Using LabView for developing an avionics system.

[Bodypilot]

Hi there,
I�m thinking of using LabView to develop a pitot-tube system as a graduate project but, since I�ve never worked with LabView, wondered if this is possible.
Here�s what I plan to do:
A pitot-tube is basically a tube somewhere on an aircraft used to record static- and dynamic pressure. Airspeed, current altitude and rate of climb/descent can be derived from these pressure readings.
The plan is to link two pressure sensors (one to record static pressure and the other to record dynamic pressure) to a LabView application. In addition to this a rotateble part of the system (not unlike a wind-vane) has to be fitted with a sensor, which can measure angles to record �angle of attack�.
Since this system will be used
by skydivers to measure the performance of parachutes it has to be small, lightweight, energy efficient (possibly run on a laptop battery?) and be able to store data either locally (preferred) or send data to a ground station via a data-link.
Questions:
1) Can LabView be used for this application and if so, what LabView modules should I consider?
2) Are the sensors mentioned above which are currently on the market small and energy efficient enough?
3) What hardware would you advice me to use?
4) How much would this hardware/system cost?
5) Should the LabView application used to collect the data be an *.exe running on some kind of portable computer on can I use an EPROM for that?
6) Can someone who�s not particular good at the �conventional� control systems engineering (i.e. MatLAb, Simulink, Laplace-transforms and modeling in the frequency domain) build this system or is this kind of knowledge a prerequisite to using LabView to build this system?
I�m really interested in lea
rning to use LabView so any respond is welcomed,

Gerjo
The Netherlands.

[JeffBoettcher]

Hello Gerjo,

As first a high-level answer to your question, LabVIEW would be perfect for this type of application. This is presuming that all your sensors are generating a voltage as their output, as this is the most straight-forward type of signal to measure with LabVIEW and data acquisition hardware. The most difficult part of the requirements to meet would probably be the weight requirement.

As for a brief response to your direct questions:

1) Yes, the most basic solution would use LabVIEW and DAQ hardware. Depending on the response time needs of the application, you might need the Real-Time module as well, but I'm not sure that it would be necessary.

2) Personally I have very little knowledge of the sensors market, sorry.

3) Probably a PCMCIA-bas
ed DAQ card if Real-Time is not needed. If Real-Time is needed, your lightest weight option would be a FP-20xx with the necessary input modules.

4) Cost, as well as the exact hardware once known, would be something better to discuss with a NI sales representative, or you can check out the "Products & Services" section of NI's web site for a good price estimite.

5) Again, a laptop might be the lightest option, alternatively FieldPoint hardware might meet your weight requirements as well.

6) Depending on the exact calculations you need to do and whether or not LabVIEW has VIs already built to do them (for many it does, make sure you get the Full or Professional development system, not the Base package) you likely will not need to know much about the "conventional" methods you speak of.

I hope this helps. One other note, if your requirements are for a deterministic control system, you are definitely in the right place. If you think code running on a Windows computer would b
e sufficient, I would strongly suggest posting your original question to the general LabVIEW group as it would get a larger audience there.