SDS has implemented a wide variety of projects which reflect the diverse nature of our ability to deliver solid software systems in many areas of applied science.

► Real-Time PID Control

SDS has implemented hydraulic servo valve control systems using LabVIEW RT under closed-loop PID control operating at multi-kHz rates.  In addition to the core control algorithms, the systems utilize numerous analog and digital I/O signals which are used for diagnostics, safety checks, and performance monitoring.  The LabVIEW RT architecture allows the Real-Time Controller to be located away from the Host Controller--this is especially useful in situations where safety or facility layout issues require physical separation between system equipment and human operators.

► Motion Control

System Design Sciences has extensive experience with numerous motion control systems including servo and stepper motor solutions with vendors such as Elmo, Galil, National Instruments, and Animatics. We are capable of performing motor PID tuning for optimizing the performance of your system. Some of the motion concepts that we have programmed are as follows:

• Linked data acquisition and motion control in PXI systems.

• Assembly code downloaded to motion control card for high performance systems.

• Multi-axis systems with gearing and motion profiles.

► Configuration Management

SDS has developed robust software configuration management (SCM) processes using Perforce and CVS systems. Our methods and tools for configuration management are applicable to any software project and provide the following benefits:

• Continuous recorded history of software development -- any version of software can be reproduced with little effort and any version can be used as a baseline for development of new branches.

• Management of system configurations -- hardware and software parameters are tracked over time, and differences between subsystems are captured and maintained (for example, hardware-specific parameters of multiple machines).

• Detailed defect tracking -- a recorded history is maintained for the identification and resolution of specific problems.

• Support for multiple developers -- our SCM techniques automatically arbitrate software development between many developers and across many software versions.

• System test and verification results -- our configuration management tools are applied to verification and test stages of system development to provide detailed recorded histories of system performance and operational status of specific system revisions.

• SDS utilizes CVSDude for web-based CVS hosting to provide high-availability and secure access to project repositories:
  

  

► Electronic Circuit Board Design

SDS has designed and manufactured multiple custom printed circuit boards, many of which can be applied to generic applications. By way of example, our company has developed a "motherboard" for the Rabbit Semiconductor RCM4200 embedded module. The RCM4200 itself provides a wealth of peripheral support: Ethernet, general purpose I/O, timers, interrupts, quadrature decoders, serial (I2C, RS232, SPI, etc.), and analog-to-digital. Our custom PCB enables the RCM4200 to be used in automation, robotics, and industrial environments by providing the necessary signal translation and communication transceiver hardware. Namely, our "MFI-RCM4200" PCB provides: two TTL-level quadrature decoder channels, eight analog-to-digital channels (with support for noise-immune 4-20mA signals with an integrated, customizable low-pass filter), two RS-232C channels, eight TTL-compatible digital inputs, and eight digital outputs capable of sinking or sourcing 2.5amps (each) through opto-isolated relays. This PCB is a compact solution for many automation arenas:

► Imaging and Vision

We have extensive vision experience at SDS. We have implemented complicated algorithms such as Region-of-Interest selection and feature identification using the NI Vision Toolkit in several applications. We have provided custom applications for IEEE 1394 cameras as well as high speed digital applications.

► Environmental Control

One of our environmental control applications employs a PC-based data acquisition and control system using NI LabVIEW and NI DAQ hardware to control an environmental test chamber. This system utilizes an NI6220 multifunction I/O PCI card in conjunction with an NI SCB-68 terminal block, which includes a built-in cold-junction compensation (CJC) circuit. The system is capable of monitoring 16 analog input channels and controlling or monitoring 24 digital input/output channels. In this particular application, the analog inputs are monitoring multiple temperature and humidity sensors, while the digital control signals are in charge of commanding various HVAC equipment such as heaters, air conditioners, humidifiers, fans, heat lamps, etc. The core logic of the software functionality applies certain actions based on a set of conditions that reflect the state of the environmental chamber. These conditional actions compare analog input signals to other analog inputs and/or time and/or numeric thresholds and then command digital output signals based on the logical evaluation of the conditions. The application supports user-customized data logging, data acquisition parameters (analog filtering, sample rate), and fully configurable DAQ channel setup. Below is an example snapshot from this application: