Grand designs
September 1st 2006 The 20th anniversary edition of Labview, the enhanced Labview 8.20, marks a new era for the programme, reports Georgina Bisby.
LabVIEW has been consistently updated since its conception 20 years ago and the latest edition does not disappoint. For instance, new libraries in LabVIEW allow engineers to use streamlined FPGA targeting tools to implement high performance hardwarebased machine monitoring and protection systems.
Single software for measurement, analysis, control and visualisation The new Touch Panel Module, along with shared variable capabilities with hand held devices, allows automation engineers to add Windows CE-based HMIs to their measurement and control systems.
Engineers can display values from their realtime controller code directly onto custom operator interfaces which are used in embedded machine control and monitoring systems. For high channel count systems, the data logging and supervisory control module helps developers dynamically define up to 2500 channels. Labview 8.20 also improves the performance of Ethernetbased communications for distributed systems by two times and provides open communication to existing hardware and software through native Modbus and OPC support.
Improved analysis and control algorithms With the latest version of labVIEW, NI has improved the execution speeds of PID control loops and Simulation Module for advanced control algorithms, making it possible for engineers to develop and execute complex control models of more than 1000 nodes. With the new "External Model Interface" engineers can use the values from third-party plant models including Dynasim and Plexim, in the lab view simulation module.
Rapid control prototyping and deployment tools Streamlined prototyping and deployment of control systems in industrial computers, FPGAs or custom designs is achieved automatically embedding control logic directly into FPGA hardware. Engineers can implement FPGA-based controllers on plug-in boards on a desktop PC for lowcost system prototyping.
The future John Pasquarette, National Instrument's director of Software and Marketing, stresses that continuity is a priority in the continuing development of LabVIEW. In order to preserve investment, explains John: "The programme needs to work over and above the constantly changing PC. As it develops, LabVIEW is moving into more of a design role. Ultimately we would like LabVIEW to do for design what the PC did for desktop."
The analogy is a promising one. In exactly the same way as the PC allowed the computer illiterate to grasp complex tasks, LabVIEW 8.20 is opening up the previously closed world of measurement and automation analysis to people at a lower skill level.
The evolution of the Labview series over the past 20 years has been impressive by any standards. And it has played a significant part in the success story of its creator, National Instruments.
Based in Austin, Texas, the company has more than 3800 empoyees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past seven years, it has been named one of the best 100 companies to work for in America. NI is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation and since 1976 (it marks its 30th anniversary this year) has, it claims, helped to change the way that engineers approach measurement and automation. Leveraging PCs and commercial technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control and design applications through easy-to-integrate software such as LabVIEW. More articles from National Instruments UK Limited: | 
