National Instruments Introduces New
Ethernet Data Acquisition Platform
New NI CompactDAQ System Delivers High-Speed, Distributed
Sensor Measurements
NEWS RELEASE Aug. 3, 2010 National Instruments today
announced the new Ethernet-based NI CompactDAQ modular data
acquisition system, which combines the ease of use and low cost of
a data logger with the performance and flexibility of modular
instrumentation. The new NI
cDAQ-9188 chassis is designed to hold eight I/O modules
for measuring up to 256 channels of electrical, physical,
mechanical or acoustic signals in a small (25 by 9 by 9 cm), rugged
form factor. With more than 50 different I/O modules to choose
from, engineers and scientists can build remote or distributed,
high-speed measurement systems using standard Gigabit Ethernet
infrastructure. In addition, NI CompactDAQ simplifies initial setup
with zero configuration networking technology and a built-in,
Web-based configuration and monitoring utility.
We chose NI CompactDAQ because of the flexibility offered by a
diverse set of I/O modules and the scalability of Ethernet
infrastructure, said Randy Recob, senior test engineer at Sub-Zero,
Inc. The flexibility of Ethernet allows us to more easily
standardize our test systems by eliminating many of the physical
constraints required by more traditional PC interfaces. We have
used National Instruments data acquisition hardware and software in
our test applications for years because of the measurement
accuracy, system stability, and ease of use available with their
solution.
NI CompactDAQ uses patented NI Signal Streaming technology to
deliver high-bandwidth data over Ethernet to a host computer. NI
Signal Streaming provides the ability to maintain bidirectional
analog and digital waveforms continuously over a TCP/IP connection.
With NI-STC3 timing and synchronization technology, each chassis
also can manage up to seven separate hardware-timed I/O tasks at
different sample rates, including analog I/O, digital I/O and
counter/timer operations. The chassis operate in a temperature
range of -20 to 55 degrees Celsius and can withstand up to 30 g
shock and 3 g vibration, making NI CompactDAQ ideal for demanding
test applications on the benchtop, in the field or on the
production line.
In addition to the Ethernet chassis, the NI CompactDAQ platform
includes a four- and an eight-slot USB chassis and NI C Series I/O
modules. NI offers more than 50 C Series modules to use
interchangeably in NI CompactDAQ systems, each of which is
hot-swappable and auto-detectable for simplified setup. C Series
modules offer integrated signal conditioning and multiple
connectivity options to create custom, mixed-measurement systems
specific to the needs of an application. A single analog input
module, for example, can acquire up to four channels of
simultaneous 1 MS/s voltage inputs for measuring high-speed signals
such as ballistic pressure or ultrasonic transducers.
NI-DAQmx driver software, which is included with NI CompactDAQ,
goes beyond a basic device driver to deliver increased productivity
and performance. With NI-DAQmx, engineers and scientists can log
data for simple experiments or develop a complete test system in NI
LabVIEW, NI
LabWindows"/CVI, ANSI C/C++ or Microsoft Visual Studio
.NET. Furthermore, a consistent API means that an application
developed for an NI CompactDAQ USB chassis will work with an NI
CompactDAQ Ethernet chassis without any changes to software.
Programming NI CompactDAQ with LabVIEW delivers the most
performance for the least effort. LabVIEW graphical programming
makes it possible for engineers and scientists to develop
sophisticated measurement, test and control systems using intuitive
graphical icons and wires that resemble a flowchart. The multiple
timing engines featured on NI CompactDAQ chassis complement the
multicore optimizations in LabVIEW to make programming multiple
measurement tasks in parallel easy. LabVIEW also offers integration
with thousands of other hardware devices and provides hundreds of
built-in libraries for advanced analysis and data
visualization.
For more information about the new NI CompactDAQ Ethernet data
acquisition system, readers can visit www.ni.com/new_compactdaq.
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