Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is always under development. If your question is not listed here, please check the documentation, below,
and/or
contact us.
Module Users
- Q. I'm not sure if the experiment is actually working.
A. Experiments are checked at least every hour.
The experiments were working as of:
(Eastern Time).
If this was more than one hour ago, then
the experiments will probably not work until they are reset.
Please contact Henri Gavin:
Henri.Gavin@Duke.edu
- Q. The video does not appear, or I get a "request denied" message.
A. Close the video display page, and click the 'View Live Video' button again. The video usually appears with the second try.
Running a WEAVE simulation while viewing the live video can over-load browsers on processors slower than 1 MHz. If your processor is slower than 1 MHz, try reducing the size of the video image by clicking on the (1/2) button on the video display page. If this does not help, then
you may have difficulty in viewing live video on your computer.
- Q. When I run the Gantry Crane Physical Experiment, it looks like the crane didn't move at all.
A. Try to run the module again. The module usually works with the second try.
Module Developers
- Q. My Matlab-based module does not execute, and instead a "Matlab error" message is displayed.
A. When developing a Matlab-based module, use the WEAVE file input/output protocol, and run the program first on your own computer.
To get started, use a Matlab example below as a template.
If your trial input file matches the WEAVE specification, and your program generates an output file matching
the WEAVE interactive plotting specification, then you should be able to upload it to the WEAVE system with confidence.
- Q. My axis webcam can only be viewed from the local area network.
A. Click on Setup and select Users.
Check the box to Enable anonymous viewer login.
Change the maximum number of simultaneous viewers to 20.
- Q. Samba isn't working for my remote experiment or executeable.
A. See the module developer guide, and section 6 of the WEAVE installation guides below. Also see the questions below for WEAVE Administrators.
WEAVE Administrators
- Q. The real-time data acquisition computer hangs after the Netbind command when starting up.
A. Re- boot the computer until the startup gets past that point.
- Q. The real-time data acquisition computer says the ifshlp.sys driver is not loaded.
A. Locate the IFSHLP.SYS driver in your MSClient directory.
Edit config.sys to load the driver.
DEVICE=C:\NET\IFSHLP.SYS
Substitute your directory if you are not using the NET directory.
- Q. I can't create a shared drive on the real-time data acquisition computer.
A. Check if the samba server's firewall is active. If it is, stop it.
/sbin/service iptables stop
or
/sbin/service ipchains stop.
Make sure the workgroup names match on all the networked computers.
On the samba server, check the /etc/samba/smb.conf file for the workgroup name.
Also check rc3.d/S91.smb to make sure samba is using the correct /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
Use the hostname command to verify the name of the samba server.
Check the /etc/hosts file to make sure the name of the computer corresponds to the correct IP address.
On the real-time data acquisition computer, check the workgroup name in MSClient.
Check CONFIG.SYS for the line: LASTDRIVE=Z
If there is some other letter instead of Z, change it to Z so that more drives can be named.
- Q. I can't create a shared drive on the Windows 2000 computer.
A. On the Windows 2000 computer, right-click on "My Computer" and select "Properties".
Go to the "Network Identification" tab and click on "Properties".
Check the workgroup name.
- Q. Weavedap will not run on the real-time data acquisition computer.
A. Check if the base addresses have changed for your data acquisition card.
Use a program like
PCI Sniffer
to check the base address of your data acquisition hardware.
This FAQ is always under development. If your question is not listed above, please check the documentation, below,
and/or
contact us.
Documentation
These guides are in PDF format.
You will need
Adobe reader to view them.
Example Module Source Code - for Module Developers
The following are examples of the kinds of source codes that have been developed for WEAVE modules.
The code linked here is intended to serve as examples, primarily
for those wishing to develop Matlab code for numerical simulations. To get started, look at these three
Matlab functions: projectile.m, projectile_air.m,
and ode4.m. The function projectile.m is
throughly commented and illustrates how to use the WEAVE file input/output protocol, and how to write output files
for (x,y) plots, and for Java animation. A more detailed example of Matlab source for WEAVE numerical simulations (for the Gantry Crane module) is given in the set of Matlab functions:
crane_sim.m,
crane_sys.m,
ode4.m, and
lsim.m.
Detailed information on the data acquisition and real-time control software is available
here. Full versions of all source code
will be available on the WEAVE installation CD.
| Source File | Description | Language |
|---|
| lsim.m | transient linear-time-invariant dynamical system simulation | Matlab source |
| ode4.m | general purpose Runge-Kutta o.d.e. solver | Matlab source |
| projectile.m | projectile motion simulation | Matlab source |
| projectile_air.m | projectile motion system with air resistance | Matlab source |
| crane_sim.m | gantry crane numerical simulation driver | Matlab source |
| crane_sys.m | gantry crane numerical simulation system | Matlab source |
| cjd9.m | tuned vibration absorber | Matlab Data Aquisition source |
| odetest.c | transient linear-time-invariant dynamical system simulation | C source |
| fctn_gen.c | transient excitation for building vibration simulation | C source |
| Weavedap.c | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | C source for driver |
| DAS16.H | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | C headers |
| PCIDAS16.C | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | C source utility |
| DAP1.CFG | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | configuration |
| DAP1.SNS | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | sensor data |
| notify.c | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | C source for data aquisition notification |
| MONITOR.C | data acquisition and deterministic real-time control | C source for data acquisition monitor |