Capturing the impulse response of a second order system

Abstract

The impulse response of a system is of great significance when analysing a system's properties. Due to the short time scales involved in some cases, capturing this transient response requires a high degree of timing accuracy. This paper discusses the techniques used in designing a data acquisition system for initiating and recording the impulse response of a second order system. Consisting of an ADC, input buffer, FPGA, and GUI, the system can be used to analyse a range of system responses on nanosecond time scales.