I have created a large number of automated systems over the past dozen years that use LabVIEW to direct and control machinery and instruments; to import, manipulate and export/archive data; and to provide a flexible, intelligent and highly graphical user interface that helps technical people to get the results they want far more quickly than they often imagined possible. If you use lab equipment and/or machinery to manipulate your samples/products, chances are high that LabVIEW can be used to create an automated system that can be of benefit to you.
Design/Performance Improvement: In many cases, performance shortcomings are due to unknown or poorly known causes. This calls for investigation that invariably includes careful measurements. Where those measurements involve sophisticated equipment and nuanced interpretation of the data – and especially where large data sets are required – appropriate lab automation can be the critical factor in rapidly finding root cause.
R&D: Successful researchers are experts at devising creative methodologies for obtaining and evaluating new results. Subsequently, a great deal of care and time is required to execute those methodologies under all the various conditions of interest. Appropriate lab automation can not only assure a uniform basis of comparison (and automatic documentation of all experimental conditions to study when anomalous results occur), but can also free up researchers to focus on more creative / less mundane endeavors.
Process Creation and/or Streamlining: Automating processes offers the following benefits:
- Greatly reduces the variability of processes.
- Often increases throughput and reduces costs.
- Process conditions and in-process test results are easily and automatically monitored and can be directly incorporated into customer reports for added confidence.
- When process variations do (invariably) occur, alerts can be set up to catch excursions right away, dramatically reducing the risk of shipping non-conforming product, and reducing the quantity of rejects.
I will work with you to define the level of automation most beneficial for you; specify and procure any additional sensors, test equipment and motions systems you may need; create, install and prove out the automated system; and train users, if desired. I can leave you with a fixed, stand-alone system (one that does not require you to have the LabVIEW development environment on your test system), or I can train you or your designee in how to make on-going updates yourselves to the system I create.