LabVIEW Platform Research Articles

Evaluation of various benchmark processes with appropriate controller design in LabVIEW platform

Engineering education needs simulation studies and it is the best way of understanding engineering concepts with minimal cost and energy. The main focus of this present work is to provide a workspace especially in LabVIEW for analyzing the performance of the system and to operate them in stable and controlled regions. LabVIEW is a simulation platform which facilitates the simulation of various systems and their response with various controllers programmed using functional blocks that are easy to understand. In this work, the benchmark test systems like DC series motor as first order system, general second order system and a Real time rotary Inverted Pendulum (RIP) model which has been reduced with high order system reduction technique are considered. The test systems are controlled with PID controller tuned by various tuning methods. The PID controller is tuned with conventional methods like Ziegler-Nichols (ZN), Internal Model Control (IMC), and Direct Synthesis (DS) and the responses of the systems are analysed in LabVIEW platform. The common platform has been developed and tested for supporting the performance and analysis of the system with adjustable PID controller parameters like proportional gain Kp, integral time constant Ti, and derivative time constant Td. The performance specifications are phase margin, gain margin, bandwidth, settling time, rise time and integral errors. This LabVIEW platform facilitates the learners to analyze the system effectively with various controllers and their performance parameters are compared easily.

A Lagrangian interpolation-assisted direct laser absorption spectrum analyzer based on digital signal processor for methane detection

A novel Lagrangian interpolation-based direct laser absorption spectroscopy (LI-DLAS) technique was presented to suppress noise in infrared gas detection by incorporating Lagrangian interpolation and nonlinear least-square fitting (NLLSF). An LI-DLAS analyzer was reported for methane (CH4) detection using a 1654 nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser, a compact digital signal processor (DSP), and a multi-pass gas cell (MPGC) with a 16 m optical path length. The performance of the developed LI-DLAS CH4 analyzer was evaluated by means of laboratory experiments. Compared with the traditional DLAS-based sensor without Lagrangian interpolation, the detection sensitivity was improved from 6 ppmv to 2 ppmv, and the detection stability was enhanced as the Allan–Werle deviation was dropped from 1.514 to 0.531 ppmv for a 1 s averaging time. Compared with a DLAS analyzer based on LabVIEW platform, the DSP-based CH4 analyzer shows the merits of compact size and low cost with potential filed-deployable applications in industrial monitoring and control.

OPERATION OF HVAC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVINGS AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

In recent years, energy savings in air-conditioning (A/C) systems has become one of the hot topics of applied energy towards innovative management and efficient utilization of the operating systems. Achieving thermal comfort with minimum energy consumption is the main concern for innovative designing of an air conditioning system. The A/C system is one of the chief contributors to energy consumption in warm and hot environments. An innovative design of an A/C operating system is essential to satisfy a high thermal performance and maintain the desired thermal comfort level. The aim of this work is to introduce innovative design of an operating system to simulate and experiment the thermal performance of A/C units for two identical houses located in Dhahran area of Saudi Arabia. In this case, the thermal model for both houses has been developed incorporating two different air-conditioning operating systems. In the analysis, several physical properties and parameters, such as climate conditions and heat gain/loss, have been taken into account inside the house. Matlab/Simulink software is used to simulate the ON/OFF and the VFD air conditioning controller systems. LabView platform with the data acquisition is utilized for the experimental work to monitor the real time climate and electrical power data.

Laser spot image acquisition and processing based on LabVIEW

With the wide application of laser technology in various fields, how to quickly and quantitatively evaluate the characteristic parameters of laser spot becomes a hot issue in laser technology research. In this paper, based on the virtual instrument LabVIEW platform, the image is captured by USB camera, the NI-IMAQdx module is used for programming.Through image acquisition, gradation transformation, filtering processing, threshold segmentation and edge detection, the pseudo-color transformation display, centroid, long and short axis values and ellipticity of laser spot intensity are obtained, the corresponding display level is 0–256, and the working wavelength range is 400 nm–1100 nm, which satisfies the testing and analysis requirements in most current environments.

Acquisition, Processing and Analysis of Electrocardiogram in Awake Zebrafish.

Long-term monitoring of intrinsic electrocardiogram (ECG) in zebrafish plays a crucial role in heart disease studies as well as drug screening. In this work, we developed a polymer-based apparatus with embedded flexible thin-film electrodes to acquire ECG signals of awake zebrafish. The apparatus was made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using the molding technique with molds formed by 3D printing. A graphical user interface (GUI) was built in National Instruments LabView platform for real-time recording, processing and analysis. The program provided important features, such as signal de-noising, characteristic wave detection and anomaly detection. Further, it could operate on both real-time coming signals as well as previously-saved data, facilitating analysis and interpretation. We demonstrated the use of our system to investigate the effects of the anesthetic drug, namely Tricaine (MS-222), on cardiac electrophysiology of zebrafish, revealing promising findings. We speculate that our novel system may contribute to a host of studies in various disciplines using the zebrafish model.

Development and implementation of virtual instrumentation based on LabView applied to compression ignition engines operated with diesel-biodiesel blends

This work shows the implementation and development of a set of virtual instruments focused on recording the physical parameters of a compression ignition engine that operates with diesel-biodiesel, 95% diesel and 5% soybean biodiesel. The components of the engine are constituted by several individual virtual instruments (VI) with the objective of registering parameters such as temperature (VITM), revolutions per minute (VIMRPM), fuel consumption (VIMFC), emission of gases such as oxygen (VIMO) and rust nitric (VIMNO). As a result of the research, the software development, hardware of each of the VIs is presented using the virtual programming platform Labview 2015®, the calibration of the O2 sensors, NO and the result of the operation of the engine at 850 rpm constant an ambient temperature of 25 ℃, a relative humidity of 40% and an operating temperature at the engine head of 65 ℃, obtain a fuel consumption of 0.0616 l/min and an average emission of O2 10% and for the NO 540 ppm.•Implementation of virtual instrument focused on evaluate the physical parameters of CI engine operate with diesel-biodiesel.•The engine runs at 850 RPM under controlled conditions of 25 ℃ and a 40% RH with B5 mixture.•Engine emissions are constant and stable at 10% Vol. O2 and 540 ppm of NO.

Computer Assisted E-Laboratory using LabVIEW and Internet-of-Things Platform as Teaching Aids in the Industrial Instrumentation Course

Nowadays, the emerging trend of utilizing the internet technology to improve teaching methods has caught the attention of many researchers. The education sector is the particular sector which has been getting the influence to implement more advanced teaching methods, and this can be seen through the application of the monitoring system, remote control, and even data acquisition through the Internet. Therefore, this study demonstrates the development of the interactive system via the Internet for the remote access to the equipment known as LD-Didactic temperature system which is used in the laboratory. This particular system is developed using an Arduino-Espresso8266 and LabVIEW platform which is integrated with Blynk software in order to remotely control the Proportional, Integral, and Derivative (PID) setting. Furthermore, the proposed framework is specifically focused on the PID temperature control system, which allows students to learn and simulate the concept of the control scheme by adjusting suitable parameter gains. Moreover, the system evaluation demonstrates the functionality and ability of direct controlling, monitoring, and tracking in order to achieve the targeted temperature control. These three strategies ensure the reproducibility of the experiment for the implementation in different systems. Last but not least, the designed system illustrates that full integration of the system with the internet platform provides students with the underlying knowledge of fundamentals, graphic visualization, and simulation practices. These will subsequently facilitate the learning process of the students.

An Online Impedance Analysis and Matching System for Ultrasonic Transducers.

Electrical impedance matching of ultrasonic transducers is important in optimizing the energy consumption as well as guaranteeing equipment safety for ultrasonic systems in both laboratories and industries. The existing solutions usually rely on expensive instruments to conduct off-line impedance measurements and deploying static impedance matching networks for each specific transducer across a target frequency band. Here, we present an initial prototype of an online impedance analysis and matching system (OIAMS). In this system, an improved voltage-current method and a phase-difference method were integrated for online impedance measurement in real time, and an L-type matching circuit with variable components helped to achieve dynamic impedance matching. A feedback protocol was embedded in a microcontroller to adjust the matching strategies based on dynamic measurements, while the whole system was controlled through a software interface developed on a LabVIEW platform. Online measurement results showed that OIAMS conducted accurate impedance measurements with a relative error within 3.90% for amplitude and 13.11% for phase across the 100% bandwidth of the tested transducers. After matching, the reflected acoustic power of a 1.00-MHz transducer was reduced by over 50%, increasing the generated sound pressure level by over 2.8 dB across its 70% bandwidth.

Design of an automated particle detection system for Rutherford backscattering (RBS) using LabVIEW

The purpose of this study was to construct and develop an effective and efficient automated particle detection system for Rutherford backscattering (RBS) based on LabVIEW programing for data acquisition, control, and analysis. The previous, manual RBS system, consisting of a beam accelerator that produces the charged ions, a beam line, a sample stage, a detector, and a computer has been upgraded to a fully automated system via the customized LabVIEW programing. The new system allows fully automated flow from the sample exchange to a counter/timer and multichannel analyzer (MCA) control, as well as data acquisition and analysis for the beam localization. The results from the new, automated system were similar with those from the old, manual system, verifying the new analysis is reliable. The new automation particle detection system for RBS based on the LabVIEW platform has been successfully applied for material analysis, with the changes contributing immensely to time and workload reduction.

Microfluidic Analyzer Enabling Quantitative Measurements of Specific Intracellular Proteins at the Single-Cell Level.

This paper presents a microfluidic instrument capable of quantifying single-cell specific intracellular proteins, which are composed of three functioning modules and two software platforms. Under the control of a LabVIEW platform, a pressure module flushed cells stained with fluorescent antibodies through a microfluidic module with fluorescent intensities quantified by a fluorescent module and translated into the numbers of specific intracellular proteins at the single-cell level using a MATLAB platform. Detection ranges and resolutions of the analyzer were characterized as 896.78–6.78 × 105 and 334.60 nM for Alexa 488, 314.60–2.11 × 105 and 153.98 nM for FITC, and 77.03–5.24 × 104 and 37.17 nM for FITC-labelled anti-beta-actin antibodies. As a demonstration, the numbers of single-cell beta-actins of two paired oral tumor cell types and two oral patient samples were quantified as: 1.12 ± 0.77 × 106/cell (salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma parental cell line (SACC-83), ncell = 13,689) vs. 0.90 ± 0.58 × 105/cell (salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma lung metastasis cell line (SACC-LM), ncell = 15,341); 0.89 ± 0.69 × 106/cell (oral carcinoma cell line (CAL 27), ncell = 7357) vs. 0.93 ± 0.69 × 106/cell (oral carcinoma lymphatic metastasis cell line (CAL 27-LN2), ncell = 6276); and 0.86 ± 0.52 × 106/cell (patient I) vs. 0.85 ± 0.58 × 106/cell (patient II). These results (1) validated the developed analyzer with a throughput of 10 cells/s and a processing capability of ~10,000 cells for each cell type, and (2) revealed that as an internal control in cell analysis, the expressions of beta-actins remained stable in oral tumors with different malignant levels.

Development and implementation of novel sensor fusion algorithm for occupancy detection and automation in energy efficient buildings

This paper deals with achieving both energy efficiency and comfortness in a particular room by controlling lighting and cooling appliances of a building by deploying modern sensors like Thermal sensors and Camera for accurate mapping of the environment parameters. The unique part of this paper is that a Sensor Fusion algorithm has been used in different segments of the room which combine the sensory output from the Thermal Sensor and Camera to ensure that the occupancy detection is done accurately with least amount of fluctuations without any delay. The two algorithms, namely, image processing algorithm and sensor signal processing runs in distributed computing environment in two different processors and the outputs of processing algorithms are received in the master controller through IoT cloud platform. The proposed image processing algorithm is effective in detecting both static and dynamic event changes using background subtraction and ROI based segregation models. The system develops the use of this sensor fusion algorithm to provide an intuitive control of the environment and improve the efficiency of the decision making process using National Instruments MyRIO 1800 and cRIO 9082 processors in LabVIEW platform which also reduces the chances or consequences of any fault occurring in the system.

Experimental 1kW DC Micro-Grid based on PV Systems: Strategy Based on NI LabVIEW Platform

A improved design of a 1 kW and 190 Vbus DC micro-Grid (DC-μG) experimental prototype is presented in this paper. The DC-μG includes two simulators of photovoltaic arrays with 500 W power programed each, a boost power convert for each simulator, a super-capacitors bank of 0.230 F, a battery bank and a full bridge inverter for interconnection with the Main Grid (MG); the loads used for experimental tests of this DC-μG were resistive type and nonlinear loads like LED luminaires, fluorescent luminaires and a computer. Management System and Control (MSC) of DC-μG has been developed using National Instruments Company technology, generating MSC embedded into two NI myRIO-1900 hardware and using LabVIEW as programming language software. The MSC objective is keep the DC-μG voltage bus inside of ±5 % nominal Vbus (190 V) in spite of any connection/disconnection of loads in DC-μG. In addition to take advantage of max power of photovoltaic systems, supplying necessary energy to priority loads and the remaining energy inject to MG. The experimental results obtained show a good dynamic response of DC-μG with shorts setting times and small overshoots in the bus voltage.

Climate model based test workbench for daylight-artificial light integration

Energy efficiency strategies based on daylight-artificial light integration have grown exponentially in recent years. Taking into account the dynamics to be considered for control and the dependence on natural and occupancy factors, it is better to use a test workbench prior to setting up the final control scheme. This work describes a climate model based test workbench for the real time testing of the control of luminaires and window blinds in a daylight-artificial light integrated scheme. The established climate model based control scheme suitable for the optimum integration of visual comfort, thermal comfort, and energy consumption can be tested for any ecological conditions. The input irradiance from a BF5 sensor, the internal temperature from a Micro DAQ logger, the occupancy and photo sensors associated with the luminaire all provide input data for the test workbench. A fuzzy logic based motorized window blind controller and look-up table based dimming of LED luminaires are used to set the required illuminance with reduced load on the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system. The anticipated synergetic effects of the test workbench have been validated using real time climate data. The test work bench is established on a Labview platform and developed as a standalone system using myRIO.

Development of Under–anchorage Effective Prestress Detecting Instrument and Engineering Application

For detecting under–anchorage effective prestress of steel strand by lift–off test convenient. Revealing the testing principle of lift–off text and developing the testing in strument. The instrument consists of data acquisition card, oil pressure sensor, high precision displacement sensor and electric oil pump. Based on the graphical software platform LabVIEW, the test program is compiled by using G language. And further gives the program source code. Integrating the texting instrument (LTF 1.0) of under–anchorage effective prestress based on the software and hardware. So the engineering application is carried out. The research results show that the instrument can detect the under-anchorage effective prestress effectively by the load–displacement curve. Meanwhile it has the advantages of high precision, good safety and convenient operation. Through field application, the effective prestress of prestressed steel strand anchor was increased from 54.4% to 94.7%, and same strand dispersion was reduced from 10.2% to 1.7%.

Experimental analysis of a standalone solar photo voltaic cell for improved power quality

Solar photo voltaic cells are increasingly finding application in either grid connected power system or Standalone solar power system. PV cells are being used in combination with other renewable energy sources to form a distributed generation based hybrid power system. Though solar cell ideally contributes lot in hybrid power generation, uncertainty in solar insolation creates disturbances and power quality problem. Variable solar insolation, uncertain weather condition affects the Photo voltaic cell causing voltage disturbance, harmonics and other quality problems. Because of this Efficiency of solar cell is highly affected though harmonics remains low in comparison to conventional AC power supply in both load and source side. This paper analyses a practical set up of solar system in lab VIEW platform and investigates the effect of variable solar radiation on it.

Experimental Study on the Pressure-Difference Fluctuation Characteristics of Slug Flow in Horizontal T-Junction Tube

In practice, two-phase fluids may be often mixed or separated in T-junction tube, and alternating flow of liquid plug and gas plug may cause its working condition to be complex and changeable, so the study on it needs to be improved at present. Based on air and water, the characteristics of response to differential pressure of gas-liquid two-phase slug flow in two kinds of transparent horizontal T-junction PMMA tubes with different diameters are studied in depth and systematically, and data collection and processing are conducted by LabVIEW platform to obtain the probability density function (PDF) and the power spectral density function (PSD) characteristics of slug flow in different periods and forms. All characteristics provide reliable slug flow identification for flow pattern recognition.

Design of imaging system for CSNS near-target beam diagnostics

China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) is an accelerator-based pulsed neutron source which produces neutron with spallation reaction induced by proton bombarding tungsten target. With increasing beam powers and influences on target, near-target monitoring becomes extreme necessary. In this situation, an optical imaging system for proton beam diagnostics and monitoring near the target is being developed at CSNS, which can provide real-time images of the beam on target and beam distribution information. In the design of CSNS target imaging system, coating of $$\mathrm{Cr}^{3+}\!\!:\!\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$$ is used to convert particle radiation into emission light. According to the geometry limits of CSNS target station, a special optical system was designed and fabricated to collect the emission light. When the proton beams strike on the target, the coating on the target will be excited, emitting luminescence at the same time. The mirrors and lenses of the optical system image the distribution of emission light into a radiation-hard imaging fiber, which transmits the images to the GigE camera located at low-dose area outside of the target station. Software was written on the LabView platform to control the camera and analyze the images on line. Mock-up of the imaging system was manufactured to test and evaluate the performances of the system. Some important characteristics of the system were obtained and studied. Tests on the mock-up of the system present reliably expectation for beam diagnostics. The imaging system has been installed at CSNS recently. More work will be continued to improve the properties of the system.

Modeling, characterization and test of a pediatric ventricular assist device

This paper presents a 0D model for the pulsatile pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (pVAD), as well as its characterization and test results obtained by using an experimental hydraulic system that provides operational conditions close to the physiological conditions observed in pediatric patients. The measurements of the physical quantities used in characterization of the pVAD have been obtained by using the LabVIEW platform. The air chamber pressure signal is used to model the pneumatic actuation system behaviour, whereas the pressure-volume relationship inside the blood chamber is applied to model the pVAD compliance. The set of test and validation results demonstrated the correctness of the proposed model.

Design and Experimental Research on EEG Control System of Unmanned Vehicle Based on Brain-Computer Technology

The study on brain-computer interface technology to achieve the automatic control of unmanned vehicles can help people with disabilities to realize self-service travel, thus attracting more and more attention from scholars and manufacturers. In this paper, the visual evoked potentials of human brain are extracted by visual stimulator of FPGA, and the evoked potential vector by waveform matching recognition algorithm on Labview platform, which are used as the control signals of brain-computer interface to realize automatic control of unmanned vehicle. The article explains the basis of related technologies, based on which, the signal processing flow of unmanned vehicle control system is introduced. Finally, experiment on the automatic system control of unmanned vehicle based on visual evoked potentials is designed. The experiment shows that the average time for sending instructions is less than 3s, and the average correct recognition rate of instructions is higher than 90%. The present research has opened up the research on the brain-computer interface controlled unmanned vehicle field, and will have a positive effect for the ultimate realization of autonomous travel for patients with limited mobility.

Real-Time Controller for Research and Development on ITER Ion Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive Source

IndianDomestic Agency is responsible for the development and delivery of total nine numbers of RF sources for ITER ion cyclotron heating and current drive (ICH and CD) system. To validate the design of RF amplifier source, a research and development program has been initiated. Each ICH and CD source consists of two chains of amplifier, and each chain composed of low-power RF section, one solid-state power amplifier followed by two cascaded tunable high-power tube (tetrode/diacrode)-based amplifiers, high-voltage/high-current power supplies, and control system. A dedicated data acquisition and control system has been developed based on real-time (RT) PXI controller. To demonstrate the performance of RF source as required by ITER, two RT control for anode voltage regulation and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) for maintaining constant load power is implemented on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) module. To protect high-power RF tubes and related subsystems, interlock logic is implemented on another FPGA module, which will suppress RF input drive and switch off different biasing power supplies within $10~\mu \text{s}$ . To operate RF amplifier as per experimental requirement, user settable parameters ( $T_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}- T_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ time, number of pulses, allowed number of faults before terminating the pulse, and rise time and fall time) for RF pulse generation are incorporated into application software developed using LabVIEW platform. Two modes of data acquisition function are implemented using NI PXI-8108 RT controller (embedded real time operating system controller). All analog and digital signals for status and health monitoring of different subsystems, normal acquisition mode having 1-ms sampling rate, are implemented. For fault analysis purpose, data are acquired with 1- $\mu \text{s}$ sampling frequency in trigger mode of acquisition with 100-ms predata and 100-ms postdata considering fault event as trigger for the acquisition. In this paper, architecture of RT controller is discussed in detail and various operational results are presented.