Dynamic process simulation

[bunnykins]

Hi Forum members,

As a newbie to LabVIEW I'm in some need of basic guidance on best way to proceed in developing my process simulation in LabVIEW,  The following is basically what I want to implement:

1. A vessel is initially set at a certain level (I'm expressing the contents as volumetric cubic units).

2. Press a start button.

3. Open a valve at bottom of vessel (opening time is 2 seconds) - then the following steps 4. and 5. happen simultaneously

4. Material flows out of vessel (I have a volumetric flow rate expression in cubic units per second)

5. Material feeds into the top of vessel (I have the volumetric flow rate as XX cubic units per second)

I have attempted to implement the above using various methods (i.e. Simulation frame, timed sequence, etc.) however with all the various functions in LabVIEW I'm baffled which one to select considering that I have rates of flow, delays going on in my application.  I would also like to make some animations and show graphs of the discharge volume and vessel contents volume over time.

If anyone can suggest the best approach to this problem it would be appreciated.

Regards,

[Ranjeet_Singh]

Hi buddy,

                          It will be great if  you talk in general words. See we here may or may not worked in that environment so helping you in that context will be bit difficult.

Let us know the operation you want to perform.

Something like this ?

[johnsold · Accepted solution]

bunnykins,

I think your description of the process is fine.  I have received much worse from actual clients.

For applications such as yours, look at a state machine.  There are examples or Design Patterns available in LV to help you get started. The state machine architecture can be very flexible as requirements change and can alos allow robust handling of initial and final conditions and errors as well as routine operation of the process.

The best way to get help on the Forum is to post your attempt along with typical data. State as clearly as you can what you expect it to do and what it actually does that you did not expect.  Ask questions which are specific: Why does my delay at step 3 last 2 seconds when I expected 100 ms? is a much better question than Why does my VI not work?

Lynn