TecQuipment VDAS - LabVIEW ReadMe

Project Updates

New versions of the TecQuipment VDAS – LabVIEW project will be published on the TecQuipment website:
https://www.tecquipment.com/downloads

This web page lists all TecQuipment products supported by the LabVIEW project.

Overview

The TecQuipment VDAS - LabVIEW project contains a collection of VIs (LabVIEW Virtual Instruments), there is one VI for use with each TecQuipment VDAS compatible product.

When communicating via USB with a TecQuipment VDAS-B or VDAS-F, a VI front panel will display data values from the connected equipment.

The front panel of each VI within this project consists of a number of numeric indicators, each associated with a single experimental value such as force or temperature.  The values of these indicators are updated as new data is received from the VDAS device.

The VI block diagrams wire each numeric indicator to sub-VIs which have been configured to decode the data values for each VDAS compatible instrumentation module.  Sub-VIs within the Support folder have been password protected to protect TecQuipment IP.

Users may consider the provided VIs as a basis from which to develop their own LabVIEW projects which process data from TecQuipment equipment.

Extending VIs

It is assumed that users of this project are knowledgeable about LabVIEW.

In order to use a numeric indicator’s value in, for example, a custom calculation, first access the appropriate VI’s Block Diagram.

• Locate the icon representing the numeric indicator.
• Right click the icon, a content menu will appear.
• Select Create… Property Node… Value. A property node icon will appear with the same label text as the original numeric indicator.
• The property node’s output represents the numerical value of the numeric indicator; this can be wired to other blocks as required.

VDAS mkII Analogue Traces

Users who wish to access the analogue features of the VDAS mkII should refer to the VIs associated with products which utilise these VDAS mkII features.  These products include the following:

• TM1021 Cam Analysis Machine
• Digital pulses from the rotational encoder trigger sampling of the analogue signal.  This allows plots of amplitude against angle.


• H405 Water Hammer and Pipe Surge
• Timebase sampling.


• TM164, TM165, TM166 & TM167 Free Vibrations Products
• Timebase sampling.


• TM1016 Free Vibrations
• Timebase sampling.


• TM1016 Forced Vibrations
• Digital pulses trigger samples.

Requirements

• This LabVIEW project was created using National Instruments LabVIEW 2015 Base development system, 32-bit.
• This project requires Microsoft Windows 10, 8 or 7.
• This project includes DLL files which require the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6. Windows 10 includes this version of the .NET Framework; it is also available for installation on other versions of Windows.
• A TecQuipment VDAS-B or VDAS-F connected via USB.

VDAS Software

TecQuipment also provides a full featured, user friendly Windows application for performing data acquisition with VDAS compatible products.  The VDAS Software can be downloaded from the TecQuipment website here:
https://www.tecquipment.com/downloads

Note that you do not have to install the VDAS Software in order to use this LabVIEW project.

Known Issues

• LabVIEW fails to open or execute VIs

  Windows tracks that the TecQuipment .ZIP file was downloaded from the Internet and may block access to the contained .DLL files for security reasons.

  The solution is to unblock the .ZIP file prior to extracting the contents.

  1. Right-click the .ZIP file, a context menu will appear.
  2. Select the Properties menu item, the file Properties dialog will appear.
  3. Select the General tab, there may be a Security section at the bottom of the tab
  4. Click the Unblock button then OK to close the dialog.
  5. Extract the contents of the .ZIP, Windows should no longer block access to the extracted files.

• VDAS mkII WinUSB drivers do not install on some Windows 7 machines

  Some Windows 7 machines include an outdated version of Microsoft’s WinUSB drivers.  As a result, the drivers required to access the fast analogue signals of the VDAS mkII do not install. TecQuipment's VDAS mkII is a composite USB device, exposing multiple USB interfaces, Windows should install the relevant driver for each interface.

  One solution is to install TecQuipment VDAS software version 2.5 or newer, drivers are configured during the software installation process.

  Alternatively, follow the steps below to manually install an updated WinUSB driver which is supplied with this package.

  • We must tell the Device Manager where to find drivers to associate with the VDAS mkII.
  1. Ensure that the VDAS mkII device is connected and powered on.
  2. Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, and then, under System, clicking Device Manager. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  3. Within Device Manager, double click on the VDAS High Speed Interface item which has the yellow exclamation error symbol.  The Device Properties dialog should appear.
  4. Select the Driver tab.
  5. Click the Update Driver… button.  Another window should appear.
  6. Select Browse my computer for driver software and direct Windows to the WinUSB Drivers folder within this package.
  • Windows will install the correct drivers and the WinUSB device will appear within Device Manager without a yellow exclamation.