NI News Question: What kind of instrument would you design?

[crossrulz]

How about an instrument that reads my brainwaves and then the computer does what I want it to instead of what I actually told it.

  Yeah, I'm having one of those days.  At least it is Friday...

[JÞB]

OK Back on "TRACK" *

Up until very recently railroads relied on several methods to get information about the track ahead into the engineer driving the thing.  Most of them are primitive and prone to error.  Examples include:

• Flagmen:  Yup the engineer got the info by looking out the window- don't worry about the gauges and dials keep you eyes on the track
• Torpedoes:  essentially a series of shogun shells placed on top of the track the would explode when the locomotive ran over them loud enough to get your attention.  (No real information is transmitted it is really bit width data boom- no boom.  No boom meaning one of: the track is OK, The torpedoes fell off, you're the second train and the torpedoes were not reset)
•  Signal lights:Yup the engineer got the info by looking out the window

PTC or, Positive Train Control, is an effort to improve this system by getting (near) real time data onboard the locomotive in order to reduce railroad incidents.  You see when an engineer on a train does not have some critical information on hand the result is too often shown on the evening news.  Most engineers don't mind if it was their train- but their spouses and families are often disappointed to learn that the engineer won't be coming home.

One PTC Initiative involves a SWR (Software Defined Radio) system that can monitor track control points and update both the central controllers and the locomotives.  The ability to share a small frequency band and still allow individual railroads to filter out everyone else's broadcasts required a new radio broadcast protocol. Everything but the Physical layer changed (Atmosphere in this case).  This of course presents a test and measurement nightmare for production and repair facilities.  So, how about creating a RF Transceiver that can learn this new radio protocol to reduce test time and improve test coverage getting product in the hands of RR employees fast, cheap and with high confidence in product quality?  Bonus if I can also use it to test the GPS receiver in the radio too! 

Spoiler

Hey, Its available with today's technology!

* Yes, Pun intended

[jcarmody]

I removed this post because my point was made after starting this response but before clicking Post.

[altenbach]

Yes, back on track!

LabVIEW in the Kitchen!

I think the typical kitchen today is pretty much stone-age, and we really could need some technology to reproducibly cook that perfect steak. If you ever watched one of the Gordon Ramsay shows, you know that a scallop will turn from raw to overcooked in about a millisecond. There are way too many variables, such as pan temperature, pan heat capacity in relation to the meat, starting meat temperature (big difference if it is from the fridge or equilibrated to room temperature on the counter), and so on....

Here are some ideas:

(1) Next to my BBQ I want a touch screen monitor connected to a FLIR camera showing full 2D color temperature distribution. Touching any are will give me the exact temperature of that spot. I can desingate an area and temperature, and a PID controller will maintain the temperature at that spot exactly.

(2) I want a thermocouple array that gives me the 3D temperature distribution across the entire piece of meat in real time. The LabVIEW program running in the background has all the built in algorithms to regulate the correct pan or grill temperature and calculate completion time while maintaining the perfect temperature gradients. (e.g. crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside)

(3) An ultrasonic tool that I can place on top of the meat and it will give me the "done-ness", calibrated from the echo profile in 3D. (not sure if this can be calibrated this way). (The massive sale of these devices to consumers will indirectly lower our healthcare cost, because it will make similar devices in hospitals much cheaper due to the economics of scale).

(4) Alternatively (and probably cheaper), it could give a perfectly calibrated elasticity profile by analyzing the system response ( frequency dependent damping, phase lag, etc) from a vibrating probe held against the meat (Today, the typical cook just presses with the finger to check for doneness, how accurate is this?)

Similar technology would apply to baking, pasta (al dente!), and everything else.

Buon Appetito!

[Ben]

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@altenbach wrote:

Yes, back on track!

LabVIEW in the Kitchen!

...(4) Alternatively (and probably cheaper), it could give a perfectly calibrated elasticity profile by analyzing the system response ( frequency dependent damping, phase lag, etc) from a vibrating probe held against the meat (Today, the typical cook just presses with the finger to check for doneness, how accurate is this?)

Similar technology would apply to baking, pasta (al dente!), and everything else.

Buon Appetito!

---

Before x-ray defraction and and other such stuff, old-time metalurgist used to "taste" the steel to tell when it was ready (yes they let it cool first).

Ben

[JW-JnJ]

A LabVIEW DLP 3D Printer Controller

They work by projecting a UV image into the bottom of a transparent vat full of UV curable resin. The resin cures onto a movable platform. The platform then moves up X micrometers, and projects another image. Repeat until you have a fully printed object. Check them out, it's one of the most elegant 3D printer designs I have ever seen (and my current nearly impossible long term home project... I never aim small). The things you have to control/measure:

1) A stepper motor on a threaded shaft to move the printing platform.

2) DLP project control. Likely used as a second monitor, but hey, using the instrument would be cool especially since it might be faster

3) Object/Vat seperation. The object curing creates a suction when trying to move up. There are many different methods to combat this and since this type of DIY 3D printer is relatively new, no methods have been proven as the best. Usually it's shifting the vat to the side, tilting the vat, or even brute force. I have a crazy idea involving vat that is free to tilt and a force sensor to determine when the suction is broken.

4) Heater. Resin tends to flow better when warmed. This helps when trying to fill a smaller slice. However, an emmersion heater might be dangerous. An IR lamp or convection heater with an RTD would be wasteful but safer.

5) Exhaust system. Simple to control, but extremely necessary. It would be nice to monitor the output and shut down the system if necessary. From what I've heard you don't want to mess with the exhaust from this process.

6) Ability to switch mode to expose UV sensitive copper boards for etching. Project an alignment crosshair, then expose the board.

Things I wouldn't personally do, but would be cool

7) Pump resin into the chamber, then out once finished

😎 Pump cleaning alcohol into the vat to clean the vat and dip the object into for cleaning

9) Ultrasonic transducer for cleaning, helping the resin flow, and helping to break the object/vat connection. The instrument could produce the frequency

10) Raise the object and turn on curing lights for the final cure.

[JW-JnJ]

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altenbach wrote:

LabVIEW in the Kitchen!

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Ok, this steak thing needs to happen. Whether NI publicity stunt, or someone just wasting time with a cool project.

In fact, we need Alton Brown for this. I can just picture it now, Alton Brown and Altenbach together on a webshow.

[johnsold]

Earlier in this thread were several posts on the topic of cell phone usage by automobile drivers.  I pointed out that jammers are illegal.

An alternative might be to put detectors in cars that determine the location of any cell phone in use within the vehicle. If the phone is in the driver's seat area, the car would be limited to <= 20 mph and lights would flash, perhaps in a distinctive pattern, to alert surrounding drivers.  This would not require any active transmitter, thus avoiding the FCC issues.

It is not foolproof.  The phone could be on the passenger seat while the driver was using it via a wired or Bluetooth headset. Some cars have sensors in the passenger seat to control airbags.  Those sensors could be checked to see if a passeger was present.

Lynn

[Henrik_Volkers]

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@Ben wrote:

Instruments?

Devices yes.

1) Hand-help cell phone jammer. for use while driving to get the fool who is on their cell phone and riding my bumper to stop talking and start paying attention. Bonus points if it auto-detects the cell-phone usage and jams them without distracting me from from my burger and beer.

2) RearVIEW-Speak Use voice recognition to convert my mumbling into text displayed on a LED marque in the back window. Bonus points for auto-edits so as not to offend any children.

So looking at those two you would think I have a bad comute. It is hard to have a hard comute that is only 12 minutes long but a cell-talking-bumper rider can changes things fast.

Ben

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For point one:

http://www.ladyada.net/make/wavebubble/

I like the tricorder idea.. modern smartphones get close to it... so I want a LabVIEW controlled smartphone I can reconfigure/ program on the fly and have access to all the things already build in. 

You want info about you steak: the RF absorption spectra might tell you, RF source and receiver are already build in 😉   Ok, meanwhile you can use the VST in the kitchen 😉

[Ben]

Nice recovery from my bad/illegal idea Lynn, thank you.

But that reminds me of the black box in our cars being used in court against us where it is an example of one of those high-tech twists on a moral quesion specificly...

We are not obligated to bear witness against ourselves but what about our property bearing witness?

Particularly in this day when cars are seen as an extention of ourselves "How do I look in this car?".

Kudoes to Henrik on the wave bubble!

Once again decrepid minds do think alike. (no not you Henrik, the bubble person and myself).

But as to the the tricorder...

Much of what I have read posted here can be clasified as "measure some type of radiation, perform a transform and display some meaningful display." Christian introduced a special case where the display is very specialized in that it renders information from diverse spectrum in a single consolidated form.

I suspect technology is not at a point where we can do the tricorder due to a lack of CPU in a handheld device. We may be able to push the number crunching to a cloud and let the tricorder acquire and present (why does that part sound familiar?).

So...

We need sensors (multiple so we can analyze in 3-space) that can support acquisitions from DC through the full light spectrum. Phased array radar has been around since I was a wee-elector-babe. so most of what I have read can be done.

As to processing...

Quantum computing has at its heart the idea of running all algorithms at the same time but selcting that one that is right (feel free to claify if I put that badly). When I peer off into the gloom of a poorly lit room my mind is casting the precieved images against all of the known objects I have seen looking for a match Is that really a dragon in the corner is did I leave my robe on the chair?".

Now to what I suspect is my few real idea that came to me while the idea of artificial intellegnce was all the vogue adapted for this audience.

LabVIEW needs a "Maybe Gate".

Unlike all other logic gates where the output is clearly defined based on the inputs a Maybe Gate will not always produce the same output. I would think that it would be mor than just a random operator but in the end.. who knows.

When my sone was very young and had not learned to control his arms or recognize much of his suroundings I witnessed a precious moment. Nathan was wildy flinging his arms around and in the process smacked himself in the face. He stop and his eyes focused on his hand as he realized "I did that!".

I still believe that young children use their Maybe Gate much more than when we are older since relying on our memory is less painful than smacking ourselves in the face regularly. In the case of teenage drivers, I think they use their Maybe Gate a little too often but I digress.

SO wide spectrum acquisitions with analysis pushed to the cloud with holgraphic display.

Ben