Reading a button

[govindsankar]

Ok thank you. Well its not for running a motor. Its just for driving the DI high which can then be read by labview and the labview software will do the rest. Its just a way of user telling labview please do this and this. 

[billko]

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@govindsankar wrote:

Ok thank you. Well its not for running a motor. Its just for driving the DI high which can then be read by labview and the labview software will do the rest. Its just a way of user telling labview please do this and this. 

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So just for clarity, you now understand why you can tie the three 5 V line together?

[govindsankar]

Actually no, can you explain. Thank you.

[billko · Accepted solution]

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@govindsankar wrote:

Actually no, can you explain. Thank you.

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So it's kind of like all your electrical outlets in your house are all tied to the same utility power.  You don't need a separate power company for each outlet to run all your stuff.

[NIquist]

Look at your USB-6001 specifications. 

The digital outputs only provide 4 milli-amps each. They are designed for data. 

The 5 Volt pin can provide up to 150 milli-amps.  It is designed for power.

[Bob_Schor · Accepted solution]

If you remember Ohm's Law (V = IR) and substitute 5V for V and 47.5 K (rounded to 50 K) for R, you see that when the button is pushed, you are draining 0.1 ma from the 5V supply, which is capable of 150 mA.  So pushing all three buttons at once (unlikely?) will take 0.1/150 = 0.07 % of the +5 V supply.  Don't worry about it.

Bob Schor

[govindsankar]

Thank you everyone.

[govindsankar]

You have all helped me in how to use push button to do my program and how to connect it in the circuit and thank you all for that. One last help. What kind of cable should I buy for achieving this connection. The connection from the push button to the NI DAQ 6001. Thank you. 

[Bob_Schor · Accepted solution]

Hi, @govindsankar.

     Do you really have no experience at all with electronics?  With analog and digital signals?  Are there engineering students (undergraduate or graduate) or even "tinkerers" around from whom you could learn the rudiments of electrical signals?

     You should not need a "cable".  Go purchase a few spools of 22 gauge solid hookup wire of varying colors (you want to use Black for ground, Red for +5 V, and colors for your signal).  You didn't say if your pushbutton switches are SPDT or SPST -- I'm guessing the latter.  You also don't say much about the electrical environment -- is it especially "noisy"?  [Probably not].  Take the 2 (or three) wires from your pushbutton, "spin" the switch to loosely twist the wires together, and connect them, with the colored wire going to your DI pins, and the 0 and 5V wires going to Ground and +5.

     If you need the switch to be located a long distance away from the 6001 (meters), you might need some shielding, but I doubt it.  Ask an engineer to look at your setup!

Bob Schor

[govindsankar]

My experience is with LabVIEW programming of already existing systems. I didnt have to design a system from scratch before programming. This is the first time I am doing that. I did do bachelors in Electrical Engineering which was more than a decade ago and my masters was just programming and some mathematics. So no experience with electronics. Only with programming.  But thank you. I will get a 22 guage solid hookup wire as you explained.