Labview appropriate for our project?

[Jeffrey W Percival]

I am new to Labview, and it has been proposed for a project
we are setting out on. I've scoured many web sites,
including NI, and have a basic understanding of how Labview
interacts with the outside world, but there's nothing like
advice from the experts, so I thought I'd ask some...

We have a device with a dozen or so mechanisms, nothing high
speed or servo-style feedback loops. Basically, we have a
bunch of open/close door, move slide in/out, rotate disk,
drive worm screw types of activities. Stepper motors,
solenoid control, valve closures, etc.

Just right off the bat, is this sort of thing in Labview's
zone?

These mechanisms are close to each other (within 10 feet),
but the device must be at some distance
from the controlling
PC or workstation (100 feet). We are sensitive to cable
size, and so are considering some sort of bus or
multiplexed-serial connection to the device. Is Labview
suited to this "action at a distance with lightweight
connectivity" type of architecture?

Finally, one of our stepper-controlled axes may actually
require a ramp-up of speed (and ramp-down). Can-do for
Labview?

I'll continue to do my homework on this, but like I said, a
few words from the wizards never hurts...

--
---
Jeffrey W Percival, Senior Scientist and Associate Director
Space Astronomy Laboratory, University of Wisconsin -
Madison
1150 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706 USA
608-262-8686 (fax 608-263-0361) jwp@sal.wisc.edu
http://www.sal.wisc.edu/~jwp

[chuck@stewarthome.freeserve.co.uk]

Definitely!

It will save you time to.

Charles Stewart

Jeffrey W Percival wrote in message
news:399989B3.68BB67FD@sal.wisc.edu...
> I am new to Labview, and it has been proposed for a project
> we are setting out on. I've scoured many web sites,
> including NI, and have a basic understanding of how Labview
> interacts with the outside world, but there's nothing like
> advice from the experts, so I thought I'd ask some...
>
> We have a device with a dozen or so mechanisms, nothing high
> speed or servo-style feedback loops. Basically, we have a
> bunch of open/close door, move slide in/out, rotate disk,
> drive worm screw types of activities. Stepper motors,
> solenoid control, valve closures, etc.
>
> Just right off the bat,
is this sort of thing in Labview's
> zone?
>
> These mechanisms are close to each other (within 10 feet),
> but the device must be at some distance from the controlling
> PC or workstation (100 feet). We are sensitive to cable
> size, and so are considering some sort of bus or
> multiplexed-serial connection to the device. Is Labview
> suited to this "action at a distance with lightweight
> connectivity" type of architecture?
>
> Finally, one of our stepper-controlled axes may actually
> require a ramp-up of speed (and ramp-down). Can-do for
> Labview?
>
> I'll continue to do my homework on this, but like I said, a
> few words from the wizards never hurts...
>
> --
> ---
> Jeffrey W Percival, Senior Scientist and Associate Director
> Space Astronomy Laboratory, University of Wisconsin -
> Madison
> 1150 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706 USA
> 608-262-8686 (fax 608-263-0361) jwp@sal.wisc.edu
> http://www.sal.wisc.edu/~jwp
>
>

[Kevin_work]

Jeffrey W Percival wrote:

>
>
> We have a device with a dozen or so mechanisms, nothing high
> speed or servo-style feedback loops. Basically, we have a
> bunch of open/close door, move slide in/out, rotate disk,
> drive worm screw types of activities. Stepper motors,
> solenoid control, valve closures, etc.
>
> Just right off the bat, is this sort of thing in Labview's
> zone?

Perfect match.

>
>
> These mechanisms are close to each other (within 10 feet),
> but the device must be at some distance from the controlling
> PC or workstation (100 feet). We are sensitive to cable
> size, and so are considering some sort of bus or
> multiplexed-serial connection to the device. Is Labview
> suited to this "action at a distance with lightweight
> connectivity" type
of architecture

LabVIEW supports GPIB, RS-232, VXI and others, basically if it is computer
I/O LabVIEW can talk to it. Sounds like you may need RS-485, not a problem.

>
>
> Finally, one of our stepper-controlled axes may actually
> require a ramp-up of speed (and ramp-down). Can-do for
> Labview?

Should not be a problem. This whole project is really what LabVIEW was
invented for. It combines hardware control, data acquisition, including
evaluation, dissemination, and display.

Have mucho fun.
Kevin Kent

[Johannes Niess]

Jeffrey W Percival writes:

> I am new to Labview, and it has been proposed for a project
> we are setting out on. I've scoured many web sites,
> including NI, and have a basic understanding of how Labview
> interacts with the outside world, but there's nothing like
> advice from the experts, so I thought I'd ask some...

[...]

> These mechanisms are close to each other (within 10 feet),
> but the device must be at some distance from the controlling
> PC or workstation (100 feet). We are sensitive to cable
> size, and so are considering some sort of bus or
> multiplexed-serial connection to the device. Is Labview
> suited to this "action at a distance with lightweight
> connectivity" type of architecture?

What about a small PC (Laptop?) on the
device with Labview for Linux,
a wireless Ethernet connection and remote X to the workstation?

Johannes Nieß

[Jeffrey W Percival]

Johannes Niess wrote:

> What about a small PC (Laptop?) on the device with Labview for Linux,
> a wireless Ethernet connection and remote X to the workstation?

Our device is in a location that is hard to get to,
thermally-constrained, and RF-sensitive. The Labview box really needs
to be in the control room away from the device.

I now know that GPIB is length-limited. What control busses do folks
work with for 100 m lengths. Is FieldPoint (?) commonly used?
Experiences?

-Jeff

[Aaron Gelfand]

>>Our device is in a location that is hard to get to,>thermally-constrained,
and RF-sensitive. The Labview box really needs>to be in the control room
away from the device.>>I now know that GPIB is length-limited. What control
busses do folks>work with for 100 m lengths. Is FieldPoint (?) commonly used?>Experiences?>>-Jeff>

Jeff,

Serial (RS-232) is designed for lengths up to 50 feet, Serial (RS-485) is
designed for lengths up to 4000 feet (1200 meters), Ethernet (10baseT) will
work for distances of 100 m between hub and device, GPIB (without repeaters)
is designed for a maximum distance of 20 meters. Each of the various communication
methods offers advantages and disadvantages in terms of wiring and communication
speed.

FieldPoint is designed t
o work with both RS-232, RS-485, and ethernet networks
by using different network modules. Based upon the information so far provided
on of the project, I can not say conclusively whether or not FieldPoint would
meet all of your needs.

Regards,
Aaron Gelfand
FieldPoint Product Support Engineer