Overview

Physics is Phun, they told us in Physics 101, and, by golly, they were right! Once we got started at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where there are plenty of physics experiments going on, we found out how interesting the business of instrumenting such an experiment can be. One problem we discovered is just how little material is available in the way of instructional guides for the budding diagnostic engineer. Unfortunately, there isn't enough space to do a complete brain dump in this chapter. What we will pass along are a few references: Bologna and Vincelli (1983); and Mass and Brueckner (1965). Particularly, we've gotten a lot of good tips and application notes from the makers of specialized instruments (LeCroy Corporation 2000). Like National Instruments, they're all in the business of selling equipment, and the more they educate their customers, the more equipment they are likely to sell. So, start by collecting catalogs and look for goodies like sample applications inside. Then, get to know your local sales representatives, and ask them how to use their products. Having an experienced experimental physicist or engineer on your project is a big help, too.

We're going to treat the subject of physics in its broadest sense for the purpose of discussing LabVIEW programming techniques. The common threads among these unusual applications are that they use unconventional sensors, signal conditioning, and data acquisition equipment, and often involve very large data sets. Even if you're not involved in physics research, you are...