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A great MLUG start to 2018 thanks to LabVIEW inspired speakers and a room of enthusiastic MLUGers!

Our first MLUG of 2018 was another success with a great turnout once again, word about the group is evidently spreading which is always a positive thing as organisers of the event! Lots of new faces were present this time which gave the group some new insights and opinions surrounding the areas of discussion.

Thank you to our host, Rolls Royce, and in particular Ken McMullan who also provided us with the Coding Challenge. A number of internal staff attended the event which for most was their first time, hopefully not their last!

Our first guest speaker was Kevin Ross who is a LabVIEW engineer at Renishaw having previously worked for Austin Consultants and National Instruments. He is a certified LabVIEW Architect and TestStand Developer with many years of experience which stood us in good stead for an interesting presentation.

He guided the group through a tool he has developed called the “KR State Machine” which as he explained, provides a simple and pragmatic modular approach to software development. Kevin was able to provide us with a ‘guided tour’ of the KR State Machine so that the group could see how it works in reality. There were lots of interested parties in the room who provided the opportunity for questions and discussion.

Our second guest speaker was Narayanan Karthikeyan who works within the Controls System Group on Development and Support of ATE at Rolls Royce, Derwent. The focus of his presentation was the Core environment which creates an abstraction between the PAT Test Schedule and the software. It has a configurable sequencer to operate rigs in pre-defined steps as well as interlocks to ensure safe operation. In addition, it has PID control to operate various valves and features traceability from requirement to verification of the software. It was good to see this approach to a bespoke test executive with integrated control and automation flexibility.

Argenta’s very own Chris Woodhams provided an interesting introduction to using cRIOs. It was a practical session discussing how to set up a compact RIO for measurements using FPGA and Real Time in the LabVIEW environment. There were varying degrees of knowledge about this area so it really helped to open up the floor to hear experience from attendees.

Three of the attendees sent in their solutions for the Coding Challenge, thank you to all of them. A great way to start discussion with the focus of the challenging being The Game of Life!

Our next event is due to take place on Monday 11th June from 12.45pm – we are now starting to consider topic areas for speakers and finalising the venue. So, if you would like to make a special request for a topic area or have something you would like to present, please get in touch and we can see what we can do!

Anyone who either uses LabVIEW within their current role or works with LabVIEW would be sure to find these events useful and informative, as well as being a good opportunity to network. Those interested in attending this free event should contact Jenny Bragg via email (mlug@argentaconsult.com) or call Argenta’s office on 0121 318 6363 to register.

Argenta host the Midlands LabVIEW User Group three times a year, it is free to come along.

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