Hardware Configuration

From QuB

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Hardware Configure

This tab is used for configuring any hardware required for Acquisition. There are 3 sections under this tab selection:

QuB Configured Hardware

This section provides a list of all the hardware already configured by QuB. There is an entry in the table for all the configured hardware. Each entry lists

• The hardware type (as QuB recognizes it)
• Device name
• Input resolution, Polarity and Range
• Output resolution, Polarity and Range

Hardware Configuration

This section is used to edit the settings associated with a hardware (as listed above) which is already configured by QuB. For editing the settings for a hardware, select its entry in the ‘Configured Hardware’ section and click Edit. Edit the required parameter settings like Input and Output Range, polarity and resolution. Click Save to save the changed settings. These settings are then displayed in the ‘Configured Hardware’ section against the hardware entry.

New Hardware Setup

This section is used to find and setup any new hardware attached to your computer for data acquisition. For setting up new hardware with QuB, follow the steps given below:

1. Click on the Search button. Any newly discovered hardware will appear in the list to the right.
2. Select the desired card from the list.
3. Click Setup button to configure the selected card with QuB.
4. A window will pop-up, with information about the parameter settings for the card. Click OK to continue with the settings or cancel to cancel the card setup.
5. The hardware is configured with 2 analog input and output channels with default settings.
6. The tab setting changes to ‘Channels Configure’ showing the channels configured for the selected hardware.

National Instrument Card Setup

This second tab in the ‘QuB Hardware Configuration’ window appears when you select a new National Instruments device on the ‘Hardware Configure’ tab and click on the [Setup] button. This tab will display some default settings if QUB has settings for your specific card. When you save the card configuration it will create the new device and some simple I/O channels for you to later modify. If your card is unknown, you can still setup your card, but you will not receive warnings for incorrect values.

Effective 6/1/2004, QUB will recognize the following National Instruments E-Series cards : 6011,6020,6023,6024,6025,6030,6031,6032,6033,6034,6035,6036,6040,6052,6062,6070,6071.

Note : If your card supports a hardware gain of 0.5, the National Instruments setup software ‘NI-MAX’ will report the maximum range, for example [-10, 10]. In QUB you will need the range at gain of 1, [-5, 5].

Input Range

Select the bipolar or unipolar option and range based on a gain of 1. Bipolar, 5 would correspond to a range of [-5, 5]. Unipolar, 10 would correspond to a range of [0,10]. Bipolar 5 and Bipolar 10 are the most common settings.

Output Range

Similar to Input Range. Bipolar, 10 is the most common setting.

Resolution Bits

Most cards use either 12 or 16 bits for input and 0,12 or 16 bits for output.

Channel Initialization

QUB will create some initial channel configurations for you based on the settings in this box. Select 0 channels if you do not want QUB to create any channels. The channels will be created with gain and scaling values of 1.0 and will need further configuration prior to use.

Channels Configure

This tab is used for configuring all the I/O channels associated with a configured hardware device. The types of channels are

• Analog Input and Output and
• Digital Input and Output

Note: You need to configure the hardware devices using the #Hardware Configure tab prior to configuring the I/O Channels.

At the top of the form there is a list of existing I/O channels. The configured channels are grouped in the list by function: Analog Input, Analog Output, Digital Input and Digital Output. At the bottom of the form are controls for displaying or changing the settings for one channel. There are two modes of operation for this form, view and modify.

In the view mode, the list of channels is enabled and the controls are used to display settings for whichever channel you select from the list. Selecting a channel in the list will populate the controls at the bottom of the form. The controls visible depend on the type of channel selected.

In the modify mode the list is disabled and the controls are used to change settings for the I/O channel. The Edit/Delete/New buttons will be hidden and Save/Cancel buttons will appear when in modify mode.

Edit

Select an I/O channel in the list then click on [Edit] to enter modify mode and change settings for that channel. Fill in the settings for the new channel and select [Save], or select [Cancel] to return to view mode.

Delete

Select an I/O channel in the list then click on [Delete] to remove the channel. A [Yes] [No] prompt will appear to confirm removal of the I/O channel.

New

Click on [New] to enter modify mode and create settings for a new I/O channel. To copy settings from an existing I/O channel that is similar to the new channel, select that channel prior to clicking [New]. Fill in the settings for the new channel and select [Save], or select [Cancel] to return to view mode.

I/O Type

This drop down box determines the I/O channel type. Changing the selection will also change which other settings are visible, as appropriate to the I/O type selected.

Name

A descriptive name for the channel. This has no effect on the operation of the channel.

Units

Analog Input/Analog output only. Descriptive name for the channel units, such as ‘V’ for volts or ‘pA’ for pico amps. This has no effect on the operation of the channel.

I/O Channel #

The channel number for the hardware device. A typical card might have 2, 8,16, or 64 Analog Inputs; 0 or 2 Analog outputs; 0 or 8 digital inputs; 0 or 8 digital outputs. The channel number is 0 based, so 2 analog outputs would be references as channel 0 and 1.

Update

Acquisition Input / Digital Input only. On the ‘Acquisition Manual Control’ view, channels which have been set for update will continuously update. This can be distracting in some cases and limits the utility of manual control, so it is recommended that this not be set unless specifically needed.

Value (edit)

Analog Output only. The default output value for the channel.

Value (checkbox)

Digital Output only. The default output state for the channel.

Calibration Factor __ volts/unit

Analog Input/Analog output only. This is used to convert the voltages read by the card (generally +/-5 volts or +/- 10) volts to desired units. The calibration factor is set based on a hardware gain of 1.0. When gains other than 1.0 are used, the Calibration factor is adjusted to compensate.

Hdw Gain

Analog Input only. Hardware gain is applied to the analog input signal prior to the conversion to digital units. The allowable gain settings are determined by your hardware. For example, a National Instruments E-Series card might allow gains of {0.5, 1, 10, 100} or {0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100} or others, dependent on the card. A sound card will allow a gain of 1 only. If you do not know the allowed gain settings, a default of 1 should be used.

Setting a hardware gain can increase the precision of your acquisition where signals do not match the full range of the card. For example, if your card accepts a range of [-5, 5] volts and your signal is within a [-0.5, 0.5] range, setting the gain to 10.0 will increase the resolution within that range and is recommended. If your signal exceeds the range of your card, for example [-10, 10] setting the gain to 0.5 can bring the signal within the card range and avoid clipping (i.e. limiting the input to the cards range).

Increment

Analog Output only. On the ‘Acquisition Manual Control’ view, the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ keys can be used to increment or decrement the output value. The Increment setting determines the amount by which this value changes with each key press.

Device

Select the hardware device to which this channel belongs. If no devices are listed, you need to create a device on the #Hardware Configure tab prior to creating channels.

Prev: Dialog Reference

Outline

Next: Calibration Assistant