Using G Web to Monitor and Control LabVIEW Apps & TestStand Sequences

[VinnyAstro]

Hi,

I'm working at a small production company, and I'm currently revamping our test facility to make things faster and more automated—especially when it comes to running tests and generating reports.

Here's my plan:

1. Do some preliminary research – That's where I am right now 🙂

2. Improve our test/control software – Right now we use a rough LabVIEW app I made a while back. I want to clean that up so we can better control, monitor, and log data from our DUTs.

3. Automate test sequences with TestStand – So we can run batches of tests and generate reports automatically.

4. Enable remote access – Ideally, we'd be able to do all of the above remotely, and I’m looking into G Web for that part.

Some context:
Our testbenches are simple—basically just a PC, a power supply, and some mechanical setups, sometimes additional actuators and/or measurements units. We usually test 8–12 DUTs per station, and want to scale that up. Problem is, there's only one PC per station and limited space, so only one person can use the bench at a time. Also, not all DUTs go through the same tests—some are in dev, some in production, etc. It’d be a big win if people could access DUTs remotely without needing to sit at the station.

I’m considering two main options:

• Option 1: Connect each DUT to a networked interface, so any PC on the network (with the right software) can access any powered DUT.
  → This raises concerns around data safety, network load, and general complexity.

• Option 2: Keep all DUTs connected to the station PC. That PC can run tests locally (with someone at the bench), or remotely via G Web. It could also act as a mini server to expose its test/control software to other PCs on the network. An operator could then install the DUTs on any Station (A, B, C) grab any laptop browse to the address of the selected Station and start testing the DUT.
  → I’m leaning toward this one, but I’m still trying to figure out if G Web is actually the right tool for that kind of use case.

Long term, I'm thinking of having a central dashboard to track all test station activity, get test summaries, and plan upcoming tests accordingly. But for that, SystemLink might be a better option than reinventing the wheel.

Any input is welcome—especially if you’ve dealt with remote access setups like this or have feedback on the architecture.

Thanks for your help.

Vinny.

[JoshuaP]

Seems like you may already be aware of it, but I was going to recommend using SystemLink along with G Web.

https://ni.com/systemlink

SystemLink will make it easy for you to connect all of your PCs to a central server and take care of all of the authentication. In addition, you can easily host your web VI on the SL server and you can use its tag and message APIs from LabVIEW and G Web for publishing data about the test including things like what is running, its status, and some simple data via tags and control things via messages.

[VinnyAstro]

---

@JoshuaP  a écrit :

Seems like you may already be aware of it, but I was going to recommend using SystemLink along with G Web.

https://ni.com/systemlink

SystemLink will make it easy for you to connect all of your PCs to a central server and take care of all of the authentication. In addition, you can easily host your web VI on the SL server and you can use its tag and message APIs from LabVIEW and G Web for publishing data about the test including things like what is running, its status, and some simple data via tags and control things via messages.

---

SL doesn't solve my initial problem: How do I allow multiple people over one same station.
Is Gweb the way to go with multi. people controlling the same central unit (if that's possible) or multiple local application controlling seperate devices?

Nevertheless, what I'm trying to figure out is the necessity of SystemLink, the extend of it, but also how many people can use it in total. Still doing some research with it and if spending another 20k/y is really necessary or not.

The thing is, I still have a lot of work before reaching the point where Systemlink would be usable anyway, so my idea was to do without at first and see how the whole test architecture works, and then evaluate if we really need it or not. That might require undoing some work already done if we do go that way (typically working with db since SL seems to have its own management system)

[JoshuaP]

You are correct in that SL wouldn't solve your problem when it comes to multiple people controlling the test station. That would need to be solved in your web VI hosted in SL. What it would allow is multiple people to easily monitor the health of the test station and any dashboards you create in SL for monitoring what test is running as well as some of the data from the tester. 

[VinnyAstro]

I see.

That would be nice indeed, but not the priority at the moment.

For now I'm really trying to figure out if I should allow my devices on the (internal) network in some way (via VLANs or so) or if I should find a way to control the test station from multiple people.

That's why I brought up GWeb, I thought it would be nice for that, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of people using it so I am a bit unsure about it.

[MilanR]

In case you haven't seen it yet the How to Build a Web UI for Your LabVIEW-Based Test System gives a good overview of the capabilities of G Web Development Software, the services included, and how those services can integrate with an existing system.

[VinnyAstro]

---

@MilanR  a écrit :

In case you haven't seen it yet the How to Build a Web UI for Your LabVIEW-Based Test System gives a good overview of the capabilities of G Web Development Software, the services included, and how those services can integrate with an existing system.

---

Hi Milan,

Yeah, I’ve seen it — thanks for sharing it btw. It’s a really helpful overview.

One thing I felt was missing, though, is that the example focuses only on monitoring data. I was hoping to see how you might also control the application (if that’s possible), and whether multiple clients (I guess that would be the right term) can connect to the same app at the same time (acting as a sort of API)