Data logger in today’s world is no alien technology. Over some time, they have become quite popular due to their functionality and features. Using various sensors to receive the information, data loggers monitor and record environmental parameters over time, allowing conditions to be measured, documented, analyzed, and validated to be stored on a computer. From studying an automobile to understanding its faults to store its behaviour on a chip, a data logger does it all. While using it, one feels that they have access to each bit of information that the vehicle is providing. What if we told you that is not the case.
Many data loggers suffer from a drawback that can be fatal while recording a vehicle’s parameters,
“data Loss”. Yes, data loss. Have you ever wondered, what if the data that you see on your loggers is not complete? What if there is the slightest probability that the data logger could not deliver something that your vehicle had put out there? Have you ever checked it?
When you see certain data on your data logger, what if while accessing it you lost some critical information? Data loss could be catastrophic and drain your money and energy unnoticed. Well, truth be told there are high chances this happens, but no one thinks of it or notices it. But many reasons may be causing it, such as
Increased bus load/traffic.
Poor quality of memory device or throughput cable.
Improper bit timing, wrong sampling rates, or under-sampling.
Improper CAN bus termination or improper CAN bus length.
Lack of isolation.
Chip overloading.
Technical problem with the logger itself
Complete logger failure or user error
data has become corrupted
Data overwritten by another file or corrupted data
What's the solution?
So, if there are so many conditions that tend to generate data loss, then definitely the data being logged is not correct, or one might have missed an important event without knowing or even noticing how much of it has been lost. Sadly, there is not much one can do to detect these losses except a few tests, or you put your faith in a trusted brand or valid tests. Without such tests, there is no other way to confirm what and how much data was lost.