Using NI`s LabVIEW and NI ELVIS for research on nanomaterials

In the last few years scientists and engineers have emphasized their study on the development of nanomaterials and their applications in different fields. The electronic and mechanical instruments are a fundamental problem for many engineers and scientists, working on nanomaterials. The most recent developments in microscopy are the scanning tunneling microscope and the atomic force microscope. But some knowledge of the properties of this materials can be obtained from quite simple devices, based on electronic sensors, actuators and controlled by some popular program. The paper describes development of computer controlled electronic instruments for research on the field of materials used in nanotechnology. The instruments are designed as low cost, with several possibilities for educational tasks of programming, signal analyses or control systems. The paper describes mechanical design, electrical design and software design. The main features of the work is that electronic realization of the tasks is based on educational platform of National Instruments NI ELVIS¿ and for programming and visualization LabVIEW¿ is used.