For courses in Measurement and Instrumentation, Electrical Engineering lab, and Physics and Chemistry lab. National Instruments' LabVIEW is the defacto industry standard for test, measurement, and automation software solutions. ORDERING INFORMATION: To order this book with the LabVIEW 8.6 Student Edition software, please use Value Package ISBN: 0138004609.

Table of Contents

1. LabVIEW Basics 1.1 System Configuration Requirements 1.2 Installing the Student Edition of LabVIEW 1.3 The LabVIEW Environment 1.4 The Getting Started Screen 1.5 Panel and Diagram Windows 1.5.1 Front Panel Toolbar 1.5.2 Block Diagram Toolbar 1.6 Short Cut Menus 1.7 Pull-Down Menus 1.7.1 File Menu 1.7.2 Edit Menu 1.7.3 View Menu 1.7.4 Project Menu 1.7.5 Operate Menu 1.7.6 Tools Menu 1.7.7 Windows Menu 1.7.8 Help Menu 1.8 Palettes 1.8.1 Tools Palette 1.8.2 Controls Palette 1.8.3 Functions Palette 1.9 Opening, Loading, and Saving VIs 1.10 LabVIEW Help Options 1.10.1 Context Help Window 1.10.2 LabVIEW Help 1.11 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 1.12 Relaxed Reading: Remote Controlled Excavation with LabVIEW 1.13 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 2. Virtual Instruments 2.1 What are Virtual Instruments? 2.2 Several Worked Examples 2.3 The Front Panel 2.3.1 Numeric Controls and Indicators 2.3.2 Boolean Controls and Indicators 2.3.3 Configuring Controls and Indicators 2.4 The Block Diagram 2.4.1. VIs and Express VIs 2.4.2. Nodes 2.4.3. Terminals 2.4.4. Wiring 2.5 Building Your First VI 2.6 Data Flow Programming 2.7 Building a VI Using Express VIs 2.8 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 2.9 Relaxed Reading: LabVIEW Automates Brain Wave Experiments 2.10 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 3. Mathscript 3.1 What is MathScript? 3.2 Accessing the MathScript Interactive Window 3.2.1 The Command History Window 3.2.2 Copying Output Window Data 3.2.3 Viewing Data in a Variety of Formats 3.3 MathScript Help 3.4 Syntax 3.4.1 Key MathScript Functions 3.5 Defining Functions and Creating Scripts 3.5.1 User-Defined Functions 3.5.2 Scripts 3.6 Saving, Loading, and Exporting Data Files 3.6.1 Saving and Loading Data Files 3.6.2 Exporting to Microsoft Excel 3.7 MathScript Nodes 3.7.1 Accessing the MathScript Node 3.7.2 Entering Scripts into the MathScript Node 3.7.3 Input and Output Variables 3.7.4 Saving Scripts from within the MathScript Node 3.8 Applications of MathScript 3.8.1 Instrument Your Algorithms 3.8.2 Graphical Signal Processing, Analysis, and Mathematics 3.8.3 Integrating Measurement Hardware 3.9 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 3.10 Relaxed Reading: Designing a Production Test System for a New Generation of Gaming 3.11 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 4. Editing and Debugging Virtual Instruments 4.1 Editing Techniques 4.1.1 Creating Controls and Indicators on the Block Diagram 4.1.2 Selecting Objects 4.1.3 Moving Objects 4.1.4 Deleting and Duplicating Objects 4.1.5 Resizing Objects 4.1.6 Labeling Objects 4.1.7 Changing Font, Style, and Size of Text 4.1.8 Selecting and Deleting Wires 4.1.9 Wire Stretching and Broken Wires 4.1.10 Aligning, Distributing, and Resizing Objects 4.1.11 Coloring Objects 4.2 Debugging Techniques 4.2.1 Finding Errors 4.2.2 Highlight Execution 4.2.3 Single Stepping Through a VI and Its Sub VIs 4.2.4 Breakpoints and Probes 4.3 A Few Shortcuts 4.4 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 4.5 Relaxed Reading: LabVIEW Helps Fabrication Process of Next Generation Microprocessors 4.6 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 5. Sub VIs 5.1 What is a SubVI? 5.2 Review of the Basics 5.3 Editing the Icon and Connector 5.3.1 Icons 5.3.2 Connectors 5.3.3 Selecting and Modifying Terminal Patterns 5.3.4 Assigning Terminals to Controls and Indicators 5.4 The Help Window 5.5 Using a VI as a SubVI 5.6 Creating a SubVI from a Selection 5.7 Saving your SubVI 5.8 The Hierarchy Window 5.9 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 5.10 Relaxed Reading: LabVIEW Real-Time at Biosphere 5.11 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 6. Structures 6.1 The For Loop 6.1.1 Numeric Conversions 6.2 The White Loop 6.3 Shift Registers and Feedback Nodes 6.3.1 Shift Registers 6.3.2 Using Shift Registers to Remember Data Values from Previous Loop Iterations 6.3.3 Initializing Shift Registers 6.3.4 Feedback Nodes 6.4 Case Structures 6.4.1 Adding and Deleting Cases 6.4.2 Wiring Inputs and Outputs 6.5 Flat Sequence Structures 6.5.1 Evaluate and Control Timing in a Sequence Structure 6.5.2 Avoid the Overuse of Sequence Structures 6.6 The Formula Node 6.6.1 The Formula Node Input and Output Variables 6.6.2 Formula Statements 6.7 Some Common Problems in Wiring Structures 6.7.1 Failing to Wire a Tunnel in All Cases of a Case Structure 6.7.2 Overlapping Tunnels 6.7.3 Wiring Underneath Rather Than Through a Structure 6.8 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulations 6.9 Relaxed Reading: Investigating Global Warming with LabVIEW 6.10 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 7. Arrays and Clusters 7.1 Arrays 7.1.1 Creating Array Controls and Indicators 7.1.2 Multidimensional Arrays 7.2 Creating Arrays with Loops 7.2.1 Creating Two-Dimensional Arrays 7.3 Array Functions 7.3.1 Array Size 7.3.2 Initialize Array 7.3.3 Build Array 7.3.4 Array Subset 7.3.5 Index Arrays 7.4 Polymorphism 7.5 Clusters 7.6 Creating Cluster Controls and Indicators 7.6.1 Cluster Order 7.6.2 Using Clusters to Pass Data to and From Sub VIs 7.7 Cluster Functions 7.7.1 The Bundle Function 7.7.2 The Unbundle Function 7.7.3 Creating Clusters Constants on the Block Diagram 7.7.4 Using Polymorphism with Clusters 7.8 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 7.9 Relaxed Reading: LabVIEW Monitors Medieval Bell Tower 7.10 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 8. Charts and Graphs 8.1 Waveform Charts 8.2 Waveform Graphs 8.3 XY Graphs 8.4 Customizing Charts and Graphs 8.4.1 Axes Scaling 8.4.2 The Legend 8.4.3 The Graph Palette and Scale Legend 8.4.4 Special Chart-Customizing Features 8.4.5 Special Graph-Customizing Features: Cursor Legend 8.4.6 Using Graph Annotations 8.4.7 Exploring Images of Graph, Charts and Tables 8.4.8 Using Context Help 8.5 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 8.6 Relaxed Reading: Spacecraft Attitude Determination on the Web 8.7 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 9. Data Acquisition 9.1 Components of DAQ System 9.2 Types of Signals 9.2.1 Digital Signals 9.2.2 Analog DC Signals 9.2.3 Analog AC Signals 9.2.4 Analog Frequency-Domain Signals 9.2.5 One Signal--Five Measurement Perspectives 9.3 Common Transducers and Signal Conditioning 9.4 Signal Grounding and Measurements 9.4.1 Signal Source Reference Configuration 9.4.2 Measurement System 9.5 Analog to Digital Conversions 9.6 DAQ VI Organization 9.7 Choosing Your Data Acquisition Device 9.7.1 M-Series Data Acquisition Device 9.7.2 Low Cost Data Acquisition for Students 9.7.3 Simulated Data Acquisition 9.7.4 Macintosh, Linux, Palm OS, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, and Select Windows CE OS Devices 9.8 DAQ Hardware Configuration 9.8.1 Windows 9.8.2 Channels and Tasks 9.9 Using the DAQ Assistant 9.9.1 DAQmx Task Name Constant 9.10 Analog Input 9.10.1 Task Timing 9.10.2 Task Triggering 9.11 Analog Output 9.11.1 Task Timing 9.11.2 Task Triggering 9.12 Digital Input and Output 9.13 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 9.14 Relaxed Reading: Fuel Cell Catalyst Research 9.15 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 10. Strings and File I/O 10.1 Strings 10.1.1 Converting Numeric Values to Strings with the Build Text Express VI 10.2 File I/O 10.2.1 Writing Data to a File 10.2.2 Reading Data from a File 10.2.3 Manipulating Spreadsheet Files 10.2.4 File I/O Express VIs 10.3 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 10.4 Relaxed Reading: Using LabVIEW in Drive-by-Wire Testing 10.5 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems 11. Analysis 11.1 Linear Algebra 11.1.1 Review of Matrices 11.1.2 System of Algebraic Equations 11.1.3 Linear System VIs 11.2 Statistics and Curve Fitting 11.2.1 Curve Fits Based on Least Squares Methods 11.2.2 Fitting a Curve to Data with Normal Distributions 11.2.3 The Curve Fitting Express VI 11.3 Differential Equations 11.4 Finding Zeroes of Functions 11.5 Integration and Differentiation 11.6 Signal Generation 11.6.1 Normalized Frequency 11.6.2 Wave and Pattern VIs 11.6.3 The Simulate Signal Express VI 11.7 Signal Processing 11.7.1 The Fourier Transform 11.7.2 Smoothing Windows 11.7.3 The Spectral Measurements Express VI 11.7.4 Filtering 11.7.5 The Filter Express VI 11.8 Building Blocks: Pulse Width Modulation 11.9 Relaxed Reading: Motorcycle Brake Testing 11.10 Summary Exercises Problems Design Problems Appendix A: Instrument Control Appendix B: Other LabVIEW Applications