How to Capture/Log amount of Time a machine (plate saw) is running

[MikeM-SA]

I have 6 plate saws that cut titanium plate and bar.

I have been asked to capture that amount of time each one is running (cutting)

Ideally I want to capture this time (start and stop time) to an excel spread sheet which will contain some additional data.  Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Mike M

[Dane.S]

Hi Mike,

Are you currently taking data that you can use to determine when the saw starts and stops?

If you are using LabVIEW and you have this data you can always get the timestamps for the start and stop times and determine the amount of time that passed between them, and write that data to a spreadsheet.

http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361P-01/lvhowto/writing_to_spreadsheet_fil/

[MikeM-SA]

Thanks for your reply Dane.

I am currently not collecting any data, this is a project that I need to start from scratch.

Though your answer helps, and I will use it as part of the solution, I also need to know which C Series DAQ to get.  Should I get a voltage or current module?

thanks for your help