1. FPGA Controlled Laser Assembly FPGA Controlled Laser Assembly Project Dec03-07October 8, 2003 Client National Instruments Faculty Advisors Professor Mani Mina Professor Diane Rover Team Members Raymond Baker Adam Pritz Jeremy Booher Joel Schneider

2. Presentation Outline Initial materials Introductory materials Project activity description Resources and schedules Closing materials

3. Acknowledgment National Instruments for providing the FPGA hardware and software and also the LabVIEW software. Professor Mani Mina for providing the stages and stepper motor apparatus.

4. Problem Statement General Problem Statement - A procedure must be controlled using the LabVIEW FPGA module. This procedure must not only simply control the motion of an object, but it must also get feedback from the object to control another aspect of the movement. The movement needs to be precise to a standard agreed upon by the group. The FPGA module will control an array of stages and stepper motors that will allow movement on three axes. General Solution-Approach Statement - The LabVIEW FPGA module will be used to control the laser. The first control loop will control the motion of the laser. The position of the laser in space will be controlled. The limits of the stages will be monitored. The inputs and outputs will be controlled and monitored simultaneously.

5. Operating Environment The operating environment of the finished product will be in a lab environment. The lab will be clean and kept at a steady normal temperature. The end product will not be easily portable and would have to be disassembled to be moved.

6. Intended Users and Uses Intended Users – The users of this product will need to be familiar with LabVIEW since the interface to the product will be in this language. Intended Uses - As a demonstration of FPGA for National Instruments to show their customers.

7. Assumptions The stages and stepper motors are functional All necessary hardware will be provided by National Instruments or another provider. There will be no bugs in the LabVIEW or FPGA parts and they will be compatible with each other National Instruments will provide us with the necessary support if needed

8. Limitations FPGA is not capable of floating point calculations It is a new product and can not implement all the functionality of LabVIEW Time span that product is to be implemented in

9. End Product and Other Deliverables The end product will be a laser mounted on a three dimensional motion device that will be controlled by the LabVIEW FPGA apparatus.

10. Present Accomplishments Stages within budget Familiarity with LabVIEW FPGA Great relationships with NI On track to provide high-quality demo

11. Approaches Considered NI Motion software with data monitoring Control motors directly in hardware 2 nd approach chosen Why?

12. Project Definition Activities Defining project - impossible until now Definition: Control stages deterministically in hardware using LV FPGA Group goal: Pioneer control demo for NI

13. Research Activities FPGA’s Motion solution Hardware interface of motor drives Control algorithms: Arc, 3-axes simultaneously

14. Design Activities Modifying control algorithm to match our hardware interface Control algorithm from scratch Rapid prototyping – very beneficial

15. Implementation Activities

16. Product Testing Activities Hardware Verification Determine that motors are working properly without FPGA software Determine motor input and output signals

17. Product Testing Activities Software Testing Send single pulses to motors to verify connections to all motor input pins Send signal to motor to contact limit to test motor feedback Program full images and send to motor

18. Personnel Efforts

19. Other Resource Requirements

20. Financial Requirements

21. Schedule

22. Project Evaluation Milestone 1: Finding appropriate control algorithmFully Met Milestone 2: Implement control algorithm in LV FPGA SoftwareIn Progress Milestone 3: Control motors using LabVIEW FPGA hardwareIn Progress Milestone 4: Deterministically control motion deviceIn Planning Milestone 5: Adding other control variables (optional)In Planning MilestonesStatus

23. Commercialization Is commercialization possible for this project? Yes, if the application was more complex and robust. 1. What might be the cost to produce the product? $7000 2. What might be the street selling price of the product? $10,000 3. What might be the potential market for the product? Precise controlled motion applications

24. Recommendations for Additional Work Possibilities for Additional Work ● An enhanced prototype version of the product Create an application that requires a more precise design. Create an application that requires more stringent timing. ● A redesign of the product Make a non-FPGA based LabVIEW application without the determinism and parallel I/O of the FPGA. This would hit a different segment of the market and would cost less to create.

25. Lessons Learned 1.What went well? Group work and problem solving 2.What did not go well? Delay in receiving Software Inability to acquire hardware in a timely manner 3.What technical knowledge was gained? Programming using FPGA hardware capabilities Real Time programming 4.What non-technical knowledge was gained? Project management Overcoming shortcomings 5.What would be done differently if the project was to be done again? Obtain hardware and software during the first month

26. Risk and Risk Management 1.The anticipated potential risks and planned management thereof? We anticipated the risk of hardware and software did not operate as assumed. We anticipated a lack of money and time to create a robust application. 2.The anticipated risks encountered and the success in management thereof? We were not able to obtain a laser capable of cutting or engraving a surface, so we adapted our design to create a trace. 3.The unanticipated risks encountered and the attempts to manage that were used? We did not receive the software within the timeframe we assumed, so we managed around it by finding other parts of the project to tackle. We did not receive the hardware we assumed NI was offering, so Professor Mina offered the use of motors and stages ISU had. 4.The resultant changes in risk management that were made as a result of encountering the unanticipated risks? We have learned to assume all risks as possible. Now we always plan a second option if the first is unavailable.

27. Closing Summary The Problem Control a motion device using LabVIEW FPGA The Approach Create a 2-axis motion application that controls a laser that reliably traces a pre-set pattern The Solution Use NI’s PXI Controller with LabVIEW FPGA hardware and software to control Parker stepper motors and stages in a 2-D plane. The digital output from the FPGA interface with the stepper motors while it digital inputs gather feedback data from the stages.