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I used LabView for a lot of my BME undergrad, but the labs focused mainly on things dealing electrical signals.

In the real world I'm working mostly on ME projects, but we lack a good deal of experimentation equipment.

What are the limitations of LabVIEW as it relates to ME experiments?

user1586
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William B.
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    This is ... broad. StackExchange is better suited to answering specific problems with its Q&A format. It's not clear to me if you have a particular question about the limitations of LabView or if you're looking for a recommendation for a different tool (which would be off-topic). Please [edit] your question to help narrow the focus. –  Feb 24 '15 at 20:08
  • Describe the ME problem you are trying to resolve at a high level. Then we can give a few suggestions on using LABVIEW in a ME test application. Your question is too broad to answer in this forum. If you narrow down the questions I can provide a better answer. – Mahendra Gunawardena Feb 25 '15 at 00:23
  • I have placed the fifth vote-to-hold on this question. Placing the question on hold gives it a chance to have its scope narrowed significantly without invalidating any other answers that may come in. –  Feb 25 '15 at 14:34
  • I'm a little torn here. This question is broad but I see a lot of stuff from NI (makers of LabView and a lot of DAQ hardware) used in practice. So it's a potentially very relevant and useful topic of discussion for many people. – Dan Feb 26 '15 at 05:14
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    I hope the poster would edit the question to be narrow specific. Good addition would be to include, "How can Labview be used for a Mechanical Engineering experimentation?" or something similar – Mahendra Gunawardena Feb 26 '15 at 11:15

1 Answers1

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LABVIEW can be easily be used for ME related experimentation.

One such example would be to use an actuating mechanism to exercise a user interface on a mechanical DUT, which dispense a specific material quantity into a holding container. The weight of the material is measured using a weighing scale which communicates to a computer or controller. Also the test system also includes a digital manometer.

Actuator RS232 Communication

LABVIEW commands the actuator via RS232, and the weight of the material is captured using a scale. The weight data is communicated back to LABVIEW via RS232 serial communication.

Scale Manometer

This is an example of using basic tools to develop fairly complex ME experiment,both electrical and mechanical tools.

Diagram

Limitation of LABVIEW

  • Labview is a very capable tool for bench top experimentation either in ME or EE environment. To the most part capability of the tools is limited by users understanding and experience of the LABVIEW software and other tools.
  • Labview’s graphical programming environment doesn't blend with the traditional structured or OOP programming environment. Therefore maintenance and enhancement is a limitation in a traditional sense. National Instrument will argue against my opinion.
  • Labview offers basic program structures such as for loops, if then else, and while loops. This is sufficient for typical basic bench top testing software. But Labview has limitation in implementing advance structure like a binary search tree or recursion. This can be done, but not too elegant.

With the growth in LABVIEW, it is almost necessary to have fairly modern computer to use LABVIEW software. But with currently a good enough computer can be purchased for a bargain.

In summary, limitation is mostly the skill of the LABVIEW user.

References:

Mahendra Gunawardena
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  • That last bit of information "limitation is mostly the skill of the LabVIEW user" really was the part that answered my question in addition to the fact that I spent some more time on the NI site perusing current applications of the software. – William B. Feb 26 '15 at 20:31