National Instruments Corporation

John C Limroth

Gregory O Morrow

Michael L Santori

Lothar Wenzel

Robert E Dye

Ram Kudukoli

Subramanian Ramamoorthy

Jeffrey L Kodosky

Hugo A Andrade

Steven W Rogers

Kevin Hogan

Mike Santori

System and method for programmatically generating a second graphical program associated with a second programming development environment based on a first graphical program associated with a first programming development environment. The second graphical program may be generated programmatically, without relying on user input, or may prompt for user input to determine various options to use in generating the second graphical program. The second graphical program may implement the functionality of, or a portion of the functionality of, the first graphical program. The method preferably generates the second graphical program such that the second programming development environment is operable to treat the second graphical program identically to a graphical program interactively developed by a user using the second programming development environment. Thus, once the second graphical program has been generated, the user may use the second programming development environment to edit the second graphical program, execute the second graphical program, etc.

Automatically generating a second graphical program based on a first graphical program

Converting a first graphical program into an intermediate abstract representation for new graphical program generation

System and method for creating a graphical program that uses multiple models of computation (MoC). A first plurality of graphical program elements is assembled in a graphical program in response to first input, where the assembled first plurality of graphical program elements have a first MoC. A structure is displayed in the graphical program indicating use of a second MoC for graphical program elements comprised within the interior of the structure. A second plurality of graphical program elements is assembled within the structure in response to second input, where the assembled second plurality of graphical program elements have the second MoC. The graphical program is executable to perform a function, for example, by executing the assembled first plurality of graphical program elements in accordance with the first model of computation, and executing the assembled second plurality of graphical program elements in accordance with the second model of computation.

Graphical programming environment with first model of computation that includes a structure supporting second model of computation

System and methods for configuring communication between a graphical program element (GPE) and a graphical user interface element (GUIE), where the GPE and the GUIE are from different respective graphical program development environments. In response to receiving user input specifying the GPE and GUIE, and a data source/data target association between them, at least one of the GUIE and the GPE are programmatically modified to configure communication between the GPE and the GUIE. The graphical program is then executed, where either the GPE performs a function to generate data, provides the data to the GUIE, and the GUIE displays the received data; or, the GUIE element receives data from the user, provides the data to the GPE, and the GPE receives the data and performs a function based on the data. The user input may be performed via drag-and-drop user interface technique, line-drawing, command-line, menu, dialog box, or wizard, etc.

Automatically configuring a graphical user interface element to bind to a graphical program

System and method for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for selected parameters of a graphical program, e.g., a model. The program is analyzed to determine a plurality of parameters, which are displayed, e.g., in a list, tree diagram, palette, etc. User input is received selecting one or more of the plurality of parameters. A GUI for the one or more parameters is generated, comprising one or more GUI elements, e.g., controls and/or indicators, corresponding respectively to the one or more parameters, e.g., the one or more parameters are analyzed with respect to data type, and the one or more GUI elements determined based on the analysis, e.g., by user selection from a plurality of GUI elements presented in response to the analysis, added to the GUI and associated with the one or more parameters. During execution of the graphical program, the one or more GUI elements access corresponding parameters.

Creating a graphical user interface for selected parameters of a graphical program

System and method for creating and executing a graphical program. A first plurality of graphical program elements (GPEs) having a first model of computation (MoC), e.g., homogenous dataflow, are assembled in a graphical program in response to first input. A structure, including an interior portion, is displayed in the graphical program, indicating use of a second MoC, e.g., multi-rate dataflow, for GPEs within the interior portion. A second plurality of GPEs having the second MoC are assembled within the interior portion of the structure in response to second input. The second plurality of GPEs are converted into a new third plurality of GPEs having the first MoC, e.g., by parsing the second plurality of GPEs to determine multiple primitives according to the second MoC, determining the third plurality of GPEs based on the primitives, and assembling the third plurality of GPEs in the graphical program.

Creating and executing a graphical program with first model of computation that includes a structure supporting second model of computation

Graphical data flow programming environment with first model of computation that includes a structure supporting second model of computation

System and method for programmatically generating a second graphical program based on a first graphical program

A system and method for performing a hardware-in-the-loop simulation using a plurality of graphical programs that share a single graphical user interface. A first graphical program that models a physical system may be created. The first graphical program may be deployed on a first computer system for execution. A second graphical program that performs a measurement function may be created. A control unit may be coupled to the first computer system. The first graphical program may be executed on the first computer system to simulate operation of the physical system, wherein the control unit interacts with the first computer system. The second graphical program may be executed to measure characteristics of the operation of the control unit. A single graphical user interface comprising a first one or more graphical user interface elements for the first graphical program and a second one or more graphical user interface elements for the second graphical program may be displayed.

System and method for performing a hardware-in-the-loop simulation using a plurality of graphical programs that share a single graphical user interface

A system and method for performing rapid control prototyping using a plurality of graphical programs that share a single graphical user interface. A first graphical program may be created that models a product being designed. The first graphical program may be deployed on a target device for execution. A second graphical program that performs a measurement function may be created. The target device may be coupled to a physical system. The first graphical program may be executed on the target device to simulate operation of the product. The second graphical program may be executed to measure characteristics of the operation of the physical system and/or characteristics of the operation of the product. A single graphical user interface comprising a first one or more graphical user interface elements for the first graphical program and a second one or more graphical user interface elements for the second graphical program may be displayed.

System and method for performing rapid control prototyping using a plurality of graphical programs that share a single graphical user interface

A system and method for executing multiple graphical programs, in which program output from each graphical program is displayed in a single graphical user interface. Program output from a first graphical program and program output from a second graphical program may be displayed in a single graphical user interface on a display. The single graphical user interface may also be used for specifying program input for the first and/or the second graphical program. Any number of graphical programs may share the single graphical user interface. In one embodiment different graphical program development environments may be used to create the separate graphical programs.

Graphical program system having a single graphical user interface shared by a plurality of graphical programs

A PID control system and method which maintains continuity of the control output in spite of changes in controller parameters. The controller parameters include a proportional gain, an integral gain, a derivative gain, and a manual/automatic mode parameter. The control output at the time of a parameter change is set equal to the previous controller output, and the integrated error is set to a value consistent with the previous controller output according to a PID controller equation. This value for the integrated error serves to ensure the sustained continuity of the control output after the controller parameter change. Alternatively, the control output at the time of a parameter change is set equal to a first value continuous with respect to one or more previous control output values, and the integrated error is set to a value consistent with the first value according to the PID controller equation. Furthermore, the system and method employs integrator anti-windup. If the control output saturates, i.e. falls outside a control region defined by a lower control bound and an upper control bound, the system and method of the present invention prescribe (a) setting the control output to the value of the control bound which is exceeded, and (b) setting the integrated error equal to a value consistent with the exceeded control bound according to the PD controller equation.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

John C Limroth