Low-cost arduino-based data acquisition system with android mobile interface for undergraduate aerodynamics laboratories

A mobile application has been developed using the Android Studio Integrated Development Environment to interface over Bluetooth with an inexpensive, Arduino-based data acquisition module. The system is implemented for wireless pressure and temperature measurements in the context of undergraduate aerodynamics laboratories. Essentially, it allows to remotely select a sensor, retrieve a given number of samples at a desired sampling rate, stream data to a real-time graph and save the results into a file. The designed DAQ system, whose total cost is less than $100, includes an Arduino microcontroller, a Bluetooth module, two pressure sensors and a temperature probe. To validate the system, mean velocity profiles are carried out in an open-jet wind tunnel using a Pitot-static tube. Despite a relatively limited signal resolution, the results match very well the ones obtained with more advanced instrumentation.