data acquisition using LabVIEW

[pkad]

Hi,

What are some of the advantages of using Labview over the Matlab Data Acquisition Toolbox?

Thanks

[spider_1112002]

The most important being able to purchase hardware and ready-to-go software for data acquisition from national instruments.

Other than that I dont think there is much difference.

[sshearman]

Hi pkad,

There are a number of benefits of working with LabVIEW for data acquisition as opposed to working with alternatives such as the one you mention. I’ll summarize a few below:

• LabVIEW is an open, standard environment for measurement and automation that provides an easy-to-use graphical development language for quickly building your data acquisition applications. It includes built-in tools and capabilities that are tailored for tasks that go along with data acquisition applications. For instance, LabVIEW includes: 
•  tight integration with the NI DAQmx data acquisition driver software
• measurement-oriented signal processing and analysis capabilities such as FFT Power Spectrum, Digital Filtering, statistics and more
• tools for data visualization, user interface design, web publishing, report generation, data management and software connectivity

See https://www.ni.com/en/shop/labview.html for more information.

• MathScript is a LabVIEW feature that allows you to work with your text-based m-file scripts within LabVIEW. MathScript is a built-in part of LabVIEW, so does not require 3rd-party software to work. MathScript is generally compatible with m-file script syntax, which is the syntax widely used by alternative technical computing software such as The MathWorks, Inc. MATLAB® software, Comsol, Inc. COMSOL ScriptTM software and others. 
  
  
• The NI-DAQmx data acquisition driver installs into LabVIEW and gives you a flexible programming interface for configuring your acquisition hardware and handling the acquisition. It includes both high-level configuration-based tools for quickly getting acquiring data and lower-level tools for flexible, programmatic control that’s necessary for more involved applications. See https://www.ni.com/en/support/downloads/drivers/download.ni-daq-mx.html for more information about NI-DAQmx.

Finally, to work within the The MathWorks, Inc.'s MATLAB software environment for data acquisition with National Instruments hardware you can use the National Instruments software NI-DAQmx Tools for The Mathworks, Inc. MATLAB® Software. NI-DAQmx Tools is a no-cost alternative to The MathWorks, Inc.'s Data Acquisition Toolbox that you can download from our website here. It adds a library of commands that you can invoke from the m-file scripts that you work with from the MATLAB software environment. In addition to the library, it also includes many practical examples that show you how to acquire and generate signals, configure your National Instruments hardware, and other useful tasks. NI-DAQmx Tools supports a broad range of National Instruments multifunction data acquisition devices, from the established E-series line to latest M- and S-series lines. This link will take you to more information.

I hope that this helps,

--Sam

MATLAB® is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

[Dick_D]

Hi,

I'm new to the NI Forum, so please excuse me if this is an inappropriate place to ask for troubleshooting help.

I downloaded NI-DAQmx Tools, which looks like a great package for data acquisition in Matlab. I went through a standard installation (choosing all the defaults). Everything went smoothly.

I went to http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3005 to get started.  I can run DAQ_Demo_Browser and get help for any of the functions. However, when I try to run anything else, I immediately hit the error message "Unable to load DAQ library from the data directory."

I looked for help on http://www.ni.com/support/, but  NI-DAQmx Tools does not appear to be a supported software product.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dick_D

[Dick_D]

Hi,

There was a very simple answer to my problem -- I thought that the machine I was using had the device drivers fo my hardware (a USB-6008) installed on it, but I was wrong.  After I installed the device drivers, everything worked like a charm.

Sorry for adding noise to the channel.

-- Dick_D

[Neil_S.]

Dick,

Thanks for posting to the NI Forums.  I am glad that you were able to get your application up and running.  Usually we suggest that you generate a new thread for a new question.  Good luck with your application and have a wonderful day.

Regards,

Neil S.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[aneruca]

Hi,

I am trying to correlate two random signals, Frist after generating the signal of desired spectrum, i quantized it but i dont know how to change this quantized waveform in to bits for correlation.

Please help.