Course material for Digital Electronics and Computer Interfacing (PH 434/534)

More information will be made available soon - if you have questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me:
tmewes@ua.edu

Grading rubric for experiments (pdf-file)

LabVIEW Basics

Graphical programming - what is that?
SubVIs
Loop and Case structures
Shift registers
Arrays

Material:
LabVIEW Basics - Part I (pdf-file)
LabVIEW Basics - Part I (PowerPoint-file)
LabVIEW keyterms (pdf-file)
Experiment #1 (pdf-file)

LabVIEW Basics - Part II (pdf-file)
LabVIEW Basics - Part II (PowerPoint-file)
Experiment #2 (pdf-file)

Digital Electronics

Number representation and how to add and subtract integers
Logic gates
Half and Full Adder
Multiplexer
How to use a proto board
Flip-flops and their application

LabVIEW - Advanced

Clusters
Event-driven programming - or: how to get programs to do what you want them to do and whenever you like
Local variables
Sequence structure and why one does not need them
Property nodes

Material:
LabVIEW Advanced (pdf-file)
LabVIEW Advanced (PowerPoint-file)
Experiment #6 (pdf-file)

Computer Interfacing

Data acquisition cards
Digital Input/Output
Digital to analog conversion and vice versa
GPIB - or: how to talk to instruments

Material:
Computer Interfacing (pdf-file)
Computer Interfacing (PowerPoint-file)
Experiment #7 (pdf-file)

Computer Interfacing - Part II (pdf-file)
Computer Interfacing - Part II (PowerPoint-file)
Computer Interfacing - Part III (pdf-file)
Computer Interfacing - Part III (PowerPoint-file)
Experiment #8 (pdf-file)

Computer Interfacing - Serial Communication (pdf-file)
Computer Interfacing - Serial Communication (PowerPoint-file)

Course Calendar

Final Projects

Material:
Final Projects (pdf-file)
Final Projects (PowerPoint-file) Short 5 min presentation due -TBA-
Final Project feedback instructions and grading rubric (pdf-file)

LabVIEW Certification

Some former students were interested in getting a LabVIEW certification - here is a list of useful links:

LabVIEW Certification page: this is National Instruments main page on getting a certified LabVIEW developer.
Certified Associate Developer is the certification level you are most likely to be able to obtain.
Huntsville Training Center is where you can get certified.
3 hour Training course: free online material from NI (you will have create an account)
6 hour Training course: more free online material from NI (you will have create an account).
How to learn LabVIEW: a list of learning material for LabVIEW from NI.

If you plan to get certified, please let me know! I also would be interested in your experience.

Frequently asked questions

Q: I would like to use some existing C code in my final project is this possible?
A: Yes. One way to do this would be to create a DLL (Dynamic Linked Library) from the existing C code and use it in LabVIEW, the following link has some more details on how to do this: DLL in LabVIEW. Another way is to use what is called a CIN (Code Interface Node), see the following link or the LabVIEW help for details: CIN help

Q: Are we going to use real devices or just model them in the computer?
A: Both. There will be a couple of exercises in which you will model devices but you will also get to use real devices.

Q: I know the book is not required, would you recommend the purchase for the class. how beneficial would it be?
A: I personally feel that the book is not very beneficial - some students that took this course before also expressed this feeling. Anybody interested in the textbook can come to my office and can take a look at the book or borrow it for a couple of days. LabVIEW comes with an extensive help covering all aspects of LabVIEW programming. In addition I will post all lectures online so that you can look at them whenever you need to.

Q: Can I install LabVIEW on my computer?
A1: Yes, you can if you bought the Learning with LabVIEW 7 Express textbook as it comes with the Student version of Labview.
More information on the student edition can be found on the following National Instruments web pages:
LabVIEW student edition
LabVIEW student edition - FAQs
A2: Depends on whether your department has a LabVIEW license or not - if not please let me know.

Q: Is there a Linux version of LabVIEW?
A: Yes, currently Windows, Mac OS and Linux are supported by NI.
For more information take a look at the following National Instruments web page:
LabVIEW Professional Development System

Q: Where can I find more information on digital electronics?
A: There is a wide variety of information available online, here are some useful links:
Wikipedia article on Digital circuits
HyperPhyscis page on Digital Circuits (Georgia State University)
Java Applets for various logic structures
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