Is Measurement Studio the right tool for this project?

[xcgeek]

I first posted a question related to this to a LabView discussion forum here: http://forums.lavag.org/Advice-on-planning-new-Labview-project-t10441.html as I thought that LabView would be the best tool for the job.  After recieving a lot of great feedback about LabView, it became apparent that my extensive programming background and complete newbie status to LabView meant a steep uphill battle to learn the new language in order tackle this project.

So now I am wondering if Measurement Studio for .NET is a better tool for the project (considering my background)  Here are the details of the project.  There is an automation control project I am thinking about taking on and I am looking for advice on how big a project this might be, how long it would take me to do using Measurement Studio for .NET, and when I said "thinking about" it means I also need your advice as to whether I am crazy for trying to tackle a project such as this in the first place so let me start by explaining what it is. (I apologize as I don't know the correct terminology but will do my best to explain.)

The project is a computer controlled ski flex tester that would have one screw-drive pressure sensitive plunger working on a vertical plane to compress and measure flex pressure on top of the ski (directly in the middle.) There would be a second linear motion system that runs a pressure sensor and separate height measurement tool under the whole length of the ski using a highly accurate indexed stepper motor (to match position with height/pressure). So we have a total of 2 motors, 2 pressure sensors and one height sensor. It would need feedback control from the vertical pressure/plunger system, as well as data capture and database storage with a graphical analysis and GUI control interface for certain parameters (ie start test for 150lbs person).

Now for the second part of the equation: me. I have 15 years of programming experience in VB, C, ASP, .NET, am strong with databases, have some experience in RS232 hardware communication, but very little robotics and only high school electronics education.

So here are the questions:
1. Is Measurement Studio a good tool for such a project?
2. What is a ball-park estimate of time for a) a Measurement Studio expert, and b) me.
3. Am I crazy to start this as a newbie to automation control and Measurement Studio?

Many thanks for any help you folks can provide.

[KristenC]

Hello,

Do you know how are you going to interface with the motors, pressure sensors, etc.? 

Measurement Studio is great for interfacing with our data acquisition devices and for controlling instruments using our NI-VISA drivers.  NI-VISA would allow you to easily communicate with serial, GPIB, etc.  If you are going to want to display you data on graphs in charts Measurement Studio is great for that.  Using a graph in Measurement Studio is as easy as putting down a button in Visual Studio.  The properties are all available like you'd expect.  Plus, everything comes with great documentation. 

As for how much time it will take, I feel like if you are comfortable programming in .NET you will have no problem using the libraries included with Measurement Studio. 

You should try the 30 day evaluation, available at the bottom of this page: www.ni.com/mstudio/try/

When filling out the form to download it you can also select to have someone in Sales contact you.  I highly recommend you talk to someone in our Sales department.  They can help you figure out what you'll need to go ahead with this project.

Message Edited by KristenC on 03-31-2008 11:59 AM

[xcgeek]

Thank you Kristen for the information.
  Although we have the motors and sensors, we don't have a controller yet for interfacing to the computer so I'm guessing that our choice of controller will affect the rest of the programming and software choices.  Assuming now that we go with Measurement Studio, and the specs I've already listed (I'm sorry I don't have the exact make and model of the motors and sensors - I will be getting those specs soon), do you have a recommendation on which NI controller would work best.  I've been reviewing the E Series -- NI 6052E but have no real idea if this is what is needed.
Thank you for any information and help you can provide.

[KristenC]

You'll need to know what kind of signal your motors and sensors are inputting/outputting.  With that information you can find a card that has the appropriate number of analog, digital, and counter inputs and outputs.  The people in sales are good at matching hardware to your particular application.

Message Edited by KristenC on 04-01-2008 01:35 PM