LabVIEW Interface Research Articles

FOUNDATION FIELDBUS: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

This paper describes the main characteristics of the Foundation Fieldbus (FF) technology considering both communication levels, namely H1 and H2, which have bit rates of 31.25 K and 1 00 Mbit/s, respectively. Several details about the physical layer, communication stack and user layer will be highlighted. Topics related with the configuration of instruments, as well as the design and implementation of supervision software, based on a LabVIEW interface, will be presented. A pilot plant that includes temperature, pressure, level and flow variables will be used to test and validate the capabilities of FF systems. Experimental results will be analyzed, their meaning discussed and the overall performance evaluated.

Design of Monitoring System for Hydraulic Support Based on LabVIEW

Hydraulic support is widely used under the mine while the pressure is the most important factors of its safety.In view of the defects about present pressure monitor of mining hydraulic support ,designing a mining hydraulic support pressure monitoring system based on LabVIEW.This article mainly introducing the overall structure of the system, hydraulic system principle, the LabVIEW program, data communication and interface design.Using LabVIEW collection and storage support’s real-time pressure information. On the basis of the single chip microcomputer and the LabVIEW for data processing and display, improving the real-time control of hydraulic support.

REMOTE FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY (FPGA) LAB

In today’s world, e-learning has proved to be a very useful technology. In addition to e-learning, e-labs are also being implemented. E-labs can be either virtual or remote. This paper is an initiative to create a remote fpga lab. The implementation of the same is also complete. The base kit used is the spartan 3E family of FPGA which is interfaced with an arduino board through a LabView interface for providing the input into the FPGA from the remote desktop. The outputs are displayed in the remote computer. The outputs can also be viewed through the webcam. The main intention of this project is to make distance learning easy. It is also an advantage for students as additional experiments that do not come under the syllabus can be performed anytime, anywhere.

Capacitively catenary feedback control for open-type digital microfluidics

With the rapid development and technical support by microelectromechanical systems, a lab-on-a-chip or micrototal analysis system has been widely developed for medical tests due to its low cost, simple, disposable, and less contamination. Comparing to the continuous microfluidics system, a digital microfluidics system has the advantages of being without micropump and easily driven using the alternative change of hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. A feedback control system is proposed for driving digital microfluidics by using capacitive catenary as a sensor. In the proposed system, the moving droplet can be real-time positioned and controlled to overcome the imperfection of fabricated devices and the environmental disturbance. Furthermore, with the compensation of adjusting the amount of applied voltage online, the droplets can run smoothly toward the desired position in the chip through the feedback control. As a result, the proposed system is capable of moving droplets with higher speed, compared to most of the existing system, and improves the reliability of handling microfluidics. The chip for microfluidics operation has been successfully fabricated. With the self-designed circuit and LabVIEW interface, the experiments for operating microdroplets in an open channel are conducted to verify the performances of proposed devices.

Balance Control System Using Microcontrollers for a Rotational Inverted Pendulum

Abstract The paper proposes a low cost solution of the balance/stabilizing system for a rotational inverted pendulum. The hardware implementation consists in a multiple microcontroller platform. Due the plant complexity a fuzzy-PD control algorithm was designed and tested to maintain the pendulum in the unstable upright position. In order to increase the computing speed a I2C master-slave network was chosen for the communication between the components of the control loop. The evolutions of the functional signals are recorded and monitorized by a Labview Interface via RS232 serial communication.

Structure Design of the Biaxial Piezoelectric Actuated Stage Using a Novel Disk Piezoelectric Actuator

In this paper, a novel disk piezoelectric actuator structure - 4-9-9-14 piezoelectric actuator is constructed, and it is made of piezoelectric buzzer to drive a biaxial piezoelectric actuated stage. The 4-9-9-14 piezoelectric actuator offers a better balanced capability of forward rotation and reverse rotation than the conventional edge-driving piezoelectric actuator. The biaxial piezoelectric actuated stage structure comprises a base, a V-shaped guide rail, an optical scale measurement system, a preload adjusting structure, and a load-carrying stage. The movement of a stage is read and analyzed by means of LabVIEW operating in conjunction with an optical scale. Stage movement-related signals read by the optical scale are processed. With a human-machine interface of LabVIEW, the movement of the stage is depicted by a waveform chart to thereby facilitate the observation of the waveform chart and the understanding of propulsion of the stage by the actuator.

The System of the Installation and Quality Testing of the Slewing Ring Based on Virtual Instruments

In the process of the Installation and quality testing of the slewing ring , In connection withinjuries for workers installing ball and inconvenience for quality testing of slewing ring , we establish a slewing bearing assembly and quality inspection system based on virtual instrument .with labview interface , the system goes to control the stepper motor forward, reverse , indexing stepping and stopping , in order to stimulate the slewing ring to rotate , so that workers install ball ; Meanwhile, wo can go to collect, display, store the information of the slewing ring , generate reports, and query historical data .

The Fault Diagnosis System of Measure and Control Radar Servo Motor Based on Ship in BP Neural Network

Servo motor plays an important role in the system of measure and control radar. But the motor is easily spoiled because of mechanical wear and vibrating under at high load over a long period of time. And the examination is inconvenient. In order to make the motor circulate dependablely, we need monitor the motor on line, and analyze the fault. In this article we propose a method to collect the motor oscillation, through Matlab neural network training, the diagnose fault is displayed in LabVIEW interface. The experiment indicates that result of the method is accuracy and very effective.

Structure Design of a Novel Biaxial Piezoelectric Actuated Stage

In this paper, a disk piezoelectric actuator structure - 4-9-9-14 piezoelectric actuator is constructed, and it is made of piezoelectric buzzer to drive a novel biaxial piezoelectric actuated stage. The 4-9-9-14 piezoelectric actuator offers a better balanced capability of forward rotation and reverse rotation than the conventional edge-driving piezoelectric actuator. The biaxial piezoelectric actuated stage structure comprises a base, a V-shaped guide rail, an optical scale measurement system, a preload adjusting structure, and a load-carrying stage. The movement of a stage is read and analyzed by means of LabVIEW operating in conjunction with an optical scale. Stage movement-related signals read by the optical scale are processed. With a human-machine interface of LabVIEW, the movement of the stage is depicted by a waveform chart to thereby facilitate the observation of the waveform chart and the understanding of propulsion of the stage by the actuator.

Automatic Controls for the Carbon Fiber Tape-Based Deicing Technology

Snow and ice on roads are hazardous. Many methods are applied for road surface deicing. Most of these methods, however, suffer from one or more of the following shortcomings: low energy efficiency, large labor requirements, high cost, or potential to damage roads. This paper presents the design of automatic controllers and the analysis of their efficiency as applied in a carbon fiber tape (CFT)-based resistive heating deicing technology. Two automatic controllers based on surface temperature—an on-off controller and a fuzzy logic-based controller—are implemented in an experimental deicing facility with CFT-based deicing technology. The fuzzy logic-based controller retrieves the weather forecast information and considers many different scenarios. A LabVIEW interface is used for remote monitoring of the deicing process. The experimental results show that both types of automatic controllers are very effective in preventing the ice from forming on the sidewalk surface, and both are significantly more efficient than manual control in terms of operating cost, with the fuzzy logic-based controller being the most efficient. The fuzzy logic-based controller represents the major technical contribution of this paper, and with certain adaptation, it is also applicable for other resistive heating-based deicing technologies.

“Red Tweezers”: Fast, customisable hologram generation for optical tweezers

Holographic Optical Tweezers (HOT) are a versatile way of manipulating microscopic particles in 3D. However, their ease of use has been hampered by the computational load of calculating the holograms, resulting in an unresponsive system. We present a program for generating these holograms on a consumer Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), coupled to an easy-to-use interface in LabVIEW (National Instruments). This enables a HOT system to be set up without writing any additional code, as well as providing a platform enabling the fast generation of other holograms. The GPU engine calculates holograms over 300 times faster than the same algorithm running on a quad core CPU. The hologram algorithm can be altered on-the-fly without recompiling the program, allowing it to be used to control Spatial Light Modulators in any situation where the hologram can be calculated in a single pass. The interface has also been rewritten to take advantage of new features in LabVIEW 2010. It is designed to be easily modified and extended to integrate with hardware other than our own. Program summaryProgram title: Red Tweezers.Catalogue identifier: AEQH_v1_0.Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEQH_v1_0.html.Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland.Licensing provisions: GNU General Public License.No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 79147.No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 11130332.Distribution format: tar.gz.Programming language: LabVIEW 2010, C++, OpenGL Shader Language.Computer: Intel-based personal computer, nVidia or AMD graphics card supporting OpenGL 2.4.Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP or later.Has the code been vectorised or parallelised?: Designed for GPUs.RAM: 2 Gb (highly dependent on video camera).Classification: 18.External routines: OpenGL, National Instruments Vision Development Module.Nature of problem:This program controls a holographic optical tweezers instrument, including GPU-accelerated rendering of holograms, monitoring the video feed and presenting a user-friendly interface to manipulate particles.Solution method:An extendable LabVIEW user interface, including a plugin architecture, is implemented to provide user-friendly control. The program also contains a component that accelerates the necessary digital holography step by rendering patterns using OpenGL shaders.Restrictions:The rendering engine is single-pass, i.e. iterative Fourier transform algorithms are not accelerated on the graphics card.Additional comments:The rendering engine is a separately-compiled executable controlled via UDP and can be used for other purposes. It allows simple OpenGL shaders to be used to render functions, without writing boilerplate code.Running time:This instrument control program is intended to run for as long as the experiment requires, over days if necessary. It can be re-started without losing most of its state information.

W-band Imaging Detector with Incoherent Illumination

A single-pixel imaging detector operating in W-band is described. It is based on a wideband receiving module using direct detecting circuitry and a transmitting unit with a pulse-modulated wideband noise source. The detector consists of a single transmit / receive channel mounted on a programmable scanner in an X-Y plane configuration. A LabView interface integrated with MatLab is employed allowing image continues reconstruction line-by-line. The application of incoherent illumination generated by a frequency-limited noise source improves image quality compared with conventional coherent sources used in active imagers. An image processing algorithm using a binary threshold level is considered with some examples of image reconstruction employing the detector.

Simulation of A/D Conversion with LabView

Simulation technology was a very important technology in the parallel signal processing research. A type of antomatic controlling simulation system was introduced, which was built by taking LabVIEW as the software platform, using LabVIEW user interface interacting with the Simulink model. Simulation of processing often requires algorithm and performance evaluation of parallel environment. Signal processing often requires simultaneous acquisition of multi-channel analog signals. Taking dual-channel A/D conversion processes as an example, using LabVIEW with VC, it achieves a simulation of parallel signal process of A/D conversion process.

A Novel Method of Predicting Aortic Valve Opening through LVAD Power Waveform Analysis

Purpose Aortic valve opening (AVO) during left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support has important clinical implications in preventing thrombosis and leaflet fusion causing chronic regurgitation. Assessment of AVO has become part of routine LVAD care. Traditionally, this has been done with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) but that technology is costly and not always readily available, especially as patients are increasingly released back to their communities. This study investigates the use of LVAD power waveform analysis as a faster and inexpensive method of evaluating AVO in LVAD patients. Methods and Materials Waveforms were collected from HeartMate II LVAD controllers and saved in The Artificial Heart Program database. Waveforms were then matched with corresponding TTE reports to determine AV status. A LabView program was used to filter and analyze these power waveforms and output characteristics of each wave. These characteristics were then stratified into AV opened or AV closed groups. Averages of parameters for each group were taken and compared using a two-tailed Student’s t-test. Results 492 AV closed waveforms were obtained from 39 patients and 168 AV opened waveforms were obtained from 19 patients. Patients with open AV are shown to have higher average wave amplitudes, and took a larger percentage of time to reach max amplitude as shown by the skewness which is a measure of wave asymmetry. Conclusions We describe an innovative and inexpensive method of detecting significant differences between open and closed AV. Further study is needed to create and validate a user interface in LabView to input an unknown waveform and be able to predict AVO within a reliable accuracy level. AV Closed (n=492) AV Open (n=168) Waveform Characteristics μ ± μ ± p-values Baseline Current (mA) 303 77 305 83 0.85 Amplitude (mA) 139 37 160 50 Skewness 0.07 0.41 -0.08 0.44 Table 1 μ: mean, ±: standard deviation

Position error signal generation in hard disk drives based on a field programmable gate array (FPGA)

The position error signal (PES) in current hard disk drives is generated from the embedded servo data and used as the input for the track following controller. The servo pattern design and the decoding are both quite complicated in terms of the servo writing and servo detection, but they are important for the system dynamics study and track following controller design. In this paper, a novel scheme based on discrete fourier transformation (DFT) to decode the servo signal from a special magnetic servo pattern and generate the PES is proposed. In the scheme adjacent magnetic tracks with different frequencies are recorded to the disk and used as servo tracks to encode the position information. Simulation results show that the amplitudes at the two writing frequencies in the readback spectrum depend on the magnetic head position. The quadrature PES defined by the difference of the amplitudes is almost linear between the two adjacent tracks The simulation and off-line experimental results analysis agree with each other and prove the feasibility of this scheme. A real-time signal acquiring and processing system with a commercial field programmable gate array (FPGA) and ADC/DAC chips was built, and the proposed scheme was implemented in the FPGA to do the high-speed signal analysis. The magnetic head position information is extracted from the readback spectrum in the FPGA and transferred to a PC host for real-time graphic display using a labview interface. The system demonstrates an ability to generate the PES at 25 K samples per second with a resolution around 3 nm. The sampling rate can be enhanced further to 125 kHz if more servo sectors are written to the disk. This system provides a re-configurable research stage for studying the dynamic behavior of hard disk drives and for developing the control algorithm for track following.

On–Chip Droplets Sensing using Capacitive Technique

Significant attention has been given on the development of droplets–based microfluidic system because of its potential and apparent advantages. Beside the advantages of reducing the sample volume, it’s also offer less time consuming for the analysis. Optical and fluorescence among the famous method that was used in detection of droplets but they are normally bulky, expensive and not easily accessed. This paper proposed a simple, low cost and high sensitivity for droplets sensing in microfluidic devices by using capacitive sensor. Coplanar electrodes are used to form a capacitance through the microfluidic channel. The design of eight pair of electrodes was used to detect the presence of a droplet. Changes in capacitance due to the presence of a droplet in the sensing area is detected and used to trigger the microscope to capture the image of detected droplets in microchannel. The measurement of droplets detected and counting are displayed through a LABVIEW interface in the real time.

A multichannel frequency response analyser for impedance spectroscopy on power sources

A low-cost multi-channel frequency response analyser (FRA) has been developed based on a DAQ (data acquisition)/LabVIEW interface. The system has been tested for electric and electrochemical impedance measurements. This novel association of hardware and software demonstrated performance comparable to a commercial potentiostat / FRA for passive electric circuits. The software has multichannel capabilities with minimal phase shift for 5 channels when operated below 3 kHz. When applied in active (galvanostatic) mode in conjunction with a commercial electronic load (by discharging a lead acid battery at 1.5 A) the performance was fit for purpose, providing electrochemical information to characterize the performance of the power source.

A Novel Device to Evaluate the Vibrotactile Threshold

This paper presents the initial prototype design of a vibrotactile threshold evaluator for the workplace (VTEW), which is portable and configurable in terms of the probe diameter (2–10 mm), applied frequency (1–500 Hz), angle of probe (0–120 deg), and displacement of probe (1–1500 μm), and is operated with a customizable LABVIEW interface. The vibrotactile threshold is the minimum amplitude of vibration that is perceived at a particular frequency by a subject and is analogous to a hearing test. It can be used to evaluate neuropathy, for instance due to carpal tunnel syndrome or peripheral neuropathy secondary to diabetes. The vibrotactile threshold (VT) at 50 Hz was evaluated using VTEW and an established device, the Vibrotactile Tester (VTT). These results were compared for validation of VTEW. Each subject underwent Phalen’s and Tinel’s test, and the results of these clinical evaluations for carpal tunnel syndrome were used to classify subjects as symptomatic and asymptomatic. The results of the VTEW and the VTT were statistically similar and the age correction developed for both devices from this study were similar to the previously conducted studies. The mean VT values from the VTEW showed an increased VT for symptomatic subjects. The low frequency range of the VTEW was used to evaluate the VT at 4 Hz, and a comparison of VT at 4 Hz and 50 Hz showed a higher sensitivity of subjects to 50 Hz as compared to 4 Hz. The gender effect on VT was also studied and discussed, along with recommendation for further investigation. A novel and highly customizable device for testing the vibrotactile threshold is presented, with results demonstrating identification of symptomatic subjects. This device could be used to regularly test workers at risk for developing carpal tunnel syndrome (e.g. assembly line workers) to monitor for elevations in VT. Other applications include using the low frequency to evaluate peripheral neuropathy.

Dynamical hologram generation for high speed optical trapping of smart droplet microtools

This paper demonstrates spatially selective sampling of the plasma membrane by the implementation of time-multiplexed holographic optical tweezers for Smart Droplet Microtools (SDMs). High speed (>1000fps) dynamical hologram generation was computed on the graphics processing unit of a standard display card and controlled by a user friendly LabView interface. Time multiplexed binary holograms were displayed in real time and mirrored to a ferroelectric Spatial Light Modulator. SDMs were manufactured with both liquid cores (as previously described) and solid cores, which confer significant advantages in terms of stability, polydispersity and ease of use. These were coated with a number of detergents, the most successful based upon lipids doped with transfection reagents. In order to validate these, trapped SDMs were maneuvered up to the plasma membrane of giant vesicles containing Nile Red and human biliary epithelial (BE) colon cancer cells with green fluorescent labeled protein (GFP)-labeled CAAX (a motif belonging to the Ras protein). Bright field and fluorescence images showed that successful trapping and manipulation of multiple SDMs in x, y, z was achieved with success rates of 30-50% and that subsequent membrane-SDM interactions led to the uptake of Nile Red or GFP-CAAX into the SDM.

SU-E-T-112: Experimental Characterization of a Novel Thermal Reservoir for Consistent and Accurate Annealing of High-Sensitivity TLDs.

To develop and characterize a novel thermal reservoir for consistent and accurate annealing of high-sensitivity thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD-100H) for dosimetry of brachytherapy sources. The sensitivity of TLD-100H is about 18 times that of TLD-100 which has clear advantages in for interstitial brachytherapy sources. However, the TLD-100H requires a short high temperature annealing cycle (15 min.) and opening and closing the oven door causes significant temperature fluctuations leading to unreliable measurements. A new thermal reservoir made of aluminum alloy was developed to provide stable temperature environment in a standard hot air oven. The thermal reservoir consisted of a 20 cm × 20 cm × 8 cm Al block with a machine-milled chamber in the middle to house the aluminum TLD holding tray. The thermal reservoir was placed inside the oven until it reaches thermal equilibrium with oven chamber. The temperatures of the oven chamber, heat reservoir, and TLD holding tray were monitored by two independent thermo-couples which interfaced digitally to a control computer. A LabView interface was written for monitoring and recording the temperatures in TLD holding tray, the thermal reservoir, and oven chamber. The temperature profiles were measured as a function of oven-door open duration. The settings for oven chamber temperature and oven door open-close duration were optimized to achieve a stable temperature of 240 0C in the TLD holding tray. Complete temperature profiles of the TLD annealing tray over the entire annealing process were obtained. A LabView interface was written for monitoring and recording the temperatures in TLD holding The use of the thermal reservoir has significantly reduced the temperature fluctuations caused by the opening of oven door when inserting the TLD holding tray into the oven chamber. It has enabled consistent annealing of high-sensitivity TLDs. A comprehensive characterization of a custom-built novel thermal reservoir for annealing high-sensitivity TLD has been carried out. It enabled consistent and accurate annealing of high- sensitivity TLDs which could significantly improve the efficiency of brachytherapy source characterizations. Supported in part by NIH grant R01-CA134627.