random digital i/o generator

[RAM_techie]

firstly, i hope i am posting this to the correct Location.

I need help with channelising a plan that i have with regards to usage of Digital I/O.

I heed to use 2 X digital I/O cards (third party for whom labview driver is available. Need to use two cards because of the number of output channels that i want to randomly toggle). 

Is labview the best option?

What programming language would i need to use?

would labview support two cards?

[GerdW]

Hi RAM,

Is labview the best option?

As you are asking in a LabVIEW forum: YES, definitely! 😄

What are the alternatives?

What programming language would i need to use?

LabVIEW for obvious reasons… 😄

What are your alternatives?

would labview support two cards?

Yes. Even more than two! (If the driver supports this…)

[RAM_techie]

thanks for the reply, is there a trial version of Labview that i can work with, which would support the digital io cards?

Any good tutorials available for achieving this task?

[GerdW]

Hi RAM,

is there a trial version of Labview that i can work with

www.ni.com/labview

which would support the digital io cards?

Ask the manufacturer of your IO cards for drivers. (You already said there's a driver available!)

Any good tutorials available for achieving this task?

www.learnni.com

[Bob_Schor]

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@RAM_techie wrote:

firstly, i hope i am posting this to the correct Location.

You probably are.

I heed to use 2 X digital I/O cards (third party for whom labview driver is available. Need to use two cards because of the number of output channels that i want to randomly toggle).

Out of curiousity, how many channels?  Tell us about your device. 

Is labview the best option?

What does "best" mean to you?  LabVIEW should provide a reasonable platform for quickly developing code to test your device and see if it performs according to your needs.

What programming language would i need to use?

You have told us very little about what you plan to do, other than it involves "random" (in time? in bit position?) "toggling" (does this mean turning on and off, i.e. producing a pulse of known width, or turning on or off, producing pulses of "random" width?) the output channels (independently? synchronously?)

would labview support two cards?

Depends on the cards and the drivers, which are unspecified.  LabVIEW can definitely deal with multiple devices "simultaneously", provided their drivers don't interfere with each other.

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One of the reasons it is difficult to answer your question is that you have not outlined what you plan to do, including specifying the time scale (are we talking seconds between transitions, or transitions in the MHz range?).  Are you planning on doing the LabVIEW coding yourself, or hiring someone with LabVIEW Experience?  If you are doing it yourself, do you have experience in LabVIEW?  If not, are you an expert in some other programming paradigm?

Bob Schor

[RAM_techie]

hello

Out of curiousity, how many channels?  Tell us about your device. 

well it is a 96 channel Digital IO card manufactured by ICP DAS.

You have told us very little about what you plan to do, other than it involves "random" (in time? in bit position?) "toggling" (does this mean turning on and off, i.e. producing a pulse of known width, or turning on or off, producing pulses of "random" width?) the output channels (independently? synchronously?)

what i mean is, 3 channels would be grouped, and a change in logic level in one of the channels, of the group, will act as a trigger. The frequency is expected to be from 1Hz to 10Hz, and needs to be configurable. Getting back to the frequency, i would need to move from a group to group when it comes to changing state, and this would be random, upto a maximum of 10 Hz. I need to use 2 cards, so that i can have more groups available for the test setup.

One of the reasons it is difficult to answer your question is that you have not outlined what you plan to do, including specifying the time scale (are we talking seconds between transitions, or transitions in the MHz range?).  Are you planning on doing the LabVIEW coding yourself, or hiring someone with LabVIEW Experience?  If you are doing it yourself, do you have experience in LabVIEW?  If not, are you an expert in some other programming paradigm?

i intend to use the labiew coding my self. 

I have a question with regards to Measurement and Automation Explorer, i dont seem to be able to see my device under 'Devices and Interfaces'? My hardware is plugged in, the device can be see as part of DAQ devices, in control panel, and a test utility running on labview recognizes the card. I have tried to right click on 'Devices and Interfaces' , but nothing can be done. Should i be concerned about the MAX behaviour, or can it be ignored?

[GerdW]

Hi techie,

i dont seem to be able to see my device under 'Devices and Interfaces'? My hardware is plugged in, the device can be see as part of DAQ devices, in control panel, and a test utility running on labview recognizes the card. I have tried to right click on 'Devices and Interfaces' , but nothing can be done.

Please show relevant screenshots of your MAX window…

Where do you "see" your device?

Which "control panel" are you using?

Which "test utility" are you using?

When I right-click "devices and interfaces" in MAX I can choose "New…"! You can't?

[RAM_techie]

please find the card visible in the windows Control Panel utility (card_controlpanel.png)

also find a snip of dio application that i am using (dioapplication.jpg)

screen shot of what i see in MAX (max.jpg)

[GerdW]

Hi techie,

NI MAX is used to configure NI hardware.

You are using a "UniDAQ PIO-D96", apparently from a different manufacturer.

Are you spotting any problems here? (I made some words bold to assist you! :D)

You should got a manual for your device. You seem to have a LabVIEW driver for your device.

What else do you need?

[RAM_techie]

sounds good, therefore i dont need to look at MAX.

well, some leads on how i can start with generating logic level changes on a channel, followed by generating random channel selection.