Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Programming for 5

This week's episode is a bit different than the other ones. I did a joint episode with the VI Road Show which is a weekly video blog that I work on for National Instruments. The VI Road show is something we originally started about a year ago to showcase the lighter side of VI or virtual instrumentation. Virtual instrumentation is a method of making measurement systems by using computer boards and software instead of big, expensive boxed instruments like the kinds you might see at a doctors office.

This episode covers the LabVIEW program or virtual instrument I wrote for keeping track of feedings and other things. I wrote most of it in the airport on the way out to Phoenix. It was really fun to make even though we don't use it yet. The reality is that I probably don't have a computer that can withstand getting wet from occasional milk, water, or baby throw up accidents. The computers they used in the NICU are mounted above the babies and now I understand why. If you don't know what I am talking about, then I urge you to take a look at Rachelle's blog. Anyway, making the program was fun and, at the time, was a good way to occupy my mind while I was worrying about Rachelle having all those babies.

9 comments:

Career.Nanny said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Career.Nanny said...

Wow! You are seriously organized! I'm impressed. I know it makes things better, safer and more relaxed, but I've never seen it done so well. Excellent work once again Wilkinsons!

The Nanny said...

I am VERY impressed--you make it sound so easy to make that stuff & yet it's totally foreign to me! :-)

P.S. Those babies are CUTE!

ToddS said...

I want to learn more about this "LabVIEW" of which you speak. I believe you may be on to the next revolution in computer programming!

Cindy Price said...

Wow, that was totally amazing!! Didn't understand much of what you said, but looks like it is great program to keep organized!! You must be a genius!!!

The Dragonfly said...

J - watching you do a video is like getting to sneak in a quick episode of The Office . . . not everybody will catch the subtle humor - but it is definitely not lost on me! Love it.

Paul said...

The next step, of course, is to barcode each one, which should reduce your data entry time when it comes to update them! :-) Better yet, RFID!

Helena said...

I don't know exactly how I stumbled across your blog, but I did. I'm thisclose to graduating with my Mechanical Engineering degree, and I spent a week during a summer session learning LabVIEW. I'm ultimately convinced it is of the dark side, but it looks like you've done something cool with it!

Anonymous said...

Hey there, love your website and especially the video. Your family is lovely!

On a nanny board I came across this product....

I also shared with them your program :) Very neat.
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