LabVIEW Version

[SeanRobert]

I plan on buying a LabVIEW license and can't decipher what exactly is available in the base vs the full version of LabVIEW.

The project I am currently working on revolves around collecting angle measurements and force measurements to actively plot on a graph as we are performing tests. The measurement device data will be relayed to my computer via Arduino and I need to actively display the data in an x-y graph. The angle measurements on the x-axis and the force measurements on the y axis. I have been working on the community version and need to transition to an actual licensed version per my supervisor. I have attached examples of the device and the current VI I have made. The device measures the force from a leg as it is lifted and the force needs to correlate to the angles it is measured at. I plan on switching from an absolute encoder to a potentiometer due to the inability to pull data from the absolute encoder into LabVIEW.

I am hoping the Base version of LabVIEW will suffice but I am not 100% positive after reading the differences between Full and Base. If anyone has any advice that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

[NIquist]

What you are asking about is the LabVIEW Edition.  Version refers to a sequence of updates to programs in the software world.

I assume you've seen this, but just in case: Select Your LabVIEW Edition - NI 

If you have specific needs, then it's best to ask your NI rep to go over the options.  In general, the Base edition is "just" LabVIEW.  It's a programming language that can do all the things any other language can do.  The Full edition adds powerful math and signal analysis options along with the ability to build executables.  Most of us consider this level to be mandatory as it would be very tedious to code all these useful features.  The Pro edition adds more toolkits that are not really required but nice to have along with a slew of code testing, analysis and collaboration features that are useful to head programmers, testers and coders who need to work in groups.

Nothing you are doing in your simple VI that just plots data from a VISA connection would require more than the Basic edition.  BUT, the moment you try to analyze your data, or you need an EXE to run on another PC, you will probably wish you paid for Full.

[crossrulz]

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@NIquist wrote:

The Full edition adds powerful math and signal analysis options along with the ability to build executables.  Most of us consider this level to be mandatory as it would be very tedious to code all these useful features.

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Correction: The Application Builder is included in Pro, not Full.  But you can buy the Application Builder add-on separately.

[SeanRobert]

Ideally I would like to be able to analyze the data that is plotted on the graph and find the trend line and such. I have attached an example of ideally what my program would look like at the end of this project. The image comes from a different project that my supervisor did on his own with some work on the shoulder. 

Would this still be plausible in the Base edition of LabVIEW? Thank you for all the explanation and help so far!!

[NIquist]

+1 to Crossrulz, I got that wrong.

I also forgot to mention that NI has a nice trial policy, so you can always try out the Pro edition as you decide what you really need.  Of course, this is an attempt to get you hooked on the fancy, top-level options so you are more likely to go with Pro, but it's still a good way to test everything out. 😉

[NIquist]

Your new images are exactly what I was talking about.  You can definitely do all that with the base edition, but you will need to be able to code your own curve fitting, etc.  If you are good at math and have plenty of time, that's no problem.  I don't have the skills or the time, but once I started learning LabVIEW (version 5.0), I looked like an actual smart guy able to do FFTs, calculus, statistics, etc.  The main reason was LabVIEW enabled me to play around with all the advanced tools in the Full and Pro editions.

Honestly, if you can't afford at least the Full package, you might want to go with Python that has all the advance tools for free through imported modules and Anaconda.  LabVIEW has a smaller learning curve once you grok the graphical, data-flow paradigm, but python, being text-based, has the advantage of translating better into other languages.  Bottom line is that it all depends on your needs and desires, now and into the future...

[altenbach]

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@SeanRobert wrote:

Ideally I would like to be able to analyze the data that is plotted on the graph and find the trend line and such. I have attached an example of ideally what my program would look like at the end of this project. The image comes from a different project that my supervisor did on his own with some work on the shoulder. 

Would this still be plausible in the Base edition of LabVIEW? Thank you for all the explanation and help so far!!

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This is 20+ year old code and does not really have anything that's beyond LabVIEW base.

Wow! It is extremely convoluted, even dangerous! (there are greedy while loops that terminate based on equal comparisons of floating point values), Deeply stacked sequence structures peppered with sequence locals, etc. (I get the feeling it could be rewritten to fit a postcard, even without the stacked sequence. 😄 )

Assuming you have acquired the data in the plots, can you define what you mean by "trend line"? A simple linear extrapolation? Linear fit of all linear segments?  A polynomial fit? Fit to a complicate mathematical model?  Something else?

[NIquist]

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@altenbach wrote:

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This is 20+ year old code and does not really have anything that's beyond LabVIEW base.

Wow! It is extremely convoluted, even dangerous! (there are greedy while loops that terminate based on equal comparisons of floating point values), Deeply stacked sequence structures peppered with sequence locals, etc. (I get the feeling it could be rewritten to fit a postcard, even without the stacked sequence. 😄 )

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They are using Linear Fit.vi and Rational Interpolation.vi in SSS frame 7.  I believe they are only in Full and Pro?  If so, it would be a good reason to justify the cost to your boss when asking for the Full edition.

This code reminds me WAY too much of code I had to re-factor in the past.  At least it doesn't start by connecting every control and indicator to a local variable resulting in potential race conditions throughout. 😫

[altenbach]

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@NIquist wrote:
They are using Linear Fit.vi and Rational Interpolation.vi in SSS frame 7.

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I guess I gave up after frame 6 😄

[altenbach]

Implementing a linear fit is trivial and I seriously doubt that using a rational interpolation to get two interpolated values of a linear segment has anything to do with "rational thinking", especially since the Y values are the best fit from the linear fit so the inputs to the rational fit are guaranteed to be a straight line!

Just seems completely wrong... (like most of the code!)