Custom Instrument Tutorial - Accessing the Instrument Panel

Now the design has been programmed into the physical FPGA device, we can finally access the customized GUI we created for the instrument in real-time. This is the exciting final part of our tutorial – the part where we get to 'play' with the fruits of our labor!

1. In the Devices view, notice that the customized icon for our instrument has appeared in the Soft Devices JTAG chain, which only gets presented in the view once the design is programmed into the physical FPGA device. The status of the instrument should appear as 'Running'.
    
2. Double-click on the icon for the Custom Instrument. The associated instrument panel – our custom GUI – will appear in the Instrument Rack - Soft Devices panel.
    
   
   Figure 1. Accessing our customized GUI.  
3. Turn various switches associated to the Desktop NanoBoard's DIP-Switch ON and OFF and observe that the same value is reflected in the various monitoring controls that we added and defined for the panel:
   • The Gauge
   • The Progress Bars
   • The LEDs Panel
   • The LED Digits
   • The Graph.
      
     
     Figure 2. Monitoring the input value from the DIP-switch.  
4. Use the Numeric Panel control and click to toggle bits ON and OFF. Observe that the corresponding LEDs on the Desktop NanoBoard will toggle in their lit status accordingly.
    
5. Set the lower nibble of the Numeric Panel control to '1111', causing User LEDs 3..0 to become lit on the NanoBoard.
    
6. Momentarily press the 'DAUGHTER BD TEST/RESET' button on the NanoBoard. Observe that:
   • User LEDs 3..0 switch OFF
   • The associated hardware override message appears on the instrument panel
   • The LED on the instrument panel used to monitor the state of the 'DAUGHTER BD TEST/RESET' button becomes lit.
      
     
     Figure 3. Invoking the hardware override.  
7. Now press the SOFTWARE OVERRIDE button on the instrument panel. Observe that:
   • User LEDs 3..0 switch OFF again
   • The associated software override message appears on the instrument panel.
      
     
     Figure 4. Invoking the software override.  
8. Click on the SOFTWARE OVERRIDE button again to disengage the override and observe the User LEDS 3..0 become lit again.

That concludes this tutorial. We have only really scratched the surface with respect to the functionality and power that the Custom Instrument has to offer. Now, armed with a basic understanding of its use, you can embark on more complex designs, confident in the knowledge that this fully customizable instrument delivers the required 'grunt' to facilitate your digital IO monitoring and control requirements.