A virtual instrumentation system for measurements on the tallest medieval bell tower in Europe

A complex virtual instrumentation-based system for measurements of mechanical and thermal parameters of an ancient masonry bell tower is described in this paper. The main focus is oriented toward the measurement issues and the data acquisition and on-line analysis system, which is entirely based on a virtual instrument approach. Choice of transducers and strategies of data acquisition, analyses, and storing are illustrated, and some of the results shown.