Unit 1 - Getting Started

[BenZimmerEnable]

Introduction

This unit provides an overview of the LabVIEW programming environment. Starting with front panel and block diagram, we will move towards the controls and functions pallet before creating our first program. We will also look at how to compile and methods of debugging our code.

Table of Contents

	Lesson 1 -  In this lesson we will talk about the front panel, block diagram, and the palettes.
	Lesson 2 -  In this lesson we will talk about the tools palette, context help, wiriing and running your labview VI.
	Lesson 3 -  In this lesson we talk about dataflow and parallelism. We alos go over some useful debugging techniques which include highlight execuation and probes.

Next Step

Unit 2 - Fundamentals

[banterer]

Hello,

I'm familiar with electronics (I have an BSEE degree) but have no idea what Labview is nor how it works. I've been looking at several videos but have no idea how to start using the program. I'm going to formulate and post some basic questions in an effort to clarify in my own head what it is that has me stumped while trying to convey to the community what it is that seems to be mystifying me.

I got a few instruments to experiment with and noticed that each has a USB port so I decided to see how and why I'd connect them to my computer so I tried looking for a driver on the mfg's site. The manufacturer's website pointed me to NI and had some cryptic instructions about also downloading NI Visa.

Even after having installed Labview community and NI Visa I'm still lost.

What I'm looking for is something that explains to me how I would connect a programmable power supply to my laptop and then control it. I imagine that once I have the appropriate software (I assume that is Labview) and drivers, that using Labview, I can send commands to the power supply to establish output voltage and current, delays and ramp up and so on rather than using the instrument's front panel. Using this method I can see that I can control the unit remotely, fine.

Can someone refer me to something that shows me how to control a power supply or a function generator? Maybe someone can explain to me for example, how to create a VI or program that would control the output of a function generator (let's say some kind of sine or square wave at a given frequency or a sweep) and have that either trigger the output of the power supply or maybe simply generate a wave of some sort and then have that ouput be viewed on the scope and have the scope report to Labview what is saw as an input.

I also got a scope that also has several USB ports an ethernet port. I am at a loss as to why/how I would use the scope with Labview to display a waveworm if that is what the scope does. Is Labview in this case, used to log or record what the scope is seeing?

I realize these may seem like stupid or obvious questions but until one understands a new concept, somethings can look/seem redundant or unnecessary.

Thanks and I hope this was clear and that this was the appropriate place to post these questions.

Jorge