LIFA Product Feedback and Suggestions

[feanorou]

It would be nice to add attachInterrupt /detachInterrupt (interrupt, function, mode) with examples to the LIFA palette

[Patrick_Davies]

It seems like the only example lacking is one about SPI communications.

I would really appreciate a detailed VI on it.

Great Interface BTW, thanks.

[ferryj]

Hi,

I am trying to establish connection with LabVIEW 2011 and my arduino mega board. When I run the Init VI I get error code 5002. I am not familiar with LabVIEW programming so it is difficult to follow other suggestions on this page. I have tried on Windows 7 and Windows Vista and I keep getting the same 5002 error. Please help as this is very important

Thanks.

[hraanan]

Hi,

Try to increase timeout to 10000 in the init VI.

hraanan

[francois-normandin]

I'd like to point out a small discrepancy in the typedef for Board Type...

One of the choices is "Dimuelanove w/Atmega 328" but it should read "Duemilanove w/Atmega 328".  Duemilanove meaning "2009" in italian.

[francois-normandin]

Suggestion for enhancement of error handling:

- Addition of a verification step for data length in the Packetize Utility VI (..\Utility\Packetize.vi).

Currently, if the user were to use this VI and set an input that is longer than "Bytes Per Packet-2", he will lose some data.

Throwing a warning (or error) would allow for catching this case in the code. Might be useful for debugging purposes.

[TheoNL]

normandinf wrote:

Feature Request:

Add the AnalogReference() command to LIFA.

I'd like to be able to use the AnalogReference command to set it to either "External" or, using the Mega 2560, be able to use "Internal 1.1V" or "Internal 2.56V". The problem is that the Arduino ReadAnalog() command returns a 10-bit value that is subsequently converted to Voltage using a constant factor (0.0049) set as if only a Aref of 5V can be set.

The workaround of modifying the value from the Voltage output of the Read Analog Pin VI is fine for the short term, but it requires to be retested everytime there will be a modification to LIFA. I'd rather play with the conversion factor then the "Voltage" output, which by definition should be a voltage, not a fudge factor. I see two ways to deal with this:

1- Expose the ADC factor as a control terminal on the Analog Read Pin, and set it to default value of 0.0049.

2- Add a new LIFA primitive to select Analog reference, and modify the Analog Read Pin command to return 4 bytes instead of 2: first 2 bytes = 10-bit signal on analog pin; last 2 bytes = AnalogReference.

Personally, I much prefer the 2nd option. It seems more versatile and doesn't require any change to the current API's public connectors. It only adds one VI to the palette (added functionality). It is also transparent to the user as to the implementation of the factor for analog to digital conversion.

I've made a blogpost about adding analogReference to LIFA: http://theoenderest.tumblr.com/post/44861317053/adapting-lifa-to-work-with-analogreference-v1

It's a quick fix, but it works like a charm.

[TheoNL]

MeghanK wrote:

Do you have product feedback or suggestions for LIFA? Please post your comments here.

Thanks!

Meghan

http://theoenderest.tumblr.com/post/44861317053/adapting-lifa-to-work-with-analogreference-v1

I've made a small adaption to get analogReference to work with the software. It slows down the measurement a bit, but the ADC needs a settle time between setting of a new analogReference. It works, I'm using this for my master project! you guys have done some great work.

[ArrowFlinger]

Apologies if this has already been addressed, but I think we need an updated LIFA download to fix the problem with the Serial.flush(); command.

As of Arduino 1.0, Serial.Flush(); no longer clears the input buffer. I have had problems where an unexpected byte from another program trying to access the virtual com port causes the Arduino to stop responding to Labview. Because the input buffer is never cleared, communication cannot resume until the Arduino is unplugged then plugged back in.

Updating all the places with Serial.flush() in the LabVIEWInterface with something like "while (Serial.read() != -1);" should fix it. Can you take care of this in the next revision?

Also, when can we expect an update to LIFA_base?

Thanks

[Zahkay]

Hello Sir

Is the work for stepper already out.. I am having dificulties with that

I hope to hear from you soon