How to Draw a Parametric 3D Shape from Excel Coordinates (X, Y, Z) in LabVIEW?

[ame1999]

Hello everyone,

I'm working on a project where I need to visualize a 3D parametric shape using LabVIEW. I have the X, Y, and Z coordinates stored in an Excel file (or alternatively from an online 3D printing system in real-time). My goal is to plot this shape dynamically in LabVIEW, possibly for monitoring or controlling a 3D printing process.

I have tried using the "Parametric Plot" example in LabVIEW, but unfortunately, I couldn't achieve the desired visualization from my data. The example seems limited or perhaps not suited for importing coordinates directly from Excel.

What I’ve tried so far:

• Reading the Excel file using the Report Generation Toolkit.

• Feeding the X, Y, Z values into LabVIEW arrays.

• Attempting to use 3D Graph (like 3D Surface Plot or 3D Parametric Graph), but couldn’t work.

Could someone guide me on:

1. How to properly import and structure X, Y, Z data for 3D visualization?

2. If there's an example or VI that can serve as a base?

Any advice, examples, or documentation links would be highly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

Ame

[altenbach]

Based on the sparse information, wee cannot determine what you are doing wrong. How does the shape look like? Can you attach some data and how you are "feeding" (sic) the data into arrays?

Do the x and y values form a regular grid and Z defines a plane? (then a surface plot would work)

Is the shape a closed 3D object? (then a parametric plot would work)

There are billions of possible ways something "does not work", and at least a dozen ways that it works. You need to narrow down the problem.

Have you looked at the help and shipping examples?

[BertMcMahan]

You may want to look into the Advanced Plotting Toolkit, which has a handful of plot types that aren't (easily) done with the native LabVIEW ones.

[Bob_Schor]

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@BertMcMahan wrote:

You may want to look into the Advanced Plotting Toolkit, which has a handful of plot types that aren't (easily) done with the native LabVIEW ones.

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You can find this Open Source product (which does look pretty interesting!) on the LabVIEW Tools Network, accessible through VIPM, the VI Package Manager which was (or should have been) installed with LabVIEW.

Bob Schor

[altenbach]

There is no need for any external addons, the included parametric surface graph can even do 4D surfaces (x, y, z, color).

So far you have not answered any of my earlier questions  or attached any data.

Here's an example output from one of my programs written well over a decade ago ( ... and it is freely available as executable).

In this case, the xyz points form the surface of a sphere and the colors represent the sum of spherical harmonics. given their coefficients and Euler angles. Any other shape is of course possible.

Here's a blurry picture of the entire code:

[BertMcMahan]

If the OP is doing 3D prints he may want more of a "line based" plot rather than a "surface based" plotting tool. I'd thought LabVIEW didn't have that baked in but I had forgotten about the 3D Line Graph way down at the bottom:

[altenbach]

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@BertMcMahan wrote:

If the OP is doing 3D prints he may want more of a "line based" plot rather than a "surface based" plotting tool. I'd thought LabVIEW didn't have that baked in but I had forgotten about the 3D Line Graph way down at the bottom:

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Yes, LabVIEW has a rich set of 3D graphs.

While a "line" is a 1D shape in 3D, we really have insufficient information from the OP. They were talking about a "3D parametric shape" and the interpretation of what that actually means is quite blurry. 😄