Getting Started

This page will get you acquainted with the IOLab browser based software. If you are already know how to use the software you may proceed to Lab 1.

You can access the labs as well as the Useful Links page by clicking on the Contents dropdown menu in the upper left part of this page.

Part 1: Accessing the IOLab Software

Go to https://iolabs.macmillanlearning.com/ to access the IOLab application. The following video will give you a tour of the software: Software Tour.

Part 2: Calibrating the IOLab Sensors

Plug the USB dongle into your computer and then click on “Connect the dongle”. There should be one option to click on after which you can click on “Connect”. Then press the power button to turn on your IOLab device. After the device has connected, click on “Remote 1” to reveal a dropdown menu. Then click on “Calibrate” to reveal a dropdown menu for the three calibration options. For this course you will want to calibrate the force and magnetometer sensor. Calibrate this now. This process will calibrate the magnetometer sensor on the IOLab device to your computer. You only need to do this once as long as you are using the same computer.

Part 3: Collecting Data

In this part you will learn how to collect and analyze data using the IOLab device and the IOLab software. See Parts 4 and 5 to learn how to save and share your data.

1. Recording Data: Click on “Acquisition set” to get a list of sensors to choose. Choose the “Magnetometer” sensor and click “Validate your configuration”. Uncheck the Bx and By options. Click the Record button and observe the data collected. To stop collecting data, click on the Record button again. The magnetometer sensor just recorded the vertical component of earth’s magnetic field where you are.
2. Zooming and Panning: There are 3 buttons for zooming in . The first one will zoom the entire region you select. The second button will zoom only side to side. The third button will zoom only top to bottom. Try to zoom in on your data. Then try to zoom back out by clicking once on the graph. Find the “Drag the chart” button and try to move the graph around.
3. The Select region Tool: Click the “Select region” button and try to click and drag over a portion of the graph. Two data items appear above the graph – 𝜇 and 𝜎. 𝜇 tells you the Mean of the highlighted region and 𝜎 tells you the standard deviation. If you click on the “Trendline” dropdown menu you will find more options in addition to “Mean” that you just used. The next two options are “Area” and “Linear regression”. The Area will tell you the area under the curve (it calculates the Integral) and Linear regression will tell you the equation of the line.

Part 4: Saving Data

To easily find your data later, be sure to name your report. The default name is “New report” but you can name it anything you want. You should also add some details to the “Description” box.

To save your data online, you will first need to login. Then you can click the “Save to My Reports in iOLab Web Library” button . You can then access the data from the “Open report from iOLab Web Library” Cloud button .

To save your data to your computer, click on the “Save to my computer” button . This will save a file to your Documents folder that you can upload later using the “Open report from my computer” Folder button .

Part 5: Sharing Data

If you are working with a team, you will want to share data with each other. The best way to do this is to click on the “Open report from iOLab Web Library” Cloud button and turn on the toggle switch button for the data you want to share. Then click on the “Copy report URL” button to get a link you can share with your teammates.