AbstractThe purpose of this project was to design a LabVIEW program that can be used as a platform to simultaneously interface Lakeshore 331 Temperature controller and HP 4284A LCR precision meter with the PC.The need for the design was to provide accuracy and simplicity in conducting sensor characterization measurements. The program was able to setup the display pages on the devices, choose characteristics of the specimen to be measured, ramp-up temperature, take values at desired temperature and time values , record time and save all the mention values in to an excel file. The main advantage of the program is its autopilot feature - once the required specifications are set, it will automatically do all the work until the desired temperature is reached or the time is lapsed.

Interfacing with LabVIEW for Infrared Sensor Characterization Dawit Tibebu Woldemariam , Moinuddin Ahmed and Dr. Donald Butler

Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019

Introduction

This project was mainly intended to facilitate one of the major projects currently being conducted in our lab. The project is designing, fabricating and characterizing pyroelectric infrared sensors. These types of sensors are made from materials which produce a larger amount of current when heated than traditional infrared sensors. Experimental characterization of sensors is important in determining their response to different conditions. Our lab mainly focuses on designing and characterizing infrared sensors. For that reason, we are mainly focused on the temperature response of the sensors.

ConclusionI was effectively able to communicate with the two devices independently. Designing a platform to control the two devices simultaneously was a challenge. So far, I was able to set up the display pages , control the temperature ramp, choose properties of the specimen to be measured – Resistance , capacitance, loss tangent and more , take measurements at desired times and record measurements in an excel file. The design is still in progress. I am working on adding more features to it such as , recording values from the two devices in to a single excel file, improving the temperature ramping feature , and automatically generating a report of the measurements using the report generating toolkit of LabVIEW. The complete design will save a significant amount of time and energy in sensor characterization experiments. Future works should be intended in designing LabVIEW programs that can control all the devices in the lab.

Materials

The following materials were used in the project

-HP 4284 A Precision LCR meter - GPIB cable

-GPIB cable - PC with LabVIEW 12.1

-Lake Shore 331 Temperature Controller version installed

-Connecting cables

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank the NSF for funding this program through the NSF grant # EEC-1156801, REU site: Research Experience for Undergraduates in Sensors and Applications. I would also like to thank the University of Texas Arlington for hosting the program. I would like to thank Mohammadreza Moghadam for organizing the program. I thank Dr. Butler for giving me the opportunity to work in his lab. A special thanks for Moinuddin Ahmed, who has been a great mentor throughout the program.

Results

For further information

Please contact Dawit Woldemariam at ( dawit2@vt.edu ) for a more detailed information about this project. Tutorials and helpful information about using Labview to simultaneously control multiple devices can be found on the National Instruments webpage at http://www.ni.com/webcasts/

Methods

Fig. 1 4284A Precision LCR meterFig. 2 Lake Shore 331 Temperature Controller

Fig. 3 GPIB cablei

Fig. 4 Block diagram of an LCR Precision meter and Lake Shore 331 Temperature Controller running in parallel

Fig. 6 An Excel file where time, resistance and capacitance measurements are recordedFig. 5 Front panel

Literatures cited

< http://www.ni.com/webcasts/ >.