LabVIEW 8.2 PID Control Toolkit Readme

August 2006

This file contains the following information about the LabVIEW 8.2 PID Control Toolkit.

System Requirements

What's New in the PID Control Toolkit 8.2

Installation/Upgrading Instructions

Accessing the Help and Examples

System Requirements

• LabVIEW 8.2 or later. Note that some examples might not work properly if you do not have the LabVIEW 8.2 Full or Professional Development Systems.

What's New in the PID Control Toolkit 8.2

The LabVIEW 8.2 PID Control Toolkit features improved performance relative to previous versions of the toolkit. This latest version also deprecates the Advanced Control VIs. To obtain functions that operate similarly to these ones, install the LabVIEW Simulation Module.

Version 8.2 also incorporates the following changes:

• Added several examples to the labview\examples\control\ directory. These examples demonstrate using alarms, a dual-channel PID controller, conversion between percentage (%) and engineering units, using a profile of gains, gain scheduling, a PID controller with noise, and a rate-limited controller.
• Modified the PID and Advanced PID VIs to support higher-frequency loop rates.
• Ensured all VIs are deterministic for deployment to real-time (RT) targets.
• Made all VIs reentrant, which reduces the jitter level when deploying these VIs to an RT target. Refer to the LabVIEW Help, available by selecting Help»Search the LabVIEW Help, for more information about reentrant VIs.
• Added the ability for the DBL Array instance of the PID VI to use C code when executed on a Windows computer or an RT target. This instance will use LabVIEW G code on all other platforms, such as embedded devices. You can import a custom G implementation by using the conditional disable symbol property of a project in which you place the VI. Set the Symbol to PIDImplementation and the Value to G. Refer to the LabVIEW Help for more information about conditional disable symbols.
• Updated all VIs, wizards, and examples to use the latest front panel controls supported by LabVIEW 8.2.
• Updated the Load Fuzzy Logic Controller VI so you can specify a path to the .fc file you want to load instead of seeing the file selection dialog box each time you run the VI.
• Fixed issue where the PID Output Rate Limiter VI was not properly limiting output levels.
• Updated all VIs so you can specify a time step dT instead of having the VI calculate dT.
• Improved the anti-windup behavior when the error of the PID VIs changes rapidly.

Installation/Upgrading Instructions

Complete the following steps to install the LabVIEW 8.2 PID Control Toolkit.

1. Uninstall any previous versions of the LabVIEW PID Control Toolkit.
2. Insert the LabVIEW 8.2 PID Control Toolkit installation CD.
3. Run the setup.exe program.
4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Accessing the Help and Examples

The LabVIEW PID Control Toolkit User Manual contains conceptual information about using the PID Control Toolkit. Complete the following steps to access this manual.

1. Click Start»All Programs»National Instruments»LabVIEW 8.2»LabVIEW Manuals.
2. Double-click PID_User_Manual.pdf.

Complete the following steps to access reference information about the PID Control VIs and functions.

1. Launch LabVIEW.
2. Select Help»Search the LabVIEW Help.
3. Using the Contents tab, navigate to Toolkits»PID Control Toolkit.

The LabVIEW PID Control Toolkit examples are located in the labview\examples\control\ directory.

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