LabVIEW: Instrumentation Lab
and Industry
MAESC 2004
Jerome Mills, Eugene Fayne, Patrick Ireland,
Joan McGrory, and John Ventura
May 12, 2004
NI ELVIS Overview
Computer Running LabView
DAQ Device
6868-Pin Cable
Prototyping Board
Benchtop Workstation
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Instrument Launcher
Frequency Analysis
Channel B
Channel A
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Function Generator
Oscilloscope
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Function Generator-Advance Mode
Bode Plot
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Background Information on Gyrus ENT
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Company is located in Bartlett, TN.
Manufactures Ear, Nose, and Throat surgical devices.
Employ 180 people.
Produce about 60,000 Hemostatix blades per year.
About the Hemostatix Blade
• Scalpel used in many surgeries today.
• Heats up to 300 C°.
• Cauterizes tissue resulting in lower
blood loss.
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Existing Problems
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Current process is slow.
Can result in complaints.
Faulty blades reach doctors.
Measuring 1800 blades
requires 20 hours.
• 2 employees perform this
operation.
• Employees have been sent to
hospital.
Possible Solutions
• Hire more employees to perform the measurements.
• Design and implement a data acquisition system.
• Design a safer way to measure resistance.
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Solution
• Use a data acquisition system developed by National
Instruments (www.ni.com).
• Use software and hardware sold by NI.
What is LabView?
•LabView is a graphical programming language.
•LabView programs, "virtual instruments" (VI’s),
are created using icons instead of text-based code.
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• Measures 12 blades at a time (horizontal fixture).
• Results have a percent difference of 0.62%.
• Based on the range, an LED will light for a pass/fail test.
What does the hardware do?
1) Data Acquisition Card (PCI)
2) SCXISCXI-1000
3) SCXISCXI-1127
4) SCXISCXI-1331
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Inside the 1331 terminal block
The Kelvin Bridge
Unknown resistance
• A 4-wire measurement
results in more accurate
results.
• Use Ohms Law to solve
for the resistance.
• R = V/I
Known current
Measured Voltage
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The manufacturing process
Horizontal position
Thick film
process
Vertical position
Data Acquisition
Measurements
NonNon-Stick
Coating Process
Data Acquisition
Measurements
Custom Horizontal Hardware
• Using current blade trays to
introduce connections to
computer.
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Custom Vertical Hardware
Problems Encountered
• Couldn’t acquire measurements due to improper
installation of software.
• Fragile leads.
• Contact problems between the blade and pin.
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Costs
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LabView Software
1331 modules
SCXI Chassis
1331 Terminal Blocks
Cable Assembly
DAQ card (PCI)
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$1,995
3* $995
$695
6* $180
$260
$295
• $7,310
• Total Cost
Savings
• Gyrus makes 60,000 blades per year in 33 work
orders.
• 18 manual hours saved per work order.
• 594 manual hours saved per year.
• 594*$15 per hour = $8,911.
• Projected to pay itself off in under one year.
• Increased productivity resulting in fewer
backorders.
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Questions?
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