Simple Labview program

[DarrelSPowers]

Okay, I'm a ME student in my senior year working on my senior design project. We're working under a graduate biomed professor designing a test setup to mechanically characterize hydrogels. Basically what were doing is clamping a sample and gradually applying small volume changes underneath the sample. In order to characterize the sample, we need pressure readings underneath the sample to compare with volume changes calculated with magnified images of the sample's deflection.

We have a pressure transducer that outputs in mV/V, and can be wired into the boards that lab view uses. Basically I need some help writing a simple program to output the pressure readings to a data file so they can be compared to the images at that particular time.

I've got no clue how to program in labview, and every time I've used it it has been a pre-made program that someone else set up beforehand.

So, I guess any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm planning on talking to the lab coordinator to see if he can point me to someone who writes the programs for the labs I've done previously, but I figured I'd ask here as I'm sure something this simple is a joke for anyone with experience.

 

[CycloWizard]

It's hard to tell someone how to use LabView since it is a graphical language, but I did something very similar in LV about three years ago. Basically, the best thing to do is sit down and flip through the various graphical "functions" until you find what you use. There are specific ones that deal with data I/O. You will need to set the hardware and I/O tasks up using NI-DAQmx, which can be a bit tricky. I can give you more specific advice on DAQmx if you need it, since it's very cut and dry. It may not be installed on your computer, which would be one reason you'd be having a hard time with the I/O, but it's a free (though very large) download from NI's site.

 

[ksheets]

Wow I miss labview. My COOP job all through college used labview to analyze data collected from CD and DVD press machines...This was in 1999. Id imagine labview is quite different now

 

[chronodekar]

Same what CycloWizard says. It's a graphical programming language. Not something like C/Java where we could just type in code. You're probably better off reading a book (my way of doing things) or asking your lab coordinator. All the best ! :thumbsup:

 

[The J]

I use LabView (8.6) quite a bit at work, so maybe I can help somewhat. Much of what I've done, though, is using the serial and TCP functions to talk to our own stuff. I am not familiar with how DAQmx works. How far have you gotten with the program? Are you able to at least get readings from the device and you can't figure out how to put it into a log? Or are you not able to even read from the device?

What version of LabView do you have? If it's recent enough (I think version 8.0 and higher), you should have a group on your functions pallete called "Express". This group contains what are called Express VIs, which basically let you configure them through a graphical interface or wizard when you place them on the block diagram. Look for an Express VI called "Data Acquisition" or something to that effect and place it on the block diagram. Then try messing with the settings in that window to get LabView to talk to your device. There might also be another Express VI for creating logs, but I don't remember at the moment (I don't use Express VIs very often).

Hope this helps. I don't have LV installed on my home computer, so I can't open it up and help you out. I wonder if the LV license would let me do that...

 

[nyker96]

yes back in college days also used LV but it was very old version I am sure.