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Introduction to LabVIEW and NI Hardware Platform

Corrie Botha

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Platform-Based Approach

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With LabVIEW, You Can Program the Way You

Think

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With LabVIEW, You Can Program the Way You Think

The graphical, dataflow-based G programming language

is ideal for programming parallel data acquisition

hardware.

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LabVIEW is a Graphical Programming Language

• Dataflow, Implicit GUI, Datatypes, Loops, Parallelism,

Functions, SubVIs

• Computation & Logic, File I/O etc.

• Debugging tools – Highlight execution, Online probes (even for

remote targets)

• OOP Framework, Support for ActiveX, .NET, DLLs and

Executables

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LabVIEW is made for Scientists & Engineers

• Intuitive UI design & rich visualization

• Control Design & Simulation, Signal Processing, Machine

Vision, RF Communications and many more toolkits

• Invoke MATLAB® code into LabVIEW

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LabVIEW can easily talk to Hardware

• DAQmx Device Drivers, Instrument Drivers, Report Generation

• Serial, USB, TCP, UDP, GPIB etc.

• 10,000+ Instrument drivers from over 350 vendors

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LabVIEW is a Multi-Target Programming Language

• Windows, Linux, Linux-RT, VxWorks, Pharlaps

• Processor, FPGA, GPU, SoC

cRIO-9002

cRIO-9004

cRIO-9072

cRIO-9074

cRIO-9075

cRIO-9076

cRIO-9012

cRIO-9014

cRIO-9024

cRIO-9025

cRIO-9081

cRIO-9082

cRIO-9068

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What is LabVIEW?

• Graphical programming language that can be used to

develop systems like

• Data Acquisition

• Automated Test

• Control

• Communication

• SCADA

• Test Cells

• Automation

• and so on…

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PXI System Architecture

PXI Backplane• 133MB/s to 4GB/s

• Instrument Synchronization

•10/100 MHz clock

PXI Controller• Windows, Linux, RT

• ADEs

• Multi-core

Modules (Instruments & Targets)• 1500 PXI Modules from over 70 vendors

• RIO Targets for prototyping

Software• Ready to use Soft Panels

• Toolkits & API for Analysis

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Complete PXI Instrumentation Portfolio

Multifunction I/O

FPGA / Reconfigurable I/O

Digital I/O

Analog Input / Output

Vision and Motion

Counter / Timer / Clock

DAQ and Control

Oscilloscopes

High-Speed Digital I/O

Digital Multimeters

Audio Video

Switching

RF Analyzers & Generators

Instruments

GPIB, LAN

RS232 / RS485

CAN, LIN, DeviceNet

SCSI, Ethernet

VXI - VME

Boundary Scan / JTAG

Interfaces

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Advantages of PXI: Size

Software Defined Traditional

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Size: “The shipping container for the previous ATE system alone

would cost as much as our entire new PXI test system.”

PXI Tester Reduction Previous ATE

Cost $40K USD 11X $450K+ USD

Footprint 18 by 24 by 7 in. 15X 98 by 66 by 74 in.

Weight 60 lb 66X 4,000 lb

Facility 600 W 16X 10 KW

Using PXI and LabVIEW, we were

able to test our MEMS devices at a

fraction of the cost, weight, power

consumption, and footprint of our

previous ATE system."

– Woody Beckford, Analog Devices

Inc.

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Advantages of PXI Approach: Flexibility

Software Defined Traditional

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Advantages of PXI: Synchronization

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Early 2000s—Traditional

Rack and Stack

2007—NI PXI RF

Instrumentation

802.11a + b + g + 802.11n + 802.11ac

10X Faster Than

Traditional

200X Faster Than

Traditional

2012—NI PXI Vector

Signal Transceiver

200x Faster tests - Qualcomm

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Soft Front Panels – Quick Measurements

NI-DMM and NI-SWITCH Soft Front Panels

RF Signal Analyzer SFP

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Express VIs for Quick Configuration

Measurement and Analysis Express VIs

Instrument Express VIs

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LabVIEW Templates and Sample Projects for

Application Development

• Recommended starting points for

common LabVIEW applications

• Clearly indicates where to add or

change functionality

• Shows best practices for code

design, documentation, and

organization

• Add custom templates and sample

projects

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What we have seen earlier…..

Algorithm implementation

Analog I/O

Digital I/O

Sensors / Actuators

RF I/O

Protocol I/O

+ Good for Automated Measurements

• OK for simple control applications

- Bad for high speed control

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LabVIEW RIO ArchitectureEmbedded Control & Monitoring Systems

Algorithm implementation

Analog I/O

Digital I/O

Sensors / Actuators

RF I/O

Protocol I/O

FPGA

Real Time System

Optional

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A

B

C

D

FE

What is FPGA?

YW X

Z

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Microprocessor vs. FPGA

Pros

• Quick & flexible programming

• Complex algorithms can be implemented

• Floating point processing

• Operating system support

Cons

• Not deterministic to the pin

• Not inherently parallel

Pros

• Deterministic to the pin

• Inherently parallel

• Very high throughput

Cons

• Large compilation times

• Difficult to implement complex

algorithms

• Programming in VHDL – Difficult to

learn

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LabVIEW RIO Architecture – Best of BothSoftware Defined Systems – Architecture 2

Algorithm implementation

Analog I/O

Digital I/O

Sensors / Actuators

RF I/O

Protocol I/O

FPGA

Real Time System

Optional

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Highly Productive LabVIEW Graphical Programming Environment for

Programming Host, FPGA, I/O, and Bus Interfaces

Modular I/O

for Any Signal

FPGA

Processor

NI CompactRIO

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Connect to Any Sensor on Any Bus

Thermocouples

4 to 20 mA

Storage media

RTD

Engine control

Industrial vision

Motion control

Accelerometer

Strain gage

Resistance

Load cells

Digital I/O and protocols

Microphone

Bus communications

100+ Industrial I/O Modules

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Open Loop Motor Control

PWM

IGBT

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Closed Loop Motor Control

PWM

Feedback

IGBT

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Closed Loop Multi Output Motor Control

IGBT 1

PWM 2

Feedback

IGBT 2

PWM 1

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Variable Frequency Drive (with Encoder Feedback)

SPWM

Encoder

IGBT

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FOC based Variable Frequency Drive

SPWM

Encoder

IGBT

Current

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Motor Performance Measurement

Voltage

Current

Speed

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Modular I/O for

Any Signal

FPGAProcessor

Highly Productive LabVIEW Graphical Programming Environment for

Programming Host, FPGA, I/O, and Bus Interfaces

NI Single Board RIO

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Platform-Based Approach

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Thank You