Thin Sensor User Manual

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CF10

6/24/08 Rev. H

ELF Hardware:

The ELF hardware consists of the sensor handle(s), ELF software, and the SSB-F (Single Sensing

Button - Flexiforce) sensors.

ELF Software:

The ELF software is a 32-bit application that is compatible with Microsoft (MS) Windows 95/98 and

NT. The software allows you to view a graphical representation of the force on the sensor in real time, record
this information as a ‘movie’, and review and analyze it later. There are a number of options for displaying the
Real-time force data; it can be displayed as a strip chart, meter, column graph, or digital readout. Recorded
‘movie’ frames can be saved as ASCII (text) files, which can be imported into a spreadsheet program, or
opened in a text editor or word processing program. Real-time data or movie frames can also be copied to the
Windows clipboard and pasted into other applications as a ".bmp" (bitmap) file.

Fast Recording:

Refers to one of the Recording Parameter options. When Fast Recording is selected, the ‘Frames

to Record’ may be entered, and the Recording Frequency (Hz) may be selected to the right. In Fast Recording
applications, recordings can be obtained at frequencies of 10, 25, 30, 50, 60, 100, and 200 Hz. See "Recording
Parameters".

First Frame (Movie Toolbar Playback Controls):

Positions the recording at the beginning (First Frame).

Focus:

The currently selected Window within your ELF software. Only one window can be selected at a time. A

window is selected by clicking on it, and when selected, the title bar will turn blue. When a window is selected in
this manner, it is said to have "focus".

Frame Count:

Refers to one of the Recording Parameter options. When selected, the number of Frames to Record

may be entered at the bottom of the dialog box. The recording will stop when this number of frames has been
recorded, regardless of the duration of the movie. See "Recording Parameters".

Frames Displayed:

A submenu of the Main Menu. The Frames Displayed Menu provides various display options

for the amount of frames shown within the Movie Window (along the X-axis). In addition, you can opt to view
the "Entire Movie" within the window’s display area.

Handle:

The handle is a piece of hardware that gathers data from the sensor, processes it, and sends it to your

computer through a serial port (COM Port). See "ELF Hardware" and "COM Port".

Help Topics (Help Menu):

The "Help Topics" command opens the help file associated with the Multi-Channel ELF

software. About ELF opens the About ELF dialog box, which displays the software and hardware (device)
version numbers for your ELF system, and gives you information on how to contact FlexiForce

Hi-Speed Recording Parameters:

Refers to the options available under the Recording Parameters dialog box. If

you have purchased the ELF Hi-Speed system, the software will record at a higher range of speeds, and your
Recording Parameters dialog box will look slightly different. Your choices for Recording Type include Infinite,
Frame Count, and High Speed. See "Recording Parameters".

Hysteresis:

Hysteresis is the difference in the sensor output response during loading and unloading, at the same

force. For static forces, and applications in which force is only increased, and not decreased, the effects of
hysteresis are minimal. If an application includes load decreases, as well as increases, there may be error
introduced by hysteresis that is not accounted for by calibration. For a conditioned sensor, with 50% of the full
force range applied, hysteresis is less than 4.5 % of full scale.

Increase / Decrease Decimal:

Two icons on the Tool Bar do not have corresponding pull-down menus. They are

the Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal buttons. When sensors have been calibrated, units of force will be
shown. Clicking these buttons will either increase or decrease the number of decimal places displayed by the
software.

Last Frame (Movie Toolbar Playback Controls):

Positions the recording at the end of the movie (last frame).

Linearity:

Linearity refers to the sensor’s response (digital output) to the applied load, over the range of the sensor.

This response should ideally be linear; and any non-linearity of the sensor is the amount that its output deviates
from this line. A calibration is performed to ‘linearize’ this output as much as possible. FlexiForce sensors are
linear within +/- 5%.