VI for Control and Pressure

[Leye]

Good day,

I am in the process of performing an experiment. My experiment intends to measure the pressure, speed, and angle of wiping a surface. I will be using a wiping cloth controlled by a holding rod which is connected to a tranducer and then to my computer. I have an external electromotor which is intended to vary the speed of the holding rod. So here is what I want my VI to do
1. Control the electromotor and be able to set the speed of the motor in the VI. Note: the speed of the motor is not necessarily the speed of the wiping cloth.
2. Similarly control the movement of the holding rod which controls the movement of the wiping cloth
3. Then measure the pressure of each wipe, since i will run the experiment several times, the angle of each wipe, and the speed of the wipe.
I need assistance in programming the VI to perform this function. I will be supplying a schematic to explain my needs.

Thanks.

[David L.]

Hi Leye,

Sounds like a neat experiment. What version of LabVIEW do you plan on programming with? Do you currently have any National Instruments hardware or are you looking for suggestions? If you do not have any hardware yet, are you wanting to control your motor with a DAQ card or with one of our motion controller? Please explain a bit more about how your electromotor works and varies its speed. Also, here is a great Developer Zone article about pressure measurements.

[Leye]

Thanks for your reply, I am using Labview 7.1. I intend to control my motor with a DAQ card, But what do you suggest? My electromotor just produces motion for the movement of the wipe over a surface. I can manually adjust its speed, but i want the whole process integrated together, so i want to control it in Labview. This way i eliminate the possibility of human errors.  Also what other recommendations would you make that could allow me to perform this experiment efficiently and cost effectively.

Thanks.

[David L.]

From your post, I feel that you do not currently have any National Instruments hardware. If you do, please let me know so I can determine if the instrument is well suited for your experiment. If you are starting fresh, then I would suggest going to our Data Acquisition webpage and our Motion Controller webpage to see what interests you. If your motor speed is varied by the voltage provided, than any DAQ card which has the ability to output the required voltage will work for you. (what voltage is needed for your motor? Is your motor controlled by PWM, constant voltage, ... ?) I would suggest calling National Instruments at (800) 531-5066, and our support team will be able to further assist you.

[Leye]

Thanks David.

I went back to check on the equipments i have and I have a TBX-68 which in which pressure transducers are connected to and then connects to the computer. I also have a UM17764 connected to the motor and then connects to the computer too. So i am guessing that on the hardware side besides the motion controller which i am working on getting, i am set. So given what i had said earlier about what i intend to investigate, do you have a sample VI for me? Before I go ahead and call the number you gave me.


Thanks,

Leye.

[David L.]

Leye,

We have many great shipping examples that install with LabVIEW. These can be found under Help » Find Examples. From here, you can either search through the folders according to what you are looking for, or you can use the middle tab and search by keywords. I assume that you have a DAQmx device, in which case, you can look under 'Hardware Input and Output » DAQmx ". Also, more examples will be installed with the motion software. When you call in, please make sure to give them all details about your equipment, including hardware (PCI card, TBX box, etc) and LabVIEW version you have.