Automating & Educating the World’s Leading Companies

The Challenge  

Replace a legacy DOS/ISA computer and application to control and monitor strength testing of edible  meat casing with a state of the art LabVIEW application running on a current Windows OS.  

The Solution  

Leverage LabVIEW and the modular cDAQ chassis with C-Series modules to rapidly create an  application that would acquire a multitude of sensor data while controlling air flow to rapidly inflate  edible meat casing until burst.  

Introduction  

Data Science Automation (DSA) is a premier National Instruments (NI) Alliance Partner that  specializes in automating and educating the world leading companies. Clients choose DSA because of  DSA’s deep knowledge of National Instruments products, disciplined process of developing adaptive  project solutions, staff of skilled Certified LabVIEW Architects and Certified Professional Instructors,  and unique focus on empowerment through education and co-development.  

Approach  

The Edible Meat Casing Strength (EMC) system was created due to DSA’s client’s needs for a robust,  reliable and affordable hardware and software solution for predicting the strength properties of an  edible meat casing. When the strength properties of an edible meat casing are known DSA’s client  would be able to tailor the physical and chemical makeup of the casing to maximize the casing’s  overall strength while minimizing the material needed to produce the casing. This optimization  provided the best profit margins without compromising quality. To control and acquire data, DSA  leveraged National Instruments LabVIEW’s development environment with its unprecedented ability to  integrate with hardware (National Instruments cDAQ USB hardware in this case) while providing the  ability to create custom Intellectual Property (IP) (Figure 1) designs to specifically address the client’s  needs.  

Legacy Control System 

Prior to the EMC application, DSA’s client used proprietary data acquisition boards which integrated  with a DOS application for control and monitoring of the casing explosions. As the system aged, the  proprietary hardware and the inability to upgrade the software resulted in expensive maintenance and  less accurate than what is currently available from off-the-shelf NI products. When the original system  PC stopped functioning, DSA was able to demonstrate that by integrating National Instruments cDAQ  products with standard LabVIEW programming practices, DSA would be able to enhance the  application while minimizing migration cost. 

EMC Conception  

The EMC system was created not only to replace an obsolete, expensive to maintain application but  was also designed to increase the ability to accuracy of measuring edible meat casing strength. DSA’s  design integrated a National Instruments cDAQ platform due its ability to deliver high-speed data  along with ease of use in flexible mixed measurement systems. National Instrument’s LabVIEW  programming environment provided DSA with the ability to create not only the required functionality  but also aesthetically pleasing displays (Figure 2) that guaranteed the longevity of the application  while minimizing production cost.  

Longevity  

The EMC application was designed to not only provide accurate results in predicting the strength of an  edible meat casing but also to empower the client with the ability to troubleshoot any issues with the  application, specifically with the acquisition hardware. This was a major concern that arose during use  of the legacy application. The legacy application was adequate in many respects except when the  application started to misbehave, particularly with the proprietary data acquisition boards. The  previous boards had a tendency to fail intermittently. The previous application developer held the  client “hostage” when the system started to go awry. By replacing the proprietary hardware and  integrating the data acquisition with LabVIEW, DSA was able to empower the client with ability to  troubleshoot their system by providing an easy to use diagnostic view (Figure 3) of the entire  application. With this ability the client became more independent and self-reliant. Another benefit of  the National Instruments hardware and software solution was the client’s ability to have the flexibility  to upgrade the software or install replacement hardware without affecting the software application.  This ability ensured the client would continue to receive a return on their investment long after DSA  had completed the deployment.  

Benefits of Partnership  

The Alliance partnership between Data Science Automation and National Instruments has allowed DSA  to tackle many extremely complex engineering challenges while maximizing our clients’ return on their  investment. The EMC project was no exception. By selecting LabVIEW and USB cDAQ Data Science  Automation was able to create a system that not only reduced the overhead costs but also greatly  increased the client’s productivity and profitability by enabling them to reduce excess material. Also by  using National Instruments hardware and software, the EMC application was able to allow the client to  purchase off-the-shelf equipment, specifically in the area of cDAQ and LabVIEW. These savings  allowed additional investment in the development and enhancement their applications. 

Contact Information  

Brad Westfall, bjw@DSAutomation.com  

Richard Brueggman, rmb@DSAutomation.com 

Figure 1: Software IP  

Figure 2: Main Users Display 

Figure 3: Diagnostics