Introduction

oskar [1] is a collection of tools written using LabVIEW 2013 [2]. It is designed to assist in coordinating hardware control and to provide a framework for acquired data using HDF5 Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) [3]. Essentially, it is a tool for running experiments. It was designed with a focus on: extensibility (it should be reasonably easy to add new control/ DAQ hardware); on sensibly structuring acquired data; and explicitly pairing data with the metadata (attributes) needed to describe it.

The code was written by Adam Deller at University College London for experiments in laser spectroscopy of positronium. Some features are conceptually based on a program he developed at Swansea University (openseq), which was originally inspired by a similar system invented by Aled Isaac. Many of the features of openseq were hashed out with feedback and help from Tim Mortensen. Much of the testing of oskar was done by Ben Cooper and Alberto Munoz Alonso. HDF5 support is provided by the h5labview library developed by Martijn Jasperse.

To make use of oskar some experience writing in G (Labview code) is essential. The project is useless without control hardware and data acquisition devices, however, no drivers have been included. You will need to interface any drivers with oskar yourself. This is by design a fairly simple process and examples are included. In the data acquisition examples crudely simulated oscilloscopes and cameras are used. Once you have successfully interfaced the drivers you need, sequencer.vi solves the problem of covering large parameter spaces systematically and flexibly. There is very little going on under the hood (see section~\ref{sex:seq} for an overview, or appendix~\ref{sex:pseudo} for a simplistic pseudo-code version), nonetheless, you will need a decent grasp of LabVIEW to be able to inspect the code and modify it to suit your needs.

Also, please bear-in-mind that I am not a professional LabVIEW developer and none of the VIs are necessarily examples of good coding practice. Though I've found oskar is generally very stable and easy to use (once you know the basics), be sure to test everything thoroughly for yourself and be vigilant for unexpected behaviour!

1. Tenuous acronym: Orchestrate Sequences. Keep Attribute Record
2. LabVIEW is a registered trademark of National Instruments
3. HDF is a trademark of the HDF group