LabView

Physics 3 - IT skills
Miles Padgett
m.padgett@physics.gla.ac.uk

1
Objectives
 To acquire familiarity with the LabView
Programming language
 To be able to write LabView programmes
incorporating pre written and new VI’s
 To use LabView in the study of 2-D
diffraction patterns
 You get exercise marks for completion of
each milestone.

2
LabView - the basics
 All LabView programmes comprise
two screen types
 The “front panel” (grey) which acts as
the user interface
 The “diagram” (white) which contains
the “programme”

3
LabView - getting going
 Opening LabView (windows)
 “Double-click” on LabView Icon
 LabView start-up appears
 Opening LabView (Linux)
 From within the Linux “Shell”
type “labview &” The LabView icon
 LabView start-up appears
 Programs themselves are
called “vi” (virtual
instruments)
 To start a new “vi”, select
“new vi” from the LabView
start up screen The LabView start up screen
4
LabView - front Panel
 Controls (data input) and indicators
(data output) can be selected from
the “controls” window and placed on
the front panel.
 To find controls
 select “show panel” from “window” menu
 select “show controls palette” from
“window” menu

The controls palette

5
LabView - diagram
 Functions (program
operations) can be selected
from the “functions” window
and placed on the diagram.
 To find functions
 select “show diagram” from
“window” menu
 select “show functions palette”
from “window” menu

The functions palette

6
LabView - tools
 Tools (cursor/mouse
functions) can be selected
from the “tool” window
 To find tools
 select “show tools palette” from
“window” menu The tools palette
 Some issues of LabView give
option for auto-tool select -
TURN IT OFF!
 Auto tools is turn off and on by Click
clicking on the “green” button
to turn
(Dark green is off)
off
auto
tools 7
Using LabView to add two
numbers
 Create new program
 Select “new VI” from the file
menu
 Select a digital control
from the controls palette Selecting a digital control
and place it on the front
panel (grey)
 Do the same again
 Select a digital indicator
from the controls palette
and place it on the front
panel Selecting a digital indicator

8
Adding two numbers - front
panel

 Controls and
indicator placed
on front panel
 N.B. software
automatically
numbers controls
of the same type
in sequence
The front panel

9
Adding two numbers - diagram

 Data terminals
automatically
appear on
diagram

The diagram

10
Adding two numbers - placing
the function

 Select and drag the

“addition function
onto the diagram
Selecting a numeric function
 To find addition
 Show function panel
 Click on numeric
 Select and drag
addition onto diagram

Dragging onto the diagram

11
Adding two numbers - wiring
the function

 Select “wiring tool” from

tools palette
 Cursor now changes
function
 “click” on wire start
point “drag” to end point
then “release”
 Use wiring tool to
connect
 Digital controls to
function inputs
 Function output to
digital indicator

12
Useful tips - controls and
indicators and terminals
 Do not confuse controls (data inputs) with
indicators (data outputs)
 Wiring an indicator to the input of a function will
generate an error
 Wiring a control to the output of a function will generate
an error
 Double (left) clicking on any terminal on the
diagram (white) will highlight the associated
control or indicator on the front panel (grey)
 Double (left) clicking on any control or indicator
on the front panel (grey) will highlight the
associated terminal on the diagram (white)

13
Adding two numbers - running
the program

 Select “arrow” from tools

palette Run continuously
 Cursor now changes
function
 Running the program
 Use arrow tool to “click”
single arrow on front
panel to run once Stop the program
 Or “click” looped arrow
on front panel to run
continuously Run once
 Stopping the program
 Use arrow tool to “click”
red stop button
14
Adding two numbers -
operating the program

 Select “finger hand” or “text

tool” from tools palette
 Cursor now changes
function
 Changing the input Text field
 Use “finger” on up/down
arrows of numeric controls
 Or use “text tool” to
highlight and edit number
field (white) within numeric
control
 If running continuously
then program is interactive

Up/down arrows
15
Adding two numbers - saving
the program

 Select “save” from within the file menu

 When prompted enter filename
 Note in windows LabView files have a
***.vi file extension
 vi - stands for virtual instrument
 DO IT NOW AND KEEP DOING IT!

16
Useful tips - changing the
program
 When a LabView program is running it IS
possible to change the setting of the controls, i.e.
change the data inputs
 When a LabView program is running it IS NOT
possible to change to wiring of the program
 To make changes to the program you need to
stop it first!

17
Customising the program (text)

 Select “text tool” from tools

palette
 Cursor now changes
function
 Changing the name of the
input
 Use “text tool” to highlight Indicator text field
and edit the names (grey)
numeric control
 Use “text tool” to highlight
and edit the name (grey)
numeric indicator

Control text field

18
Customising the program (data)

 Select “arrow tool” from Selecting data range

tools palette
 Cursor now changes
function
 Changing the allowed
range and up/down
increment of the controls
 Right click (windows) on
the numeric control to
generate menu then select
“Data range…”
 Within data range can set
upper limit/lower limit and
increment
 Now run the program again
Max/Min/Increment 19
Customising the program
(display) -1

 Select the front panel

 Show “controls panel from
window menu”
 Use “arrow tool” to select
numeric control Selecting a digital meter
 Use “arrow tool” to select
“meter” and “drag” it onto
front panel
 Use “text tool” to optionally Name of meter
edit name of meter
 Use “text tool” to optionally
highlight and edit the range
of the meter

Range of meter
20
Customising the program
(display) -2

 Select the diagram

 Select “wiring tool” from tool
palette
 Use wiring tool to connect
meter terminal to existing
output wire of the “addition”
function or equivalently to
the existing numeric
indicator terminal
 I.e. click on start, drag to
end then release
 Run the program again,
note meter display matches
indicator

21
Accessing LabView’s help
 To get help on a function
 Select the diagram
 Select “arrow tool” from tool
palette
 Use arrow tool to right click
(windows) on function
 Select help from pop up menu
 Function help appears in sub-
window (There may be some
problems with HELP under
LINUX)
 More general help can be
obtained through the “help
menu”
 “Content and index” is good for
specific questions
 LabView comes with a “learn
by activities package”
 Also a great set of example
programs
22
Useful tips - indicators, controls
and terminal
 Every indicator on the front
panel has a terminal on the
diagram
 Every control on the front
panel has a terminal on the
diagram
 Right clicking(windows) on
any terminal, control
/indicator gives the option of
highlighting the
corresponding control
/indicator or terminal

23
Useful tips - switching between
tools
 Rather than picking your tool from the “tools palette”
pressing the “tab” key toggles the tool between
 On the diagram
 Arrow (allows selection and/or movement of terminals and
functions around diagram
 Text (allow text edit of terminal and addition of extra text
comments)
 Wiring (allows wiring connection of functions and terminals)
 Finger (allows selection of terminals)
 On the panel
 Arrow (allows movement of controls around panel
 Text (allows text edit of control/indicator and addition of extra
text comments)
 Paint (allows colour change of control or indicator)
 Finger (allows adjustment of controls)
24
Useful tips - showing various
windows
 Any window or tool panel can be made
active by selecting it from the window
menu
 Alternatively “clicking” on a window will
make it active
 This is a quick way of switching between the
diagram and the front panel

25
Useful tips - finding errors
 If the current LabView Broken “run” arrow
programme is non
executable the “run” arrow
on the front panel appears
broken
 Activating the arrow results
in an error list contain the
faults
 Selecting any fault
highlight the offending part
of the diagram
 All unconnected wires
(dotted lines) can be error list
removed by selecting
“remove broken wires”
from the “edit” menu
26
Looping programs
 Computers become
power when you make
them do something
many times!
 LabView loops are
examples of structures
and placed on the
diagram
 Show diagram
Selecting the
 Shows functions palette structure sub palette
 Select structure from the functions
palette

27
Incorporating a “while loop”
 Select a “while loop”
from the structure “While loop”
palette
 Place while loop on
diagram to surround
program
 Click top left drag to
bottom right and release
 While loop will run
whilst condition is true Condition

28
Setting the condition of a “while
loop”
 Need Boolean (true/false)
control to set state of while
loop
 Show front panel
 Show controls palette
 Select “boolean”
 Select “push button” and
drag and place (release) on
front panel
 Optionally use “text tool” to
highlight and edit name
(grey) of new control

29
Wiring the condition of a “while
loop”
 Need to wire the Boolean
terminal to the condition of
the while loop
 Use arrow tool to move (if
necessary) the terminal of
the Boolean control to the
inside of the while loop
 Use the wiring tool to
connect the boolean
terminal to the condition
terminal

30
Running a “while loop”
 Running/stopping the
program within a while loop
 Use finger tool to toggle
Boolean control to true
(dull green arrow becomes
bright green)
 Use finger or arrow tool to
“run” program (NB not
continuously run)
 Program will now run
continuously
 Use finger or text tool to
change/edit numeric
controls
 Use finger tool to toggle
boolean control to stop
program

31
To draw a sine curve in LabView
 Objective
 To plot a sine curve in the range 0-
10π
 Start a new program
 Select “new VI” from the file menu
 Save it now
 Select“save” from the file menu
and when prompted provide name

32
Using a “for loop”
 Show the diagram
 Select a “for loop” For loop
from the structure
palette
 Place the “for loop” on
the diagram
 “click” “drag” “release”
Terminal for N
 A “for-loop” will run N
times then stop
 i increments from 0 to
N-1 Terminal for i

33
Wiring N on a “for loop”
 Show the front panel
 Select digital control from
the controls palette
 Place control on front
panel
 Show diagram
 (If necessary) move
terminal of digital control
to outside of loop
 Wire digital control
terminal to N terminal of
for loop
 NB one terminal is blue the
other orange!

34
Understanding data types
 Computers store number in different
forms, e.g.
 Integers, 8 bit, 16bit, 32 bit - BLUE in
LabView
 Floats single precision, double precision -
Orange in LabView

35
Converting Data type
 Show either diagram or
front panel
 Right click (window) on
control or terminal and
select “representation”
 “click” on data type of
choice to convert
numeric
 Do this to change numeric
control to I32 integer
 Edit numeric value to 100

36
Drawing a sine curve - defining
the range (1)
 To define the 0-10π Selecting a constant
range
 Show diagram
 Select and place
constant outside loop -
edit to 10
Selecting π
 Select and place π
outside loop
 Select and place multiply
function outside loop
 Wire “10” and “π” into “x”
function

37
Drawing a sine curve - defining
the range (2)
 Select and place divide
function inside loop
 Wire “i “into numerator of
divide
 Wire numeric input
through wall into
denominator of divide
 Select and place multiply
function
 Wire output of divide into
multiply
 Wire “10 x π” multiply
through loop wall into
multiply

38
Drawing a sine curve -
calculating the value
 To calculate the sine
value
 Select and place
sine function inside
loop Selecting sine
 Wire output of
multiply to input of
sine
 Wire output of sine
to loop wall

39
Drawing a sine curve -
displaying the curve
 Show front panel
 Select and place
“waveform graph” on
front panel
 Show diagram
 (if necessary) move Selecting waveform graph
waveform graph
terminal outside loop
 Wire wall of loop to
waveform graph
terminal

40
Drawing a sine curve -
displaying the curve (2)
 Show diagram
 (if necessary) move
waveform graph
terminal outside loop
 Wire wall of loop to
waveform graph
terminal
 NB orange wire on
outside of loop is
thicker than inside
 Indicates wire carries
an array of numbers

41
Drawing a sine curve - running
the program
 Use arrow tool to “run
continuously the program
 Adjust numeric control to
change number of points
calculated
 Use arrow tool to “stop”
program when finished
 Use text edit tool to
rename x-axis of graph
(angle), name of numeric
control (number of data
points) and name of
waveform graph

42
Drawing a sine curve -
modifying the program
 To make 10π range variable
 Select and place digital
control on front panel
 Show diagram
 Delete 10π product structure
and wire from outside loop to
leave unwired loop entry
 Move new numeric terminal
to similar position
 Wire in terminal to loop entry
 Run continuously and
experiment with changing the
range

43
Drawing a sine curve -
extending the program FFT (1)
 To obtain an FFT of the sine
wave
 Select and place FFT
function on diagram near
existing waveform graph
terminal - the route to FFT is
• Functions
• Analyse
• Signal processing
• Frequency domain
 Wire waveform graph (or
neighbouring wire to Input of
FFT function

Selecting FFT function

44
Drawing a sine curve -
extending the program FFT (2)
 Wire waveform graph (or
neighbouring wire to Input of
FFT function
 On front panel place
additional waveform graph
 On diagram wire output of
FFT function to terminal of
waveform graph
 Use text tool to edit name of
waveform graph and x axis of
graph on front panel

45
Drawing a sine curve - seeing
the FFT
 Run program
continuously
 Update range control
 Examine FFT of sine
wave
 Note the FFT has two
peaks
 Note FFT peaks have
+ve and -ve values

46
Drawing a sine curve - seeing
the power spectrum (1)
 More usual to consider the
power spectrum
 Need to take modulus
squared of each FFT
component
 Delete wire between FFT and
waveform graph terminal
 (if necessary) move terminal
of waveform graph away
from FFT
 Select and place modulus
function after FFT
 Select and place multiply
function after modulus
 Wire FFT to modulus
 Wire modulus to both inputs
of multiply
 Wire multiply to waveform
graph terminal 47
Drawing a sine curve - seeing
the power spectrum (2)
 Power spectrum is +ve
 Still twin peaked
 Run program
 Note that a higher
“frequencies” of sine wave
power spectrum peaks
move towards centre
 Double peaks can be
through to represent +ve
and -ve frequency

48
Using LabView to draw a 2D
function
 Objective
 To plot an “egg box” type pattern
 Start a new program
 Select “new VI” from the file menu
 Save it now
 Select“save” from the file menu
and when prompted provide name

49
Double nested “for loop”
 A single for
loop will
create a
vector of N
elements
 To create an
array use a
for loop
within a for
loop
50
Useful tips - copying and
moving items on the diagram
 To move a selection of functions and wires on a
diagram
 Use arrow tool to define rectangle of interest, i.e. click
upper left and drag to lower right
 Use cursor keys to move selected region
 To copy a selected section of the program
 Use arrow tool to define rectangle of interest, I.e. click
upper left and drag to lower right
 Use standard copy and paste functions to replicate
program

51
Calculating the “egg box”
 Assume an egg box is
generated by taking the
product of two sine functions
(one in the x-direction and one
in the y)
 Use double nested loop and
repeat logic of previous
program, note
 Both N terminals of loop wired
to control
 i indices of loops wired to form
x and y axis
 Out wired through inner loop
to form output from outer loop

52
Visualising the “egg box” (1)
 Show front panel
 Select and place
intensity graph on
front panel
 N.B. intensity graph Selecting an intensity graph
is different from
intensity chart!
 Use text tool to
rename x-axis, y-
axis and name of
graph

53
Visualising the “egg box” (2)
 Show diagram
 (if necessary) move
terminal of intensity
graph to outside of
nested loop
 Wire output from outer
loop to terminal of
intensity graph
 NB note orange wire
becomes “double wire”
which indicates it is an
array

54
Useful tips - Polymorphic
 In LabView, most
functions are polymorphic. Adding numbers
 e.g. the same addition
function will add two
numbers or two vectors or Adding vectors
two arrays (vectors or
arrays must have the same
dimensions Adding arrays
 The exception to
“dimension matching” is
that one can add a number Adding a
to every element in vector number to
or array
each element
of an array
55
Running the “egg box”
 Show front panel
 Use finger or text tool to
set numeric controls to
≈100 loop iterations and
a plot range of ≈30
 Run or run continuously
the program
 Need to set z-axis of
graph to autoscale
• “right click” (window)
on graph, select z-
scale and select
autoscale z

Auto-scaling the z-axis of an intensity graph

56
Useful tips - changing the
number format
 Previously we have seen how
to change the range over
which a numeric control can
be varied
 To change the way it is
displayed
 Show front panel
 “rick click” (windows) on
control
 Select “format and precision”
 Edit format and precision
window as desired
 NB this only affects the
display NOT the precision of
the calculations

57
The challenge - diffraction
patterns
 To calculate and display the far field
diffraction pattern of a circular aperture
 The far field diffraction pattern is the same form as
the Fourier-transform (but in 2D)
 In the first instance “forget” about the wavelength
(which sets the scaling between the aperture and
the diffraction pattern) - just concentrate on the
“shape”!
 i.e. just take the 2D FFT of an array whose
numeric values are the transmission of a circular
aperture (1’s and 0’s)
 Read the next few pages for some hints!
58
Useful functions for challenge
(1)
 “Comparison” functions
allow logic decisions
 NB wire carrying logic,
i.e. Boolean (0..1) date
are green
 When defining the
aperture, you may need
 “select”
 “less” or “greater”
 Use LabView’s help to
understand these
functions

59
Useful functions for challenge
(2)
 “array” functions allow
manipulations of array and
vectors
 Wire containing array data
appear a two parallel wires.
These may be blue (for
integer)or orange (for floats)
 When doing the FFT, you
may need
 “transpose”
 “rotate 1D array”
 Use LabView’s help to
understand these functions

60
Useful functions for challenge
(3)
 If the N terminal is left vector to element array to vector
unwired, “for loops” will self-
index
 When a vector is wired into
a “for loop” the loop will split
the array and run it on each
element
 When an array is wired into
a “for loop” the loop will split
the array and run it on each
row
 To switch off “self-indexing”
right click (windows) on wire
entry to loop and select
“disable indexing” (not
needed in challenge)
61
Useful functions for challenge
(4)
 Standard LabView does
not have a function for
2D FFTs
 Given a 2D array, a 2D
FFT can be completed
by doing 1D FFTs on
each row and each
column
 You may need this
when calculating the Part of a “diagram” for
diffraction pattern - note completing a 2D FFT
use of “self-indexing”

62
Diffraction pattern
 Run your programme
 Do you get a diffraction
pattern centred in the four
corners?
 This is a issue with most
FFT algorithms - where
should the zero
“frequency” be located? At
the centre or the edges?
 We need to centre our
zero in the middle of the
image

63
2D FFT with zero at centre
 Can use “1D rotate
function to move
zero to centre (NB
need to rotate by N/2)
 Note also modulus
squared added to
output of FT to give
power spectrum (i.e.
light intensity)

64
Calculating a
diffraction pattern
 One program
that works!
 Autoscale-z is
switched off
and z-scale is
manually set to
reveal structure

65
Another useful function (but not
needed for challenge)
 Often one uses each loop
iteration to modify the
value of a number
 The new number can be
used in the next iteration
 In LabView this is called a
shift register
 To add a shift register to a
loop
 Right click (windows) on
the left edge of the loop
and select “add shift
register”
 The shift register looks
like a down and up arrow
on the left and right sides
of the loop 67
Shift-registers at work
 The shift register needs a
starting value “shift register”
 Wired to the down arrow on
the left side of the loop
 The shift register gives an
output when the loop has
finished
 Wired from the up arrow on
the right side of the loop
 For example calculating the
factorial of a number

68