Peer Reviewed Journal via three different mandatory reviewing processes, since 2006, and, from September 2020, a fourth mandatory peer-editing has been added.
In this paper, three different web-based LabVIEW control structures are designed, LabVIEW to LabVIEW control, LabVIEW to web browser control through CGI, and LabVIEW to web browser control through ActiveX + DataSocket. These three different web-based control structures are implemented and compared on an actual three-tank system. The objective is to enable the remote users to run the two pre-designed experiments through Internet in real time. The remote users should also be able to specify the control parameters for the experiments, watching the live video of the water height during the experiment, and getting data after the experiment to study control subjects. All three structures realize the web-based control concept under certain conditions. The live video broadcasting setup is the same for these three structures, and therefore they deliver the similar live video playback performance. Except the live video, these three structures differ very much. In terms of the data acquisition and control performance, the CGI method delivers the best performance with the shortest data acquisition period. In terms of the data communication, both LabVIEW to LabVIEW and ActiveX + DataSocket structures enable live data transfer. While LabVIEW to web browser through CGI structure can only enable the users to download the data file after experiment finishes. In terms of the implementation in real life, CGI has the widest user group. Everyone who has a web browser can have access to the web-based experiments through CGI. LabVIEW to LabVIEW control requires that the remote users have some knowledge about LabVIEW and have LabVIEW version 4.1 or above installed in his/her computer. The application area of LabVIEW to web browser control through ActiveX + DataSocket is very limited because ActiveX is a double-edged technology on Internet. In short, LabVIEW to web browser control through CGI delivers the best performance overall among these three different web-based control structures.
