Grob Systems, Inc., the customer, requires an industrial computer system that will have a function of acquiring raw data, processing the data, presenting a useful user output, and verifying a part's design conformity. These actions will be performed on each part handled by Grob's manufacturing machine. The data will be read in from sensors for which the customer will provide specifications. The computer will then process the raw data with custom sequencing and display a useful output including such items as pressure curve, current measurement, etc. The system will then compare its processed data to standard or expected values provided by Grob to determine an individual item's pass or failure. This computer system will be designed by the team: multiple alternatives will be considered and a prototype will be produced. Documentation will be an important focus during the entire process. Upon completion of the project, the team will present Grob with sufficiently commented code and other documentation to allow Grob programmers to maintain the system. Usability will be considered when designing system appearance and the user interfaces. The hardware cost to Grob should be in the range of $4,000-$10,000 per unit and shall be designed as components. Software Requirements: Windows Operating System NI-DAQmx Driver.NET Framework Grob Meter Runtime Main User Interface Screen (Grob Meter): Main Graphical User Interface for the IDE, contains the Input, Output, Sequence, Event Table, and Compilation Buttons Input Table: Used to add, edit or delete new variables and analog or digital inputs Sequence Table: Used to define the sequences of instructions that the program follows Sequence Editor: Used to specify the sequence name, and develop instructions that run the executable. All instructions are created using the GetData, Process Data, Calculator, WaitUntil, Msg/Prompt, Control, and If Buttons. Variable: Used to add new input variables and specify the value and precision for the variable Analog Input: Used to configure analog input channels and specify the voltage range, timing and terminal configuration for the channel Digital Input: Used to configure digital input channel IF-Then-Else: Used to add an IF-Then-Else instruction based on the operations and variables specified by the user Variable: Used to add new sequence variables Message Prompt: Creates an instruction to display a specified message in the runtime application. Get Data: Allows the user to create an instruction that will retrieve data from the DAQ at a particular moment in the program. Typical Setup of Industrial PC Industrial Sensor Touch Screen Data Acquisition Card System Specs Design Results I Integrated D Development E Environment Input Editor Sequence Editor analog.vb digital.vb seq.vb license.lcx LC.exe.Net Compiler Executable Runtime Program Analog Input Digital Input Software Flow Megan Bessick Ramesh Narayan Jim Roll Brett English Pete Jankovsky Matt Sigg IDE Component Flow (Integrated Development Environment) Faculty Advisor: Dr. Srinivasa Vemuru Industry Advisor: Lance Murdock Industry Mentor: Ron Hulsey The IDE is used to create several Visual Basic files. When inputs are created, two input specific class files are created, an analog.vb or digital.vb file. The instructions created during the sequence creation stage are stored in a sequence.vb file. A separate license file is created, and it is passed through the License Compiler (LC.exe) to create a binary license file that can then be embedded in the executable. This license files is necessary to make use of the licensed National Instruments GUI assemblies. All the visual basic files created by the IDE, in addition to several resource files, are then compiled using the Microsoft.NET command line compiler to create the runtime executable. This runtime executable, takes digital and analog inputs, analyzes the data according to the process defined in the sequence statements, and then outputs graphical results. The software implementation is not a trivial data capturing system. The software package created consists of two highly integrated software applications. The Integrated Development Environment (IDE) allows the user to create a unique application, which allows for custom sequencing involving data manipulation and capturing. The IDE then translates those instructions into Visual Basic.Net code that the.Net compiler uses to create the runtime application. Ultimately, the main user interface screen of the runtime component will display the status of the data capture and results of computations on the data. 16-bit resolution for 16 analog channels, 24 digital inputs 250,000 samples per second maximum Separate development and runtime programs Functional operators: equality, comparison, if/else, while, add/multiply, truncate, round, logic operations External libraries and developing the software in a weakly coupled manner will allow for easy future improvements Use of polymorphism and inheritance provided for a simplified code structure and the ability to easily upgrade the product Compilation Results: Results from compilation returned to the user