Data input from Olympus thickness measuring instrument

[fabiank]

Hello everybody!

I am a student of engineering und have a projekt for my diploma. It is about automatized measuring of the wall-thickness of steel plates. Therefore i want to use an Olympus hand-held unit that is integrated into the mechatronics of the scanner, send the sensor data via RS-232 (in "real-time") to a laptop and import them into LabVIEW. Important is the import of the uninterpreted a-scan and thickness data. Right now i am prefering the Olympus 37DL PLUS for this task.

Is there anybody who has experiences with this kind of data-transfer and has an advice for me?

Maybe someone allready has a VI for this kind of application?

Kind regards,

Fabian

Collogne, Germany

[muks]

What will be the data you will be getting? Image data? In which format? Are you worried about converting this image data to an image? Have worked on VISA functions?

[fabiank]

Unfortunately i don´t know the format of the data. I´ve read the information will come as a string, but i don´t know exactly. In the manual of the Olympus device is only mentioned, that it is a "pc-format". There is an Olympus software for reading the data but i don´t want to have another part in the chain. Best would be to insert the data directly into LabVIEW, combine the "data-shots" with the x,y-coordinates of the scanner-head.

I´ve sent a request to Olympus if they can send me the manual of the software WIN37DL PLUS. Hopefully there are more informations about the format and data-size.

What are VISA functions?

[muks]

VISA

No problem if you are getting string value. MAke sure you get all the values and ou can always convert that into an image. Do you have "Vision development module" installed?

[GerdW]

Hi Fabian,

easiest solution:

Pick up the phone and call the Olympus support. Ask them about the data format (format specifics, extensive manuals, etc) as you are in the decision stage of your project... You're the customer who will spend money ("Der Kunde ist König!"), so you can expect some support from Olympus.

If the data format is given you can always read the data from serial port using LabVIEW.

Message Edited by GerdW on 11-17-2009 11:17 AM

[fabiank]

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muks wrote:

VISA

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Looks good! I´ll look for more information about that!

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muks wrote:

Do you have "Vision development module" installed?

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I don´t know. How can I find out?

[fabiank]

You´re right. That would be the easiest way.

[muks]

Do you see this?

[fabiank]

Yes, i do!

My problem is (I think you noticed that allready) my low experience with LabVIEW. I had only a short course at the university.

The next one and a half weeks i´ll be on field work and i´ll install LabVIEW on a laptop to play a little and get to know, which functions to use.

[GerdW]

Hi muks,

even when Olympus is the manufacturer of the device it isn't a CAMERA. It's "an advanced nondestructive ultrasonic thickness gage" - just google for it.

So IMAQ/Vision might not be the perfect way to go here... What Fabian needs is more like a "standard" device driver like for DMMs or oscilloscopes, hence my suggestions to contact the manufacturer's support team!