LabView what does this really do?

Question

so it's data acquisition and analysis software

I'm "thinking" it takes signals from other instruments maybe?
and then allows you to just use 1 common program to analyze everything
or am i completely wrong

they never exactly say it does this they just talk about all the ways it can get signals
i'm wicked confused and i'm supposed to present stuff about it
i don't want to be dead wrong

I need it from a chemistry aspect
how would a chemist gain benefit from it
the website is really private
you have to sign up with a ton of info just to learn about it

can anybody explain this in a Dumb downed fashion?

Answer 1

Scientist use instruments to take measurements. If you want to take a measurement, you have to adjust the settings of the instrument to insure that you are collecting the data properly. This is possible by manually pressing the buttons on the instrument to achieve the settings that you want.



Now imagine the instrument needs to be adjusted multiple times to take measurements, such as with an oscilloscope. You can manually adjust the instrument for each acquisition, take the measurement, and repeat until all of the measurements have been taken. This can become annoying after a while if you have to do it repeatedly.



Labview is a software package which gives you the opportunity to interface with instruments via a port on your pc. The software comes with drivers which are designed specifically for instruments from different manufacturers and can actually simulate the controls on the instrument. If there is a knob on the instrument, you can simulate the knob on your computer screen and when you adjust the knob with your mouse on the computer screen, the instrument will adjust as if you had turned the instruments knob directly.



If you prefer not to simulate the face of the instrument, you can just directly control the instrument with commands over the port so that the instrument is configured to take the proper measurement. Then the instrument can take the measurement and the results can be displayed on your computer screen in what ever format you choose. The data can then be logged into a file automatically. The key advantage is that it can be repeatable and will eliminate human error when taking measurements.



If you can completely control an instrument with software, you really don't need the display or buttons of the instrument to gather the data you need. This is where line cards come in. They plug into your computer and allow you to connect devices to your pc and take measurements with software. The advantage is that line cards are cheaper than stand alone instruments and you can configure your "instrument panel" however you see fit since it is controlled with software.



So Labview gives you a graphical software interface to control instruments or line cards connected to your pc. It allows you to program your pc to take multiple measurements and display and/or log the information for retrieval later.

Answer 2

Having some experience with Labview, it does all that the previous posters claim. But you also need to know about the hardware side of what you want to do. Do you want to measure some parameters of a process that is making a chemical? Maybe the temperature or the pH? You are going to need to have some sensors. Then you will need to signal condition and filter those sensor outputs so that they can be input to a DAQ board. The DAQ board takes those signals and digitizes them and feeds them to the computer. Then Labview takes over and and manipulate the data, and can control outputs (maybe to control a valve or a heater). Labview can also be used to set up parameters on the DAQ board, such as acquisition rate (do you want 10 samples per second or 80,000?). You can learn all that stuff, but there is quite a bit to learn. If you can find someone that already knows it and have them help and pick their brain, it makes it much easier. Good luck.

Answer 3

LabView is a piece of software that lets you acquire data from and control a wide range of scientific instruments. The software is part programming language and part operating system and is extremely over-built in my humble opinion. That said, it does support a dizzying array of devices but unfortunately many of those devices are proprietary to National Instruments, the maker of LabView. So, in that respect, LabView is the software arm of National Instrument's scientific acquisition hardware business.