Previous Rain Gauge Project Report
Contents
1. gt Rainlogger 1 RF Unit inches DATE TIME RATE 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 06 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 01 05 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 35 0 00 lt Clock set gt 09 28 08 18 52 0 00 09 28 08 18 54 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 lt Clock set gt 09 28 08 19 05 0 00 09 28 08 20 00 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 06 0 00 lt Clock set gt 10 01 08 16 57 0 00 10 01 08 18 01 0 06 10 01 08 18 02 0 02 10 01 08 18 11 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 04 06 94 00 00 0 00 lt Clock set gt 10 01 08 18 12 0 00 10 01 08 18 12 0 00 lt SYSTEM POWERED DOWN gt TOTAL 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 06 0 08 0 08 0 08 0 08 0 08 0 08 Figure 3 Output of stored data full form 5 User Manual Previous knowledge required It is assumed throughout this manual that you already have a basic understanding o2. Electronic Recording Rain Precipitation Gauge Yamily Veloz Bradd Konert CDA 4170 Data Acquisition and Control Systems Florida Gulf Coast University Professor Janusz Zalewski April 23 2009 1 Introduction The RainWise rain precipitation gauge is an in the field data acquisition device which can be placed at a remote location to measure rainfall totals and later retrieved to extract the recorded data This data can then be used in a variety of different applications such as meteorological studies and irrigation system analysis Problem Description The purpose of this project is to use LabView and its included VI s to extract the data from the RainWise rain precipitation gauge that has already been acquired in the field Due to the nature of the rain precipitation gauge we are unable to implement a real time application but instead we must focus on displaying the data which has already been recorded Our goal is to replicate and enhance the logger reading software that is included with the RainWise rain precipitation gauge The included logger reading software is limited in that it lacks a graphical user interface and is strictly command line driven This command line format does not lend itself to user friendliness Rainfall and power cable Serial to USB Figure 1 Physical Diagram of the System 3 Proposed Solution As previously stated we look to use LabView to replicate and enhance the included logge
3. atulations You have run your first RainWise rain gauge LabView run Now are you ready to design your own LabView application What s that Of course you are ready Let s Go 1 Open LabView 2 On the top menu bar click on Help gt Find Examples 3 In the search type Serial read 4 From the results double click on Basic Serial Read Write 1 5 This will open a VI that is designed for basic serial communication perfect for the rain gauge Refer to Figure 10 Fr Basic Serial Write and Read vi Front Panel Fie Edit View Project Operate Tools Window Help EH Select the serial resource and the operations Read Write or both ta be performed If both are selected the VI will write the data first read data and then close the YISA session that is opened to the port This I will wait until the specified number of bytes is received at the port Only the number of bytes specified will be read For additional information select File gt gt VI Properties gt gt Documentation IDN rin Figure 10 Basic Serial Write and Read example 6 Choose the appropriate settings for the rain gauge Figure 10 Baud Rate is 2400 and everything else should be pretty standard besides the COM port selection This will change based on the port that the rain gauge is plugged into Refer to Figure 10 To find the com number right click on My Computer in Windows and select Manage From there open the Device Manager and expand Por
4. data from the rain gauge Reading data from the Rain Gauge Good news is you do not need a driver for the rain gauge as it uses basic serial communication Although the commands below are already programmed into the LABVIEW application included with this manual it is good to know the command line letters so that you may rewrite the application if you wish Command Function Initiate communication with rain gauge Rain gauge will respond with a gt signaling it is ready for the next command This is needed before each and every command D Dump current data Uploads the current date time and total rainfall C Clears RAM M Toggle measurement units Responds with 00 for inches or 01 for millimeters after the setting is changed note the data logger does not provide a command to retrieve the units without toggling it O Outputs data in the full form Data from all recording intervals is uploaded S Outputs data in the short format Only data from recording intervals where rainfall was recorded is uploaded ie Outputs the logging interval in minutes 01 02 05 10 20 30 or 60 I Increments the data logging interval Uploads the new interval after being incremented K Sets the logger s date in the format YYMMDDHHmm year month day hour in the 24 hour format and minute respectively followed by a carriage return To work with the LabView application includ
5. ed with this manual follow the following steps 0 It is assumed you already followed the steps above in hooking up the rain gauge to the computer 1 Double click on the RainGauge vi file on a computer that already has LabView installed Refer to the image below 2 Once the application opens choose the appropriate port name for which the rain gauge is connected To find the com number right click on My Computer in Windows and select Manage From there open the Device Manager and expand Ports Under it it should tell you the COM numbers for various devices Most likely the one assigned to the rain gauge will be named Communication this is what is needed for step 2 above 3 Now click on the run button in LabView to run the application 4 From the list of radio buttons choose the operation you wish to perform NOTE It is best if you start with Short Form Data Output Using Clear Data Ram is not suggested at this point Refer to the images below for expected or similar output in each of the cases Figure 5 Dump current data f P rainG Figure 6 Clear data RAM Figure 7 Toggle metric unit setting rainGauge3s i alelu come Bal x Figure 8 Output stored data short form rainGauge3 vi EI stor Figure 9 Output stored data full form 5 Stop the application whenever you have finished the experiment Building your own rain gauge reader Congr
6. f LabView and that you have read through chapters and 2 of the LabView book In addition it assumed that you are a computer science major and that you have a basic understanding of terms such as serial port USB and command line It is also assumed that you have LabView 8 2 or higher installed on your Windows machine Hooking up and understanding the rain gauge The rain gauge comes with a data logger box which connects to the rain gauge itself as shown in Figure 4 In order for the rain gauge to work this data logger must be connected to the rain gauge and have power applied to it The data logger has the option of two different power sources a battery for when it is out in the field and an AC adapter when it is inside III MLL Recording Rain Gauge Figure 4 RainWise rain gauge first and logger middle and right To start working with your rain gauge 1 Plug the AC adapter into the wall and plug the other end into the back of the data logger marked Power 2 Plug the plug from the rain gauge in the back of the data logger marked Rainfall 3 Finally plug the serial port cable into the front of the data logger marked Serial Port and connect it to the PC 4 Most likely you will need a serial to USB converter if you do not have an older PC or a newer PC with legacy ports This is not provided with the rain gauge 5 Now that you have it hooked up to the computer you are ready to start reading
7. r reading software which is strictly command line driven To overcome this limitation we look to develop a graphical user interface through LabView LabView is a perfect candidate for this problem as it heavily favors a graphical structure 4 Implementation We are using LabView to implement the logger reading software The logger communicates with the computer via traditional serial connection RS 232 This is beneficial as LabView supports serial communication rather easily through the VISA component We have been able to modify one example 2 in particular to effectively communicate with our rain precipitation gauge This has been quite encouraging as we have essentially replicated the logger reading software that is included with the rain precipitation gauge however as we stated in our proposed solution our goal is not to simply replicate the included software but rather to replicate and enhance Refer to figure 2 for a screen shot of the application we have developed to communicate with the logger attached to the rain precipitation gauge By selecting one of the radio buttons a command is sent to the logger refer to the user manual for a list of commands Depending on the command the information is displayed in the read window rainGauge3 vi Eile Edit view Project Operate Tools Window Help Figure 2 Application to communicate with the RainWise rain gauge SAMPLE OUTPUT Output stored data full form was selected
8. ter every write and read Hint you will need to add a loop to the underlying structure 6 Conclusion The RainWise rain precipitation gauge can be used in a variety of different applications such as meteorological studies and irrigation system analysis The newer versions of the rain gauge make it even easier to collect and get data with a wireless version also They meet NWS specifications for statistical accuracy 7 References 1 WeatherLog Weather Monitoring System Electronic Recording Rain Precipitation Gauge RainWise Inc User Manual Maine 1994 2 Basic Serial Write and Read vi LabView 8 6 example
9. ts Under it it should tell you the COM numbers for various devices Most likely the one assigned to the rain gauge will be named Communication 7 In the Write text box write D No that is not a smiley face that is a colon and a D This tells the rain logger to dump the current rain fall data 8 Run the application in LabView 9 Once the program runs you will have the response from the rain gauge in the read box File Edit View Project Operate Tools Window Hep ET A Select the serial resource and the operations Read Write or both to be performed If both are selected the VI will write the data first read data and then close the VISA session that is opened to the port This VI will wait until the specified number of bytes is received at the port Only the number of bytes specified will be read For additional information select File gt gt VI Properties gt gt Documentation NATIONAL SB INSTRUMENTS PICTAT Ct dant Clan TITE E p A LASTIG TLT a ELE LETA Figure 11 Current data displayed after issuing command 10 That s all Exercises 1 Modify the steps above to output the rain fall data in short form Hint you will need to look at the command table on page 2 Also you will need to change the delay to something greater than 500ms as it takes longer for the rain gauge to respond to this command Feeling brave Attempt to make it so that the serial read write application does not stop af
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search