The DAT files generated by ibaQDR contain some information in the form of info fields.

In ibaAnalyzer you will find the info fields in the signal tree for the opened DAT file under the Info node.

Table Info fields in the ibaQDR product file

Info field

Description

$QDR_NotSynchronized

ibaQDR was not fully synchronized. This means that data could be missing, particularly at the first measuring locations.

$QDR_DataMissing

More than 5 % of the data is missing. This can happen if ibaQDR is not yet fully synchronized or if the tracking is faulty.

starttime

The time at which the beginning of the finished product (finished coil) passed the last measuring location (shear).

endtime

The time at which the end of the finished product (finished coil) passed the last measuring location (shear). This is normally the cut time.

$QDR_UnitOfLength

Length unit for representation and labeling

$QDR_EntryProduct

0: If data file is a finished product file

1: If data file is an entry product file

$QDR_Cuttime

The time at which the end of the finished product (finished coil) passed the last measuring location (shear). This normally corresponds to the ‘endtime’

$QDR_Length

... Raw

... Rounded

... LBase

Determined length of the product

Original measured length value (measurement device, control)

Length value rounded up/down to LBase

Length base

$QDR_VirtualCut

This file was generated by a virtual cut. The value of the info field specifies the reason for the virtual cut.

$QDR_WelderEntryTime

Beginning of production from measuring location where tracking starts.

$QDR_MismatchBetweenExitAndEntryLengthAtMlx

The difference between the exit length at measuring location x and the entry length at measuring location x+1 is more than 0.5 %.

Example

The following example shows the trend for the warning info fields from the ibaQDR DAT files. To do this, an analysis has been developed in ibaAnalyzer and the values have been extracted to an SQL database using ibaDatCoordinator-DB Extract. These analyses are an effective way of monitoring the tracking performance.

Here are some example extracts from an ibaQDR DAT file

In the ibaPDA event log window, you will find warnings that require further analysis.

Looking at the tracking signals in the ibaQDR DAT file often provides a log of useful information. The following example shows that the tracking IDs and length signals demonstrate implausible “jumps”. The length of these areas “Tracking_Error_Size” has been highlighted and determined and can be monitored in conjunction with other KPIs, for example using a DB trend.

It may also be helpful to logically check the progression of useful signals. In the following example of a coating line, the thickness measurements from the entry section are compared with the thickness measurement in the exit section.

The XAlignFFT function even allows the offset or stretching of the relevant pairs of signals to be determined. With optimum tracking, the offset would be SHIFT = 0 and the stretching factor STRETCH = 1.0, but here the stretch is 0.998 and the shift is -3.