INERTIA Test Automation Software
INERTIA™ test automation software is a real-time test platform for test control, data acquisition, and measurement. INERTIA, developed in LabVIEW™ Real-Time, provides an open, flexible environment for developing real-time test systems on National Instruments hardware platforms.
Users can easily configure the INERTIA Real-Time Engine through a simple and intuitive user interface featuring simple LabVIEW screens as the operator interface.
The INERTIA Real-Time Engine provides:
Channel/variable support of analog inputs/outputs, digital inputs/outputs, calculated channels, modbus, and user-defined variables, featuring:
- Real-time alarming with variable alarming limits, delayed tripping, multiple priorities, and user-configurable alarm events
- Digital control PIDF loops with variable gains, loop rates, integral limits, amplitude control, and bumpless transfers
- Multi-file, triggered data logging
- Profile generation with ramping, dwells, waveforms, and time-based data playback
Using the INERTIA Configuration Utility, users define operation of the real-time engine by controlling the various sequences performed. INERTIA sequences consist of many standard functions, such as:
- Conditional checking
- Setting variable values
- Branches
- Subroutine/Subsequence calls
- Control loop configuration
- Alarm configuration
- Dwells
- Synchronous ramping
- Waveform generation
INERTIA also supports custom functions developed by users in LabVIEW, giving integrators and developers extensive flexibility in their custom systems.
INERTIA Application Review
The INERTIA control system is a multi-purpose control system that excels in providing a flexible yet powerful real-time control and data acquisition environment.
Test Rig Configuration
The INERTIA real-time engine allows up to four computers to communicate and control it at one time with each running a fully independent test profile and independent control loops.
I/O Management
The channel and test variable management features provide an easy method of entering input and output channels as well as specifying general test parameters. The INERTIA software incorporates many variable types, including:
- Analog inputs
- Analog outputs
- Digital inputs
- Digital outputs
- Calculated channels
- Modbus channels
- User variables
- System variables
With INERTIA's numerous built-in system variables, users have immediate access to the real-time engine's PIDF control loops, block cycle generators, amplitude controllers, and peak/valley analyzers.
Alarm Management
INERTIA's real-time alarms can monitor any system variable or input and perform any user-specified sequence of operations when tripped. Each alarm has numerous settings, including:
- Variable high and low limits
- Delayed trip
- One of three priorities
Test Profiles and Commands
INERTIA's test profiles provide a powerful and flexible method to configure the real-time engine's general test, control, and alarm sequence as well as the engine's block cycle generator, PIDF control loops, data logger, and many other internal engine features.
The INERTIA real-time engine can support four independent test sequences, each with its own main sequence and sub-sequences. Each sequence is built through simple pop-up dialog boxes from the various INERTIA commands, such as:
- Alarming
- Conditional
- Dwell
- Generation
- PID control
- Set variable
- Call procedure
- Data logging
- Exit subroutine
- Goto label
- Set multi-variable
- Block cycling
- Test builder
In addition to the normal rig configuration, the INERTIA Test Builder facilitates individual and dynamic test definitions that can be created and stored for a variety of test applications. Each test can consist of:
- Test Sequence: A new sequence of commands to run only during this test
- Data Logging: A set of channels and variables to log during this test, with variable log rate, triggered logging, and auto-segmenting of data files
- Maintenance: A list of maintenance items that are monitored during the test and can stop the test automatically or simply inform the operator
- Start, Stop, and Restart Screens: Custom screens that are shown when the test is started, stopped and restarted. These screens allow the operator to enter specific test information, such as part number, comments, etc. This information is stored with the test data and is continually updated each time the test is restarted.
Contact us for more information on INERTIA test automation software.
Example Solutions
Resources
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Refractory Composites