Circuit Analysis with LabVIEW I

This is the first of a series of circuit simulations that we'll do with LabVIEW. Apart from practicing with LabVIEW you'll learn about computer simulation as an Engineering tool and how computers ultimately work. Here you are simulating a real simple circuit by telling the computer how to calculate the current when a voltage and a resistance are known, by writing a program, in graphical language using LabVIEW. Alternatively you can write a program in non-graphical languages like C, C++, Fortran, etc.

According to Ohm's Law, I=V/R. You program this statement by interconnecting graphical icons in the Block Diagram. Once the terminals and nodes are wired, you can change the inputs (battery voltage and resistance) in the front panel and run the VI to obtain immediately the current running through the circuit. You can repeat this process any time you want. This is what computers ultimately do. They will save you time when the circuit is complicated, as you will see.