WALUG (The Washington Area LabVIEW Users Group)

The Washington Area LabVIEW Users Group or just WALUG provides a venue for LabVIEW professionals of all levels of experience to meet, share ideas and hopefully learn something new while extolling the virtues of our favorite programming environment. Members participate in lively discussions and presentations with an emphasis on LabVIEW practices and program design. Presenters are drawn from group member volunteers and/or industry representatives discussing techniques, solutions and new technologies. The WALUG is jointly sponsored by Mink Hollow Systems and National Instruments.

Next Scheduled Meeting at the NI Office in Columbia Maryland

• Date: Wednesday, 7 April 2010
• Time: Time: 11:30 - 1:00 PM
• Location: The NI Office in Columbia Maryland
  7125 Thomas Edison Dr, Suite 200, Columbia, MD 21046 (Map)

Spring Meeting Agenda

• 11:30 - Introductions
• 11:45 - Guest Speaker I: Ken Hersey
  • Ken Hersey, LabVIEW Designer for RF applications, Sr. Staff Engineer, MEI Technologies for NASA/GSFC
  • Topic: "Interfacing LabVIEW to Web Enabled Devices"
  • Abstract: Ken will describe how LabVIEW can connect to today's popular web enabled devices to, for example, receive current data status from a headless controller. Controller configuration and client options will be discussed and demonstrated.
• 12:15 - Lunch & Speaker II
• 12:15 - Guest Speaker II: Eric Lyness
  • Eric Lyness, VP of Engineering, Mink Hollow Systems
  • Topic: "LabVIEW in Space User Solution: LabVIEW on cRIO Controlling a Telescope on Sounding Rocket"
  • Abstract: Eric will discuss LabVIEW running on a cRIO system which will fly aboard a NASA sounding rocket to make astronomical measurements during a seven-minute flight. The LabVIEW-cRIO system uses high-speed digital I/O and custom FPGA protocols to communicate with an infrared detector and control an array of microscopic shutters. During the first moments of the flight, the detector takes an image of a distant galaxy and from this image, calculates and implements a shutter mask, allowing the system to take a second high resolution masked image. This is the first use of the microshutters, developed for the James Webb Space Telescope, in an actual space mission.
• 12:45 - Q&A, Open Discussion, New Business, Announcements, Wrap-up.

Typical Meeting Agendas

• Presentations - Typically 2 different speakers will present to the group. Presenters may be from the Users Group, National Instruments, Mink Hollow Systems, or from related industries.
• Open Discussion - Approximately 30 minutes are typically devoted to a moderated Question and Answer session. Questions are accepted from the floor.
• New Business - Floor is open for group announcements

Dates, Times and Locations

• Meetings are Quarterly, targeted for: March, June, Sept, Dec.
• Meeting Dates are TBA, but are targeted for the 2nd Wed. of the month
• Locations are TBA, but often we meet at the Local NI Office
• Future Meeting Date/Time/Agenda disseminated through the WALUG List Server

WALUG List Server

Mink Hollow sponsors the WALUG List Server. This is a low traffic vehicle for passing on to WALUG members and interested parties the specific Dates/Times/Agendas of upcoming meetings. Additionally, the List Server offers subscribers a potential venue for LabVIEW topic discussion, although currently traffic is very low. To subscribe send an email to: walug-subscribe@minkhollowsystems.com . You will be sent an auto-response asking for a confirmation. After replying to this confirmation you are subscribed. To unsubscribe, repeat the process by sending an email to: walug-unsubscribe@minkhollowsystems.com