Watlow PDD Front Panel

[DeclanKillilea]

Hi,

Can anyone help.I am currently trying to do a project for college.Basically my plan is to use labview to control a watlow PDD temp controller to switch on an off a heater.I only want to preform basic functions like set and read the temperature and possibly graph the temperature.I am also setting up an ordinary thermostat and relay to switch on and off the heater and again use the PDD to monitor and graph this temperature.Basically my project is  to graphically display the advantages of PID control.

Now here is my problem.I am pretty much a complete novice when it comes to labview and programming.I have downloaded the instrument drivers from Labview for the PDD controller but i have no idea how to use it.I have got connection from my laptop to the watlow via internet but i have no clue on how to get labview chatting to my watlow.When i open the instrument drivers it is just a load of Subvi's and i have no idea what to wire to where or what to use to get a simple knob on the front panel increasing or decreasing the set temperature.

Any help would be massivly appreciated

Thanks 

[Nisar F]

Hello Declan,

I hope you are doing fine. Can you please direct me where you are geting these drivers from.

Best regards,

[DeclanKillilea]

Hi

I used a control in the labview to searh for instrument drivers i think,or else i downloaded it from this site I will show you what i downloaded.To be honest i dont know if it has anything to offer the application i need to do

I got it from this link on this site http://sine.ni.com/apps/utf8/niid_web_display.model_page?p_model_id=2537

Should this help me do what i need to do??

As is probably becoming quite obvious i am not too sure of what i need to do

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Declan.

[Nisar F · Accepted solution]

Hi Declan,

Yeah they are the right drivers. I suppose you are using LabView 8.0 or earlier versions. Just to get you started, here is the link that explains the fundamental of instrument drivers.

Internally the VI's in an instrument are organized into six categories.

1) "Initialize VI " establishes communication with the instrument and is the first instrument driver VI calls

2) "Configure VIs" are software routines that configure the instrument to perform specific operations. After calling these VI's instrument is ready to take measurement.

3) "Action/Status" VIs command the instrument to carry out an action or to obtain the current status of the instrument or pending operations

4 "Data" The data VIs transfer date to or from the instrument

5) "Utility" VI's perform a variety of auxiliary operations , such as reset and self-test

6) "Close" The close VI terminates the software connection to the instrument. This is the last instrument driver VI called.

There is a help function (?)at the top pellet of your block diagram window, if you click that and place your cursor on the VI's it tells you the function and what needs to be connected to the VI's. This should be enough to get you started.

There are also some examples available at NI Example finder-> Hardware input/output->instrumentation drivers->labview plug and play (if you can not find them please install the aggilent instruments from here) those should give you some idea how instrument driver works and the programming. This should be enough to get you started. I will try to find you some examples that are related to your project.

Also if you are in UK and needs assistance with the LabView programming learning you can call 01635 523545  , and they can arrange some courses for you.

Best regards,

[DeclanKillilea]

Hi,

Finally got time this weekend to start getting used to the instrument drivers.I have opened a new vi then dropped in the inialise vi.From here i wanted to input the ip address of the pdd unit which is 169.254.10.10.What i thought was going to happen was the vi would somehow let me know the unit was there and all was well with the world!.How ever i kept getting this error message BFFF0011 insufficent location information or the device or resource is not present in the system.

I am connected with the watlow as i can view the monitor screen imbedded in the unit no problem using my browser.

In the help menu it shows a common address as ::169.254.10.10::502::socket.Do i need to put all these numbers in and the colons as trying it so far has not worked.Also as i do progress with this project will i need to put this vi in as a sub vi for every function i intend to do with the watlow??

Do i need to know what port my ethernet cable is connected to and if so any ideas on where to find it?

Thanks again

Declan. 

[DeclanKillilea]

Hold on.it just worked.........need to put in all of the text also i.e.TCPIP::169.xxx.xx.xx::502::socket       etc  brilliant............now what !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DeclanKillilea]

Yes me again.I have tried to get things moving with this project.I have downloaded the drivers,opened them up in a new vi.Inputted the proper tcpip address and checked that the initialize vi is working which it is as i get no error back.I then tried to open the read actual temperature example vi and watched it work  on a step by step basis.All goes well until it comes to the second sub vi in the example which is a  configure analog input vi.When it gets to here it  returns this error message. Hex0xBFFF003E Could not preform operation because of i/o error. And Error 1073807298 occured at VISA read in WLPD utility read from device.vi>WLPD configure Analog input.vi>WLPD read actual measurement example

Any suggestions.I previously set up the watlow using its in built in setup page.Do i need to turn on anything in the watlow to allow comms to get it to comunicate or do i need to adjust all the settings in the  subvis associated with that example.

I thought that the  example would recieve what the  that are on the unit and display them back or do i have to put all the settings into each vi and subvi and then  that will solve the I/O problem?

All suggestions appreciated thanks

Dec

[Nisar F]

Hello Declan,

I hope you are doing fine. Can you send me your code and I can have a look at it.

Best regards,

[DeclanKillilea]

The code i was using was the code i downloaded form the labview site.I thwen ran the read actual temperature example that is in the software drivers.I havent run anything else.I just dragged in the example into a block diagram.Opened up the initialise vi and inputted my tcpip address and ran it.

Thanks

Declan.

[DeclanKillilea]

Hi Nisar,

I just ran the driver,it has a get actual temperature example in it.I opened the example,dragged it into a new bloack diagram.Inputted my tcpip address and ran it.I get the error on the send/recieve sub vi built into the example.Is what i am trying to do way too complicated.All i wanted to do is read and set the temperature on a watlow pdd controller.I am not worried about pid setting or anything.I just want the watlow to switch on and off the relay for the heater and feed back temperature to a simple front panel

Thanks again

Declan