文献翻译——美国国家仪器公司的LabVIEW ：一种实验室自动化和测量的编程环境

苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第1页外文文献资料NationalInstrumentsLabVIEW:AProgrammingEnvironmentforLaboratoryAutomationandMeasurementTheemergenceofvirtualinstrumentationisarevolutioninthehistoryofthedevelopmentofmeasuringinstruments.Itfullyutilizesthelatestcomputertechnologytoimplementandextendtheinstrumentfunction.Usingtheimageofacomputerscreencanbeeasilysimulateavarietyofequipmentcontrolpanelstotheneedsexpressedintheformoftheoutputoftestresults.Usingcomputersoftwaretoachievemostofthesignaloftheanalysisandprocessingtocompleteavarietyofcontrolandtestfunction.Theuserthroughtheapplicationofgeneral-purposecomputerprogrammodulesandfeaturesofthehardwaretogether.Throughfriendlygraphicalinterfacetooperatethiscomputer.Asinoperatingtheirowndefinitionofindividualinstrumentsoftheirowndesigncanbemeasuredtocompletetheacquisition,analysis,determine,control,display,datastorageandsoon.VirtualInstrumentsadvantagesofmoretraditionalinstruments:(1)Astrongintegrationofcomputerhardwareresources.Breakingthetraditionalinstrumentsindataprocessing,display,storageandotherlimitations,andgreatlyenhancedthecapabilitiesoftraditionalinstruments.(2)Theuseofcomputersoftwareresourcestoachievesomepartofthesoftwareofinstrumenthardware,savingmaterialresources,increasesystemflexibility.Throughsoftwaretechnologyandthecorrespondingnumericalalgorithm.Directlyonthetestdataforvariousanalysisandprocessingintime.Throughthegraphicaluserinterfacetechnology,trulyuser-friendly,human-computerinteraction.苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第2页(3)Hardwareandsoftwareofvirtualinstrumentisanopen,modular,reusableandinterchangeabilitycharacteristics.Therefore,theusercanaccordingtotheirownneedsandusedifferentmanufacturersproducts.Thedevelopmentoftheinstrumentsystemismoreflexible,efficientandshortentheformationtimeofthesystemThetraditionalinstrumentsareapplicationspecificsystemsbasedonfixedhardwareandsoftwareresourcessotheirfunctionandapplicationsaredefinedbythemanufacturer.Theseinstrumentsarecomplexsystemsandthereforetheybecomeexpensiveanddifficulttomanage.Thewidespreadusageofpersonalcomputersinmanyscientificandtechnologicalfieldsmakethemanidealhardwareandsoftwareplatformfortheimplementationofmeasurementinstruments.Byaddingasimpledataacquisitionsystem,apersonalcomputercanemulateanyinstrument.Theinstrumentsgeneratedinthiswayarecalledvirtualinstrumentsbecausetheydonothaveexclusiveaccesstohardwareandsoftwareresources.Differentinstrumentscanbeimplementedoverthesamehardwarebyonlyreprogrammingthesoftware.Thevirtualinstrumentsofferplentyofadvantagesthemostimportantofwhichisthelowcostduetothereusabilityofhardwareandsoftwareresources.Theabovecharacteristicsandthecontinuousevolutionandcheapeningofthepersonalcomputersmakethevirtualinstrumentsavaluablealternativetotraditionalones.Nevertheless,therearetwomainfactorswhichlimitstheapplicationofvirtualinstruments.Byonehand,thedatacaptureisreducetoslowratesbecauseofthemorecommonoperatingsystemsofthegeneralpurposecomputersarenotorientedtorealtimeapplications.Byotherhand,thedataacquisitionsystemisnotanapplicationorientedsystembutagenericone.Therefore,ourproposalisfocusedontheenhancementofvirtualinstrumentsbythereplacementofthegenerichardwarewithareconfigurabledataacquisitionsystem.Bythisway,somedataprocesscanbeimplementedbyhardwarereducingthedataflowto/fromthecomputerandrisingthemaximumsamplerate.苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第3页NationalInstrumentsLabVIEWisagraphicalprogramminglanguagethathasitsrootsinautomationcontrolanddataacquisition.Itsgraphicalrepresentation,similartoaprocessflowdiagram,wascreatedtoprovideanintuitiveprogrammingenvironmentforscientistsandengineers.Thelanguagehasmaturedoverthelast20yearstobecomeageneralpurposeprogrammingenvironment.LabVIEWhasseveralkeyfeatureswhichmakeitagoodchoiceinanautomationenvironment.Theseincludesimplenetworkcommunication,turnkeyimplementationofcommoncommunicationprotocols(RS232,GPIB,etc.),powerfultoolsetsforprocesscontrolanddatafitting,fastandeasyuserinterfaceconstruction,andanefficientcodeexecutionenvironment.Wediscussthemeritsofthelanguageandprovideanexampleapplicationsuitewrittenin-housewhichisusedinintegratingandcontrollingautomationplatforms.Keywords:NILabVIEW;graphicalprogramming;systemintegration;instrumentcontrol;componentbasedarchitecture;robotics;automation;staticscheduling;dynamicscheduling;database1.IntroductionCytokineticsisabiopharmaceuticalcompanyfocusedonthediscoveryofsmallmoleculetherapeuticsthattargetthecytoskeleton.Sinceinceptionwehavedevelopedarobusttechnologyinfrastructuretosupportourdrugdiscoveryefforts.Theinfrastructureprovidescapacitytoscreenmillionsofcompoundsperyearintestsrangingfrommultiproteinbiochemicalassaysthatmimicbiologicalfunctiontoautomatedimage-basedcellularassayswithphenotypicreadouts.Therequirementsforprocessingthesenumbersanddiversityofassayshavemandateddeploymentofmultipleintegratedautomationsystems.Forexample,wehaveseveralplatformsforbiochemicalscreening,systemsforlivecellprocessing,automatedmicroscopysystems,andanautomatedcompoundstorageandretrievalsystem.Eachin-houseintegratedsystemisdesignedaroundaroboticarmandcontainsanoptimalsetofplate-processingperipherals(suchaspipettingdevices,platereaders,andcarousels)dependingonitsintendedrangeofuse.Tocreatethemostflexible,highperformance,andcost-effective苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第4页systems,wehavetakentheapproachofbuildingourownsystemsin-house.Thishasgivenustheabilitytointegratethemostappropriatehardwareandsoftwaresolutionsregardlessofwhethertheyarepurchasedfromavendororengineereddenovo,andhencewecanrapidlymodifysystemsasassayrequirementschange.Tomaximizeplatformconsistencyandmodularity,eachofour10automatedplatformsiscontrolledbyacommon,distributedapplicationsuitethatwedevelopedusingNationalInstruments(NI)LabVIEW.Thisapplicationsuitedescribedindetailbelow,enablesourenduserstocreateandmanagetheirownprocessmodels(assayscripts)inacommonmodelingenvironment,tousetheseprocessmodelsonanyautomationsystemwiththerequireddevices,andallowseasyandrapiddevicereconfiguration.TheplatformissupportedbyacentralOracledatabaseandcanruneitherstaticallyordynamicallyscheduledprocesses.2.NILabVIEWBackgroundLabVIEW,whichstandsforLaboratoryVirtualInstrumentationEngineeringWorkbenchisagraphicalprogramminglanguagefirstreleasedin1986byNationalInstruments(Austin,TX).LabVIEWimplementsadataflowparadigminwhichthecodeisnotwritten,butratherdrawnorrepresentedgraphicallysimilartoaflowchartdiagramProgramexecutionfollowsconnectorwireslinkingprocessingnodestogether.Eachfunctionorroutineisstoredasavirtualinstrument(VI)havingthreemaincomponents:thefrontpanelwhichisessentiallyaformcontaininginputsandcontrolsandcanbedisplayedatruntime,ablockdiagramwherethecodeiseditedandrepresentedgraphically,andaconnectorpanewhichservesasaninterfacetotheVIwhenitisimbeddedasasub-VI.Thetoppanel(A)showsthefrontpaneloftheVI.Inputdataarepassedthrough“Controls”whichareshowntotheleft.Includedherearenumberinputs,afilepathbox,andageneralerrorpropagationcluster.WhentheVIruns,the“Indicator”outputsontherightofthepanelarepopulatedwithoutputdata.Inthisexample,dataincludenumbers(bothasscalarandarray),agraph,andtheoutputoftheerrorcluster.Inthebottompanel(B)theblock苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第5页diagramfortheVIisshown.Theoutercasestructureexecutesinthe“NoError”case(VIscanmakeinternalerrorsorifcalledasasub-VIthecallermaypropagateanerrorthroughtheconnectorpane).Unlikemostprogramminglanguages,LabVIEWcompilescodeasitiscreatedtherebyprovidingimmediatesyntacticandsemanticfeedbackandreducingthetimerequiredfordevelopmentandtesting.2WritingcodeisassimpleasdragginganddroppingfunctionsorVIsfromafunctionspaletteontotheblockdiagramwithinprocessstructures(suchasForLoops,orCaseStructures)andwiringterminals(passinginputvalues,orreferences).Unittestingissimplifiedbecauseeachfunctionisseparatelyencapsulated;inputvaluescanbesetdirectlyonthefrontpanelwithouthavingtotestthecontainingmoduleorcreateaseparatetestharness.Thefunctionsthatgeneratedatatakecareofmanagingthestorageforthedata.NILabVIEWsupportsmultithreadedapplicationdesignandexecutescodeinaninherentlyparallelratherthansequentialmanner;assoonasafunctionorsub-VIreceivesallofitsrequiredinputs,itcanbeginexecution.Allthesub-VIsreceivethearrayinputsimultaneouslyassoonastheForLoopiscomplete,andthustheyexecuteinparallel.Thisisuniquefromatypicaltext-basedenvironmentwherethecontrolflowslinebylinewithinafunction.Whensequentialexecutionisrequired,controlflowcanbeenforcedbyuseofstructuressuchasSequences,Events,orbychainingsub-VIswhereoutputdatafromoneVIispassedtotheinputofthenextVI.Similartomostprogramminglanguages,LabVIEWsupportsallcommondatatypessuchasintegers,floats,strings,andclusters(structures)andcanreadilyinterfacewithexternallibraries,ActiveXcomponents,and.NETframework.Eachdatatypeisgraphicallyrepresentedbywiresofdifferentcolorsandthickness.LabVIEWalsosupportscommonconfigurationmanagementapplicationssuchasVisualSourceSafemakingmultideveloperprojectsreasonabletomanage.ApplicationsmaybecompiledasexecutablesorasDynamicLinkLibraries(DLLs)thatexecuteusingarun-timeenginesimilartotheJavaRuntimeEnvironment.Thedevelopmentenvironmentprovidesavarietyofdebugging苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第6页toolssuchasbreak-points,trace(trace),andsingle-step.ApplicationscanbedevelopedusingavarietyofdesignpatternssuchasClient-Server,Consumer-Producer,andState-Machine.TherearealsoUML(UnifiedModelingLanguage)modelingtoolsthatallowautomatedgenerationofcodefromUMLdiagramsandstatediagrams.Overtheyears,LabVIEWhasmaturedintoageneralpurposeprogramminglanguagewithawideruserbase.3.NILabVIEWasaPlatformforAutomationandInstrumentationOurexperiencecreatingbenchtopinstrumentationandintegratedautomationsystemshasvalidatedourchoiceofLabVIEWasanappropriatetool.LabVIEWenablesrapiddevelopmentoffunctionallyrichapplicationsappropriateforbothbenchtopapplicationsandlargerintegratedsystems.Onmanyoccasionswehavefoundthatprojectrequirementsareinitiallyilldefinedorchangeasnewmeasurementsornewassaysaredeveloped.Thereareseveralkeyfeaturesofthelanguagethatmakeitparticularlyusefulinanautomationenvironmentforcreatingapplicationstocontrolandintegrateinstrumentation,manageprocessflow,andenabledataacquisition.3.1.TurnkeyMeasurementandControlFunctionLabVIEWwasoriginallydevelopedforscientistsandengineers.ThelanguageincludesarichsetofprocesscontrolanddataanalysisfunctionsaswellasCOM,.NET,andsharedDLLsupport.Outofthebox,itprovidesturnkeysolutionstoavarietyofcommunicationprotocolsincludingRS232,GPIB,andTCP/IP.ControlstructuressuchastimedWhileLoopsallowsynchronizedandtimeddataacquisitionfromavarietyofhardwareinterfacessuchasPCI,USB,andPXI.3.2.DataSocketandVIServerDeploymentofanintegratedsystemwithmultiplecontrolcomputersrequirestheautomationcontrolapplicationtocommunicateremotelywithinstrumentdriversexistingonremotecomputers.LabVIEWsupportsadistributed苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第7页architecturebyvirtueofenablingseamlessnetworkcommunicationthroughtechnologiessuchasVIServerandDSTP(datasocketstransferprotocol).DSTPisanapplicationlayerprotocolsimilartohttpbasedonTransmissionControlProtocol/InternetProtocol(TCP/IP).Datasocketsalloweasytransferofdatabetweenremotecomputerswithbasicreadandwritefunctions.ThroughVIservertechnology,functioncallscanbemadetoVIsresidingonremotecomputersasthoughtheyareresidingonthelocalcomputer.BothDatasocketsandVIservercanbeconfiguredtocontrolaccessesprivileges.3.3.SimpleUserInterface(UI)ImplementationInadditiontocommoninterfacecontrolssuchastextboxes,menurings,andcheck-boxes,LabVIEWprovidesarichsetofUIcontrols(switches,LEDs,gauges,arraycontrols,etc.)thatarepertinenttolaboratoryequipment.ThesehavetheiroriginsinLabVIEWslaboratoryrootsandhelpindevelopmentofinterfaceswhichgivescientistsaclearunderstandingofasystemsstate.LabVIEWsupportsUIconceptsincludingsubpanels(similartotheMultipleDocumentInterface),splitterbars,andXControls(analogoustoOCXcontrols).3.4.MultithreadedProgrammingEnvironmentTheinherentparallelenvironmentofLabVIEWisextremelyusefulinthecontroloflaboratoryequipment.FunctionscanhavemultiplecontinuousWhileLoopswhereoneloopisacquiringdatarapidlyandtheotherloopprocessesthedataatamuchslowerrate.Implementingsuchaparadigminotherlanguagesrequirestriggeringanindependentfunctionthreadforeachprocessanddevelopinglogictomanagesynchronization.ThroughtimedWhileLoops,multipleindependentWhileLoopscanbeeasilysynchronizedtoprocessatadesiredperiodandphaserelativetooneanother.LabVIEWallowsinvokingmultipleinstancesofthesamefunctionwitheachmaintainingitsowndataspace.Tosynchronizeorenforcecontrolflowwithinthedataflowenvironment,LabVIEWalsoprovidesfunctionssuchasqueues,semaphores,andnotificationfunctions.4.NILabVIEWApplicationExample:TheOpenSystemControl苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第8页Architecture(OSCAR)OSCARisaLabVIEW-based(v7.1)automationintegrationframeworkandtaskexecutionenginedesignedandimplementedatCytokineticstosupportapplicationdevelopmentforsystemsrequiringrobotictaskmanagement.OSCARisorganizedaroundacentralizedOracledatabasewhichstoresallinstrumentationconfigurationinformationusedtologicallygroupdevicestogethertocreateintegratedsystems(Fig.2).ThedatabasealsomaintainsProcessModelinformationfromwhichtasksandparametersrequiredtorunaparticularprocessonasystemcanbegeneratedandstoredtothedatabase.Whenajobisstarted,taskorderandparameterdataarepolledbytheExecutionEnginewhichmarshalstaskstoeachdeviceandupdatestaskstatusinthedatabaseinrealtime.Maintainingandpersistingtaskinformationforeachsystemhastwoclearbenefits.Itallowseasyjobrecoveryintheeventofasystemerror,anditalsoprovidesaprocessaudittrailthatcanbeusefulforqualitymanagementandfortroubleshootingprocesserrorsorproblems.EachOSCARcomponentisdistributedacrossthecompanyintranetandcommunicateswithacentraldatabase.CollectionsofphysicaldevicescontrolledthroughOSCARInstrumentpackages(OIP)makeupsystems.UsersinteractwithsystemsthroughoneoftheseveralapplicationsbuiltonOSCAR.EachapplicationcallstheRTMwhichmarshalstasksfromthedatabasetoeachOIP.OSCARhassetsoftoolsformanagingsystemconfigurations,creatingProcessModels,monitoringrunningprocesses,recoveringerror-statesystems,andmanagingplateinventoryinstoragedevices.OSCARusesalooselycoupleddistributedcomponentarchitecture,enabledinlargepartbyLabVIEWsDSTPandremoteVItechnologiesthatallowsystemcontroltobeextendedbeyondtheconfinesofthetraditionalcentralcontrolCPUmodel.AnynetworkedcomputerordevicecanbeintegratedandcontrolledinanOSCARsystemregardlessofitsphysicallocation.Thisremovestheproximityconstraintsoftraditionalintegratedsystemsandallowsfortheutilizationofremotedatacrunchers,devices,orevensystems.ThemessagingparadigmusedsharesmanysimilaritieswithcurrentServiceOrientedArchitecturesorEnterpriseServiceBusimplementations苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第9页withoutalotofrequiredprogrammingoverheadormiddleware;acentralizedserverisnotrequiredtodirecttheXMLpacketsacrossthenetwork.Anadditionalbenefittothislooselycoupledarchitectureistheflexibilityinfront-endapplicationdesign.OSCARencapsulatesandmanagesallfunctionalityrelatedtotaskexecutionanddevicecontrol,whichfreesthedevelopertofocusontheuniquerequirementsofagivenapplication.Forexample,anapplicationbeingcreatedforthepurposeofcompoundstorageandretrievalcanbelimitedinscopetorequirementssuchasinventorymanagementandLIMSintegrationratherthandevicecontrol,resourceallocation,andtasksynchronization.TheOSCARintegrationframeworkconsistsofmultiplecomponentsthatenabledeviceandsystemconfiguration,processmodeling,processexecution,andprocessmonitoring.Belowaredescriptionsofkeycomponentsoftheframework.4.1.IntegrationPlatformTheOscarInstrumentPackage(OIP)isthelowlevelcontrolcomponentresponsibleforcommunicatingwithindividualdevices.Itcansupportanynumberofdevicesonasystem(includingmultipleindependentinstancesofthesametypeofdevice)andcommunicatestotheRuntimeManager(RTM)viaserializedXMLstringsoverDSTP.ThisallowsthedevicecontrollerandRTMcomponentstoexistonseparatenetworkedcomputersifnecessary.Additionally,theOIPcontrollercommunicateswithadeviceinstanceviaLabVIEWremoteVIcallswhichprovidealowerlevelofdistributionandallowthedevicedriverstoexistonaseparatenetworkedcomputerfromthecontroller.AtCytokinetics,wecurrentlysupportapproximately100deviceinstancesof30devicetypeswhicharedistributedacross10integratedsystems.4.2.SystemManagementAnOSCARsystemisanamedcollectionofdeviceinstanceswhichislogicallyrepresentedinthedatabase.Theinterfaceforeachdevice(commandsandparameters)isstoredinthedatabasealongwiththeconfigurationsettingsforeachdeviceinstance(i.e.,COMport,capacity).TheSystemManagercomponent苏州大学本科生毕业设计（论文）附件：外文文献资料与中文翻译稿第10页providesthefunctionalitytoeasilymanipulatethisinformation(givenappropriatepermissions).Whenaphysicaldeviceismovedfromonesystemtoanother,oraprocessingbottleneckalleviatedbyadditionofanothersimilardevice,systemconfigurationinformationischangedwithoutaffectingtheprocessesthatmayberunonthesystem.4.3.ProcessModelingAprocessmodelisthelogicalprogressionofasequenceoftasks.Forexample,abiochemicalassaymightincludethefollowingsteps(1)removeplatefromincubator,(2)moveplatetopipettor,(3)addreagent,(4)moveplatetofluorescentreader,(5)readplate,and(6)moveplatetowaste.TheProcessModelercomponentallowstheendusertochoosefunctionsassociatedwithdevicesandorganizethemintoasequenceoflogicaltasks.Theresultingprocessmodelisthenscheduledviaastaticscheduleoptimizationalgorithmorsavedfordynamicexecution.Aprocessmodelisnotassociatedwithaphysicalsystem,butratherarequiredcollectionofdevices.Thishastwoimportantbenefits:(1)thescientistisfreetoexperimentwithvirtualsystemconfigurationstooptimizethedesignofafuturesystemorthereconfigurationofanexistingsystem,and(2)anyexistingprocessmodelcanbeexecutedonanysystemequippedwiththeappropriateresources.Thetoppanel(A)showstheProcessScheduleModeler,anapplicationthatgraphicallydisplaysstaticallyscheduledprocesses.Eachhorizontalbandrepresentsataskgroupwhichisthecollectionofrequiredtasksusedbyaprocess;tasksarecolorcodedbydevice.Thebottompanel(B)showstheUIfromtheAutomatedImagingSystemapplication.Thetreestructuredepictsthejobhierarchyforanimagingrun.Jobs(hereAIS_RetrievalandAIS_Imaging)arecomposedoftaskg