National Instruments Xmath Interactive Control Design Module ICDM User Manual
Page 15
Chapter 1
Introduction
© National Instruments Corporation
1-5
Xmath Interactive Control Design Module
•
Have a user’s understanding of Xmath (enough to create a plant
transfer function).
•
Know the basics of how to interact with an Xmath GUI
application—for example, using a slider to set a parameter value, a
variable-edit box for typing in values, data-viewing, and plot zooming.
•
Know the basics of classical control system design (for SISO design)
and state-space design (for MIMO design).
An introduction to Xmath and a basic introduction to X Windows can be
found in the Xmath User Guide. There are several ways you can find out
about the basics of interacting with an Xmath GUI application:
•
Refer to Appendix A,
.
•
Enter
guidemo
in the Xmath Command window to start up the GUI
demo applications; this allows you to try out sliders, push buttons,
scrollbars, data-viewing, and so on.
After you have mastered the basic mechanics of using an Xmath GUI
application, you should be ready to get started.
To start up ICDM, enter
icdm
in the Xmath Command window:
Your window manager may require you to position a window that is created
using the left or middle mouse button. After the ICDM Main Window
appears, the Xmath command prompt will return. You now can use Xmath
and ICDM simultaneously.
The user interface for ICDM is designed to be intuitive; that is, things
mostly work the way you would assume that they should work, so you
should be able to start using ICDM immediately. NI recommends that you
read Chapter 2,
, before using the module.
ICDM includes a complete Help system. In the menu bar of every ICDM
window there is a Help menu. The Help messages contain detailed
descriptions of every feature and function of ICDM. You can get a good
overview of the features of ICDM by scanning the entries in the menu bars
and reading the Help messages in the various windows.
ICDM function reference material is available in the MATRIXx Help. Refer
to Chapter 2, MATRIXx Publications, Help, and Customer Support, of the
MATRIXx Getting Started Guide for additional instructions on using the
MATRIXx Help.