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发表于 2014-3-6 14:50:30
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LabVIEW on the iPad
By L.M.David Jr.
For several years it has been possible to publish LabVIEW to the web for remote monitoring. Some newer technologies and the ubiquitousness of the iPad have taken this to a whole new level. I will focus of two apps for the iPad, and mention a couple of others, all of which also are supported on the iPhone; three on the iPod Touch and one on Android-based tablets as well.
Data Dashboard
National Instruments, the source of LabVIEW, has released an App (available for free download from the iTunes Store) called Data Dashboard.
Data Dashboard directly links to indicators on a VI’s front panel via Network Published Shared Variables, or using NI Web Services. On the iPad, the Data Dashboard can be configured to display 1, 2, 4, or 6 indicators per page; swipe from page to page, and double tap an indicator to zoom in. (Due to the smaller size of the iPhone’s screen, only one indicator can be viewed per page); and Data Dashboard is now available for Android tablets as well.
Numerics can be displayed as charts, gages, or as text. At this time Data Dashboard only supports monitoring indicators to provide remote status information, but rumor has it that at NI Week 2012 control functionality will be announced, to remotely change settings, and enter input values.
VIremote
Speaking of remote control functionality, ThrowLab http://throwlab.com has an App available for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch called VIremote which goes the extra mile. VIremote doesn’t rely on Shared Variables or NI Web Services directly but uses proprietary VIs embedded in the desktop program to directly link via TCP protocol.
The VI library is a free download and may be used without restriction. While there is a free App, it is a demo version and will only work for several minutes at a session, the unrestricted fully functional version cost $20 for each mobile device it is installed on.
VIremote can be configure to work with or without keyboard/mouse emulation, and can be configured for one-to-one, or one-to-many access.
With VIremote, the complete front panel of the host VI is reproduced on the mobile device. Many LabVIEW-centric controls and indicators are supported, including (in addition to the usual suspects), the color box, path control, slide, enum, comboBox, etc.. With emulation enabled tab controls, listbox, and controls within arrays are also supported (subpanels are not yet supported). Finally, VIremote also provides back to the host information from the iPad’s internal sensors allowing access to motion status, orientation, and GPS location, for instance.
Two More Options
While I have not tried the following two technologies (I have played with the previous two) I ran across these during my research (both of these were found on the NI LabVIEW Community sites).
Using Multi-Touch Library and the iPad to control LEGO Mindstorm Robots
This approach is documented in a YouTube video using an iPad as a controller for a robot’s motion and pincher control:
NI – Creating a Multi-touch library: http://sine.ni.com/cs/app/doc/p/id/cs-13097
Controlling LEGO Mindstorm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnKBchs3j2M
http://www.aleconsultants.com/in ... bview&Itemid=19
This last approach uses yet another technology, UDP protocol. While developed for a niche market, controlling MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) devices, TouchOSC from Hexler supports String, and 32-bit floating point data for monitoring and control through LabVIEW.
OSC / NI Community on Hexler: https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-12289
Hexler: http://hexler.net/software/touchosc
OSC provides a Java based toolkit for developing custom user interfaces for the mobile device, which tend to resemble a sound boards slides and dials in a manner both Spartan and cool; and in general, the important thing is the supported data and the bi-directional control.
About the Author:
Larry David is a founding principal of ALE System Integration, a NI Certified LabVIEW Architect, and holds a MS in Computer Science from NYIT
Copyright © 2014 ALE System Integration. All Rights Reserved.
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