Online temperature control based on virtual instrumentation

Abstract

LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) is a graphical programming environment suited for high-level or system-level design. The primary difference between ‘natural’ instrumentation and virtual instrumentation is the software component of a virtual instrument. The software enables complex and expensive equipment to be replaced by simpler and less expensive hardware. This paper describes about the development and implementation of an ON/OFF controller for online temperature control experiment in real-time using the DataSocket communication protocol in LabVIEW. The proposed system is connected to the server computer using a Data Acquistion (DAQ) board. The objective of this experiment is to maintain the temperature inside a wooden box that is heated by a light bulb at some desired set-point value, which is selected by a remote client. The software for both the client and server computer is developed using DataSocket protocol in LabVIEW. The remote clients can monitor and control the temperature.