LabVIEW FPGA, RIO Technology Speed Biotech Development

Applied Biosystems designs and builds analytical instruments for research in areas such as drug development and genomics. One such instrument currently under development includes a 2D scanner that moves a camera over 96 wells containing samples of biological material. The machine rapidly and precisely positions the camera over each well and takes a snapshot. While developing this instrument, we ran into some challenges that we needed to overcome quickly.

One problem we faced involved a malfunction in the autofocus feature. The camera was supposed to continually adjust as the distance from the sample changed, but the controller did not perform to the manufacturer's specifications. We connected the NI PXI-7831R directly to the encoders and measured the motion profile to calculate speeds. Using LabVIEW FPGA and the R Series reconfiguration I/O board, we quickly demonstrated the problem to the controller manufacturer and received a fix.

In addition, sometimes images from the camera appeared smeared. We again measured motion profiles from the encoders, but also recorded the camera control signals synchronously with the encoder signals. By analyzing the velocity and acceleration of the camera along with the synchronized camera signals, we quickly determined why the camera would not decelerate properly and fixed the problem.

With no prior experience with NI LabVIEW FPGA, we were able to configure the NI PXI-7831R in two days and come up with a solution to our problems.