On the Agenda: Extending LabVIEW with NATS

I had the opportunity to present Extending LabVIEW with NATS, where I discussed how their pub/sub messaging model can extend LabVIEW test systems beyond a single-language, single-executable architecture. The core idea is that monolithic test applications can be bulky and hard to manage, while tools like NATS allow for more modular software design. Check out the code in the LabVIEW Toolkit.

Sessions That Stood Out

There were many presenters and panels that stood out this year. Here are a few that stuck with me. You can also see these sessions as they’re uploaded to GDevCon’s YouTube channel.

• Open-source Wrapping: The Gift That Keeps on Giving (Chris Davis, Amentum): A look at wrapping open-source C libraries for LabVIEW for Redis and Kafka. These are great complementary tools to NATS.
• Shift-Left: Building Secure LabVIEW Systems from Day One (Sarah Zalusky, JKI): A practical look at security in LabVIEW architectures.
• MALpocalypse (Michael Klessens, Intel): A candid account of when measurement abstraction layers stop working at scale with validation constraints.
• Shaping the Future: AI and the Evolution of LabVIEW (Elijah Kerry, NI): An early look at Nigel, NI’s AI coding assistant for LabVIEW. Plus, lots of CI/CD tooling with LabVIEW containers.
• Our Build and Deployment Process: Using CI/CD and SystemLink (Sarah Morales, SRAM): A walkthrough of SRAM’s g-cli-based GitLab pipelines. SRAM’s approach validated the work DMC has done to automate our own pipelines with similar tooling.

Catching Up with Partners

Beyond the sessions, GDevCon is a great chance to connect with DMC’s partners. We participated in hardware and software demos from Pickering, Beckhoff, and NI. Most importantly, our partners give us insight into their project roadmaps. This allows us to be trusted advisors to our clients, knowing what to avoid for obsolescence and where to leverage new tools.

Final Takeaway

GDevCon N.A. is always a great place to learn what the test and measurement community is building, breaking, and fixing in production. The conference also gives us the opportunity to catch up with our hardware partners, and this year’s event did not disappoint!

We cannot wait to see what next year will bring.

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For engineers working in test and validation, LIN presents a unique challenge: it’s easy to wire up but not always straightforward to automate, especially when diagnostic messages (UDS) come into play. Fortunately, NI XNET provides a unified way to manage both standard broadcast LIN communication and higher-level diagnostic protocols with minimal effort.

NI XNET Hardware Setup for LIN Communication

In the simplest test scenario, we have a PC based bus master and a device under test (slave device).

The bus master is a PC connected to the LIN bus through an NI compactDAQ chassis, NI-9860 XNET module, and a TRC-8456 LIN dongle.

Configuring Broadcast LIN Communication in LabVIEW

Configuring broadcast LIN starts by loading the LIN Definition File (LDF) into the NI-XNET Database Editor and assigning it an alias. For this example, we’ll use an example LDF from NI.

Once the LDF is loaded, a simple VI can start communication with the Device Under Test. Here’s what’s happening in the below VI.

1. Create Input and Output Sessions
   • These are RX (input) and TX (output) sessions for receiving and sending data to the Device Under Test.
   • On a test bench, it’s often necessary to enable termination at the TRC-8456 and configure the PC as the bus master.
   • Signal Single-Point Sessions handle signals rather than raw frames, so there’s no need to manually unpack frame data. “Single-Point” means XNET maintains a current-value table of signals for both input and output.
   • The front panel controls input signal list and output signal list are linked to the database, providing dropdowns to select signals to read and write.
2. Start Sessions
3. Assert a Schedule
   • Schedules are defined by the LDF, and the XNET controls will provide a drop-down to select a schedule to assert.
4. While Loop
   • Continuously write and read signals
5. Cleanup Logic
   • Stop and clear both input and output sessions

Performing UDS (Unified Diagnostic Services) over LIN in LabVIEW

UDS (Unified Diagnostics Services) is another common test engineering use case. Here’s another VI showing how to talk UDS with XNET.

1. Open Frame input and output sessions.
   • Instead of working with signals, UDS communication has more variability making reading and writing frames easier
   • Queued Sessions are used here, which store every frame seen on the bus, unlike Single-Point sessions that only track the most recent value
2. Start Sessions
3. Assert a Diagnostic event on the bus Master Request
4. Write a UDS frame e.g. 0x22 ReadDataByIdentifier
5. Wait for the transmission to complete
6. Assert a Diagnostic event on the bus Slave Response
   • Allowing the device under test to respond
7. Read the frames sent by the device under test
8. For clarity, closing and clearing the sessions is not shown

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1. Software Setup

To emulate, you must have four applications. This example will use Studio 5000 Logix Designer V31.01.00, FactoryTalk View Studio V10.00.00, Studio 5000 Logix Emulate V32.00.00, and RSLinx Classic V4.11.00. It is critically important to have compatible versions. Rockwell has more information on version compatibility.

2. Create PLC Project

We will start in Studio 5000 Logix Designer and create a new project. When selecting a controller, select Emulate 5570 Studio 5000 Logix Emulate Controller. After clicking next, set the revision to 31 and put the controller in slot 2. We will explain the rationale for this latter.

3. PLC Programming

To keep the focus on emulation, we will use a simple PLC program for a solenoid valve. There are two programs in the MainTask: Inputs and Device Control.

I have also included a picture of controller tags to help explain some of the tag definitions.

There are three rungs total in this project. One is an Add On Instruction or AOI in Device Control. The other two are for mapping inputs and outputs.

Here at DMC, we use AOIs to improve code modularity and save time. For a solenoid valve, we will use an AOI from DMC’s internal Rockwell library called AOI_ValveSolenoid. We will pass the AOI the tag Valve_HMI which is a user-defined data type. This data type is an InOut parameter for AOI_ValveSolenoid, so the AOI has read/write privileges. The Valve_HMI links information to display to the operator on the HMI via a global object. If you haven’t used global objects before, check out this blog.

Configuring hardware can be difficult using an emulated PLC, so we will work around this. We can simply have outputs energize the inputs. An implementation of this is shown below. This trick saves the time of setting up the hardware configuration in the Logix Designer and Logix Emulate.

To give more context on the exact tags I have used, Valve_Device is the instance data type of our solenoid valve AOI. bOutHome is an output of the AOI and is true when the device is in the home position. We will have bOutHome energize bInSignalHome, which is an input showing that the feedback on the home position is true. Thus, when we command the valve we will see the inputs match.

4. HMI

The HMI will also be simple with one global object instance to display the state of the solenoid valve and allow for control. The On and Off buttons are commands to open and close the valve. The fault indicator turns on if feedback does not match the command. The energize indicator is true when the valve moves to the work/open position. Open will light up if the valve is in work/open. Finally, the S…S will take a string defined on the PLC for the name of the valve.

5. Emulate

Now, that we have a PLC program and an HMI display made it is time to emulate the controller. Open Studio 5000 Logix Emulate. You will see the RSLinx Classic module in slot 0. If FactoryTalk Linx is installed on the computer, slot 1 will have a FactoryTalk Linx module. If these modules are not present, it is likely a sign that one of these applications is not installed or has version conflicts. Next, right-click slot 2 and select create. A Select Module box will appear where you can select Emulate 5570 Controller and click OK.

In this example, we will select version 31 for the controller to be consistent with the Logix Designer project. The other settings on the General window and the System window can be left as default unless your project has specific requirements.

When you are finished Studio 5000 Logix Emulate should like this:

6. RSLinx

Open RSLinx Classic and select Communications>RSWHO. A popup should appear as shown below. Select slot 02 Studio 5000 Logix Emulate. You must leave RSLinx Classic running.

7. Download PLC Project to Emulated Controller

In Studio 5000 Logix Designer, select COMMUNICATIONS>Who Active to bring up a popup window. In the window, you should see in slot 02 a Studio 5000 Logix Emulate controller. Select the controller and click go online.

Another popup like the one below should appear. You can select download. Either before or after the project has downloaded you may switch from Remote Program (Rem Prog) to Remote Run (Rem Run). Before downloading, the mode can be changed, or afterward, there is a drop-down selection for the mode in Logix Designer. The differences between the two modes are not consequential when emulating, as there is not any real I/O connected.

After moving the controller to run, you will see green bars on your PLC logic indicating you are online with the controller.

Congratulations, you have successfully downloaded to an emulated controller! You can test and make edits to your project at this stage. You can even force bits true to test your program. Continue with the steps below if you would like to link up the HMI as well.

8. FactoryTalk Linx

To connect your HMI project to the emulated controller you have to setup FactoryTalk Linx in FactoryTalk View ME. To setup FactoryTalk Linx, right click on the name of your project in the explorer menu within FactoryTalk View. In my case, my HMI Project was called EmulateExampleHMI. Select Add New Server>Rockwell Automation Device Server (FactoryTalk Linx). A window will popup where you can hit OK. You may see an error if FactoryTalk Linx has already been set up for your project. That is okay you can simply proceed to the next step.

In the Explorer, open Communication Setup under the newly added FactoryTalk Linx icon. Under device shortcuts select Add. I like to name the shortcut PLC.

It may take a second to load, but you will eventually see something like what is shown below. If you right-click 1789-A17 Backplane select Add Device you will be able to a 1756-Lx/Em, ControlLogix 55xx Emulator. Be sure to expand by clicking the plus icon and select revision 31.

Select slot 2 for the controller to match our previous selections in Logix Emulate and Designer.

Now, the HMI knows where to look for tags from the controller. If you go to one of the HMI displays you made earlier, you can right-click on a Global Object instance to specify the Global Object Parameter Values. Click on the three dots under Tag to bring up the Tag Browser.

Click on Refresh All Folders to make sure that the HMI is looking at the latest version of the tags on the controller. We named the shortcut PLC, so we see it appear on the left side. Through expanding the list and then expanding Online a list of tags from the PLC project will appear. To link the Global Object select the appropriate tag. In my case, I will select Valve_HMI and click OK.

You are finally ready to simulate the HMI. Select the running man icon under Objects to simulate the HMI project.

After loading a simulated HMI will appear. By clicking ON and OFF the valve can be open and closed.

Emulating can be a bit of a challenge but well worth it to test an HMI and PLC project. If you have more questions about emulating, comment below. If you need Rockwell PLC or HMI support, reach out to us at DMC.

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This fall, I had my welcome party with the DMC Houston team at Well Done Cooking to learn more about Thai food.

First Course: Shrimp Spring Rolls

We started out learning how to wrap spring rolls. The rolls had shrimp, cilantro, cucumbers, and vermicelli noodles. We served them with a tasty peanut dipping sauce.

Entree #1: Baked Curry Spiced Chicken

Next on the menu was baked curry-spiced chicken. We marinated the chicken with yogurt and curry powder. We seasoned like ‘Salt Bae’ before baking them.

Entree #2: Lemongrass Green Curry with Tofu

This recipe was the most technically challenging. The first step was to puree then strain a whole host of ingredients, including basil, lemongrass, coriander, and cilantro. We then reduced the strained liquid on the stove and added coconut milk. In the final step, we added roasted tofu. We served the curry over rice.

The cooking class was a great way to welcome new hires and bond as a team. It turns out, engineers can cook!

Learn more about the DMC Houston office and DMC’s company culture.

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