h6p://home.hit.no/~hansha/?

page=labview

Simula'on in LabVIEW

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

LabVIEW Installa'on
Download the soIware here:

Note! You get the Serial Number from your Teacher,

but the soIware can be used for 30 days before you
need to enter a valid Serial Number.

h6p://home.hit.no/~hansha/?page=labview
These are the main modules we use in the dierent
courses at Telemark University College:
LabVIEW (LabVIEW Professional Development System 32-Bit: English)
LabVIEW Control Design and Simula8on Module
LabVIEW MathScript RT Module
NI-DAQmx (Hardware Driver for NI USB-6008, NI TC-01, etc.)
Note! These packages are separate downloads! Make sure to
download and install all of them!
All LabVIEW SoIware can be downloaded here: www.ni.com/download

LabVIEW Training
Here you will nd lots of Videos, Tutorials and Exercises

LabVIEW Training for Students (Na'onal Instruments):

h6p://ni.com/students/learnlabview

LabVIEW Course:
h6p://home.hit.no/~hansha/?training=labview

Learning by Doing!

It is recommended that you watch some of the videos before you read furter

Contents
Introduc'on to LabVIEW
Installa'on
Block Diagram Simula8on based on dieren8al
Equa8ons
Simula8on Loop

PID Control with built-in PID blocks/func'ons

Crea'ng and using Simula8on Subsystems
Simula'ons using a While Loop with Subsystems inside
Discrete Simula'on
Formula Node

MathScript

Hardware

Air Heater

USB-6008

Wi-Fi DAQ
Water Tank
Pt-100
TC-01

Arduino

ZigBee

Vision System

cRIO
NOx Sensor

LabVIEW
This is the core LabVIEW installa'on that installs
the LabVIEW Programming Environment.

LabVIEW MathScript RT Module

This module is a text-based tool that is very similar to MATLAB.
The syntax is similar to MATLAB, you can create and run so-called
m les, etc. The module is available from the Tools menu inside
LabVIEW.

LabVIEW Control Design and Simula8on Module

This module is used for crea'ng Control and Simula'on
applica'ons with LabVIEW, here you will nd PID controllers,
etc. The module is available as a pale6e on your block diagram.

NI-DAQmx
DAQmx is the Hardware Driver needed in order to use hardware
devices like NI USB-6008, NI TC-01, etc. inside LabVIEW. The module is
available as a pale6e on your block diagram.

h6p://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/376039a.pdf

Control and Simula'on in LabVIEW

Control Design & Simula'on Pale6e in LabVIEW

PID Pale6e in LabVIEW

Control Design
Pale6e in LabVIEW
Simula'on Loop

Simula'on Pale6e in LabVIEW

Students: Check that you have all these

pale6es. Open the dierent subpale6es, etc.

LabVIEW Control and Simula'on Example

Example of Simula'on (and control) of a
dynamic system based on the blocks in
the Simula'on Pale6e

We are going to learn to create such a system (and more)!

Dynamic Systems

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

These are small-scale processes we have at HiT

Dynamic Systems Examples

Water Tank:

Mathema'cal Models (dieren'al equa'ons):

Alt 1 (Integrator):

Alt 2 (Time constant/1.order):

h Level in the tank

Air Heater:

T Temperature in the tube

Alt 3 (Nonlinear):

These are small-scale processes we have at HiT

Dynamic Systems Examples

2 Tank:

Mathema'cal Models (dieren'al equa'ons):

4 Tank:

Dynamic Systems
Dynamic system represented as a dieren'al equa'on

Note

We can easily create a block diagram

from the dieren'al equa'on(s)

Dynamic system represented as a block diagram

Integrator symbol

When we have the block diagram for the system, we can easily implment it in LabVIEW

Block Diagram Examples

Example 1:

Example 2:

Students: Find the block diagrams for the dieren'al equa'ons above (pen & paper)

Block Diagrams - Solu'ons

Example 1:

Example 2:

or:

Block Diagram Examples

Mass-Spring-Damper Example:

Higher order dieren'al equa'ons

Students: Find the block diagram for the dieren'al equa'on above (pen & paper)

Block Diagram - Solu'ons

Mass-Spring-Damper Example:

Higher order dieren'al equa'ons

Simula'on Tools
MATLAB

Text-based Programming Tool

www.mathworks.com

Simulink

Blockdiagram-based Simula'on, Integrated with MATLAB

LabVIEW
MathScript

Uses MATLAB syntax, Integrated with LabVIEW

Modelica

h6ps://www.modelica.org

HYSYS

h6p://www.aspentech.com/products/aspen-hysys.aspx

...

Simula'on in LabVIEW

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Simula'on in LabVIEW
Simula8on PaleLe in LabVIEW

Simula8on Loop: Similar to a While Loop, but

cusomized for used together with the
Simula'on Blocks available in LabVIEW
Dierent Simula'on Blocks by Category
Con'nuous Systems
Discrete Systems
Nonlinar Systems
etc.

Simula8on PaleLe Overview Video (15 minutes)

h6p://home.hit.no/%7Ennh/videos/sim_module/
sim_pale6e_overview/sim_pale6e_overview.html
Students: You should watch this Video before
you go further!

Simula'on Example
Dynamic system represented as a dieren'al equa'on

Students: Implement and Simulate

this system in LabVIEW

Integrator symbol

Simula'on Example - Congura'on

In the example the following simula'on parameters could be used (right-click on the Simula'on
Loop border and select Congure Simula'on parameters):

Simula'on Example - Solu'ons

Try with dierent values for u

Step Response
Correct results? Check sta'c response:

We see the Step Response

is as expected!

PID Control in LabVIEW

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Example of Industrial Controllers

PID Controller

Control System
DeltaV

Typical Block Diagram:

v
e

r
-

Kp Ti Td

PID

Process

Sensor
Students: What is r, e, u, v, y, Kp, Ti, Td?

Control System
e

r
-

Kp Ti Td

PID

Process

Sensor
r Reference Value, SP (Setpoint), SV (Set Value)
y Measurement Value (MV), Process Value (PV)
e Error between the reference value and the measurement value (e = r y)
v Disturbance, makes it more complicated to control the process
Kp, Ti, Td PID parameters

Control System implementa'on with Pen&Paper

r
-

Kp Ti Td

PID

Sensor

Process

The transi'on from paper to

LabVIEW is easy, because the
implementa'on is very similar
to the paper version

Control System implementa'on in LabVIEW

We will learn
to create this:

Control System implementa'on with Pen&Paper

Controller

r
-

Kp Ti Td

PID

All this is normally

included in the controller

Sensor

Process

The transi'on from paper to

LabVIEW is easy, because the
implementa'on is very similar
to the paper version

Control System implementa'on in LabVIEW

We will learn
to create this:

PID Control in LabVIEW

Alterna8ve 1:
PID Pale6e in LabVIEW (PID Toolkit)

Alterna8ve 2:

Note! The func'ons PID.vi and PID Advanced.vi requires that Ti

and Td is in minutes, while its normal to use seconds as the unit for
these parameters. You can use the following piece of code in order
to transform them:
This means we enter values for Ti and Td in secons on the Front
Panel and the values are converted to minutes in the code.

This alterna've
uses seconds!

LabVIEW PID Example

Students: Replace u in the previous example with the built-in PID Controller
(use Alterna've 2)

PID Example - Solu'ons

Front Panel:

Students: Find proper Kp, Ti, Td Parameters for this system. Use Trial and Error
or one of the methods explained in the Text Book

PID Example - Solu'ons

Block Diagram:

Right-click (Congura'on) on the PID block

to select Kp, Ti, Td as Inputs (->Terminals)

Next Step: Con'nuous Simula'on

Inf = Innite

Simula'on in Real Time

Right-click on the
Simula'on Loop
border and select
Congure Simula'on
Parameters

Add a Stop Bu6on

and a Halt Simula'on block

Students: Change your Simula'on Seeungs and

Run your Simula'on with these changes

PID Example Con'nuous Simula'on - Solu'on

Students: Extend the example

with a new Chart of the
Control Signal (u) and include
the reference signal (r) in the
exis'ng Chart, so you can
easily see the changes in r
and how the system handle it.
The Simula'on runs un'l you press the stop bu6on

Simula'on Subsystem
A Way to structure your code, similar to SubVIs

File -> New

This is the recommended way to do it! You can easly reuse your
Subsystems in dierent VIs and your code becomes more structured!
Select File -> New ..., Then choose Simula'on
Subsystem. Copy (or move) the blocks containing
your process into the New VI (Simula'on Subsystem)
Create a Subsystem of this part (your process model)

Students: Change your code above where you create a Simula'on Sub System
for your Process

Simula'on Subsystem - Solu'ons

Simula'on Subsystem 2 (PID Controller)

Create a Subsystem of this part
(the PID controller)

Students: Change your code above where you create a Simula'on Sub System
for the PID Controller as well.

Simula'on Subsystem Solu'ons2

Simula'on Sub Systems

Now your code has become

really simple to understand!

Note! You may select

dierent icon style

Simula'ons using a While Loop

The Simula'on Loop has some drawbacks/is more complicated to use than
an ordinary While Loop. If we use simulata'on Subsystems, we can use
them inside a While Loop instead! - which becomes very handy!
Simula'on Subsystems

So for real applica'ons that involves more than just

simula'ons (such as DAQ, File Logging, PID control of
the real process, etc.), I recommend to use a While
Loop instead of a Simula'on Loop.

Students: Add your Controller and Process Subsystems inside a While loop as
shown above. Simulate the system. Do you get the same results?

Datalogging with LabVIEW

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Save Data to File (Datalogging)

Right-click-Proper'es

Recommended Seungs

Datalogging Example

Datalogging Example Block Diagram

Students: (1) Log Data from your system, i.e., the Control Signal
(u) and the output of the process (y) to a Measurement File.
(2) Then Plot the Data from the File in Excel.

Discrete Systems

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Con8nuous Signal

Discret Signal
Note!
Dierent
books use
dierent
nota'ons

A computer can only deal

with discrete signals

Ts = Sampling Time
When Ts -> 0, we have a con'nuous signal,
but in a computer that is not possible.
k = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ....

Example

Discre'za'on

Given the following dieren'al equa'on:

In order to simulate this system in LabVIEW using the Formula
Node we need to nd the discrete dieren'al equa'on.
We can use e.g., the Euler Approxima8on:

Ts Sampling Time

Then we get:

This gives the following discrete dieren'al equa'on:

Students: Simulate and Plot the discrete system above

using a Formula Node and a For Loop in LabVIEW
Ts = 0.1 s

Formula Node/MathScript

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Formula Node & MathScript Node

Formula Node: Create and use C code
within LabVIEW
Example:

Very useful for mathema'cal expressions and

simula'ons!
Right-click on the border to
Add Input or Add Output
MathScript Node: Create and
use MathScript/MATLAB code
within LabVIEW

Formula Node/MathScript Node

Students: Create this Example
both in Formula Node and in
MathScript Node

Students: Try this Formula as well (both in

Formula Node and in MathScript Node):

Example

Simulate Discrete Systems using the

Formula Node in LabVIEW

Given the following dieren'al equa'on:

In order to simulate this system in LabVIEW using the Formula
Node we need to nd the discrete dieren'al equa'on.
We can use the Euler Approxima8on:

Ts Sampling Time

Then we get:

This gives the following discrete dieren'al equa'on:

Students: Simulate and Plot the discrete system above

using a Formula Node and a For Loop in LabVIEW
Ts = 0.1 s

Formula Node in LabVIEW - Solu'ons

Discrete model:

xk1=(1-a*Ts)*xk + Ts*b*uk;
As expected, we get the same
results as in the previous
example using a block diagram
simula'on

Students: Improve your solu'on by

crea'ng a SubVI of your model

Formula Node in LabVIEW Solu'ons 2

SubVI

Main VI

Advantages using SubVI:

Our Main program has become simpler
and easier to understand and maintain
We can reuse our model in other
applica'ons
If we need to do changes in the model, we
only do it once and in one place!

MathScript
LabVIEW MathScript RT Module

Add-on Module for

LabVIEW where we
can do text-based
programming and
simula'ons
very powerful!

MathScript
Simula'on
Example

% Simulation of discrete model

clear, clc
Create the
following code in
% Model Parameters
the MathScript
a = 0.25;b = 2;
Script Editor
% Simulation Parameters
Ts = 0.1; %s
Tstop = 20; %s
uk = 1; % Step Response
x(1) = 0;
% Simulation
for k=1:(Tstop/Ts)
x(k+1) = (1-a*Ts).*x(k) + Ts*b*uk;
end

Students: Create and test the

MathScript code. You should
get the same results as in the
LabVIEW Examples

% Plot the Simulation Results

k=0:Ts:Tstop;
plot(k,x)
grid on

MathScript Node
Students: Try the same example inside LabVIEW using
the MathScript Node
Just copy and paste the code from
the previous example

LabVIEW Course
Simula'on in
LabVIEW

PDF File
available for
download

h6p://home.hit.no/~hansha/?training=labview
Students: Read the Course Manual and
do the Exercises (as many as possible)
in the Course Manual on your own.
Note! Solu'ons with cource code for all
the exercises are located on the web page

Course Manual with Exercises

Available as a PDF le from:
h6p://home.hit.no/~hansha/documents/labview/course/simula'on.htm

Select one of the following Challenges

Hans-Pe6er Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Mass-Spring-Damper System

h6p://www.techteach.no/simview/mass_spring_damper/index.php
Students: Simulate this system using LabVIEW. Plot the posi'on, speed and the
accellera'on. Test with dierent values on m, k and d.

Air Heater Overview

A sketch of the Air Heater System:
Air ow

Control
Signal

Air tube

Temperature
Measurement

Heater

TC

TT

Air In

Air Out

Real Air Heater

Air Heater Simula'on

In this assignment we are going to simulate and control a mathema'cal
model of an Air Heater system.
A mathema'cal model of the system could be:

Where:

Use the following values in the simula'ons:

Note! You nd an example of how to do it in LabVIEW on the next
slides but try to solve it by yourself rst!

Air Heater Simula'on Example

Implement the Heater model in a Simula'on Sub System, as shown below:

See next slide for Front

Panel example

Air Heater Simula'on

Front Panel Example:

Find Proper PI(D) Parameters

Air Heater Simula'on

with MathScript
MathScript Simula'on Example
% Simulation of discrete model
clear, clc

Are you able to simulate

the Air Heater model
using MathScript or
MathScript Node?

% Model Parameters
a = 0.25;b = 2;
% Simulation Parameters
Ts = 0.1; %s
Tstop = 20; %s
uk = 1;
x(1) = 0;
% Simulation
for k=1:(Tstop/Ts)
x(k+1) = (1-a*Ts).*x(k) + Ts*b*uk;
end
% Plot the Simulation Results
k=0:Ts:Tstop;
plot (k, x)
grid on

Hans-PeLer Halvorsen, M.Sc.

Telemark University College
Faculty of Technology
Department of Electrical Engineering, Informa8on Technology and Cyberne8cs

E-mail: hans.p.halvorsen@hit.no
Blog: hLp://home.hit.no/~hansha/

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