Control Several Swiches

[christianwos]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to write a piece of code that will allow me to control switches. I am testing some layer sum boards containing 16 channels (16 inputs and 16 outputs). I want to send a signal through each channel and check the output. How could I do this through LabVIEW?

Thanks,

Christian

[GerdW]

Hi Christian,

I am testing some layer sum boards containing 16 channels (16 inputs and 16 outputs). I want to send a signal through each channel and check the output.

What are "layer sum boards"? How do you connect them to your PC? Do you have a hardware driver for them? Or are these your UUT?

Which DAQ hardware do you use?

[christianwos]

Hi GerdW,

LSBs are little circuits we use to store data in particle accelerators. I am using PXI-6602 and PXI-6251. Sorry I cannot be more detailed, but I am not a programmer at all, I am actually a physics student. My advisor just asked me to work on this and I have no idea how to proceede. I have never used LabVIEW before. Basically what I need to do is this: I need to send a pulse through each channel and read the output on an oscilloscope. Currently I am switching from one channel to another by hand. This is not a big issue now, since we are testing about 10 boards per mo nth, but we are about to get 3000 of these, and I need to be able to do this through software. My advisor mentioned that it could be possible to do this by means of a table(???).

Thanks,

Christian

[TJWhit]

Can you give some more information? Is there one output that all the channels are connected to (if not, you will need relays to programmatically view the output of different channels)? Can you use a TTL pulse to send to the channels or is it some pulse your system generates? 

[crossrulz]

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christianwos wrote:  I have never used LabVIEW before.

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Then I recommend you start with some tutorials.

3 Hour Introduction
6 Hour Introduction
LabVEW Basics
Self Paced training for students
Self Paced training beginner to advanced, SSP Required
LabVIEW Wiki on Training

[apok]

what are the electrical specification of the input/output signals (voltage, current)?

[christianwos]

Is there one output that all the channels are connected to (if not, you will need relays to programmatically view the output of different channels)? Each channel has its own input and output. Relays are exactly what I was trying to use. The problem is that the program needs to be able to send a pulse to each signal and check the output of each channel sequentially. Can you use a TTL pulse to send to the channels or is it some pulse your system generates? Yes, I can use a TTL.

Thanks for your help,

Christian

[christianwos]

The voltage range is between -5V and 5V.

Thanks,

Christian

[TJWhit]

The boards you mentioned (PXI-6602 and PXI-6251) don't have relays. They do have TTL outputs that could be used to latch relays. You either need to find separate relays that can be latched by TTL pulses from these cards or you can get a relay board such as the NI PXI-2569 which can be controlled directly from software.

[christianwos]

Here is the piece of program that I wrote so far. I know, it is a mess