Data Acquisition Idea Exchange

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1U Rack Mount cDAQ

Hello,

How often you have build Labview applications using simulated DaqMx boards ...

And how often you were limited by the default behaviour of simulated boards ... ( Sinewave for analogic inputs, Counter square signal for digital inputs ... )

It would be nice to integrate in DaqMx simulated boards, the abilty to modify the default behaviour of simulated inputs ... thru dedicated popups

It would be nice, for each task linked to a simulated daqMx board, to launch a popup window ...

For digital input, give the abilty to modify for each configured channel , the current binary value.
For analog input, give the ability to choose between a fixed value, a sine wave, a square signal ... white noise ...
For digital output, give the ability to view the current setted values
For analog output, give the ability to view the current simulated output value on a waveform chart ...

A more powerfull tool could also integrate a simulated channels switching mechanism ... A simulated output could be linked to a simulated input

This feature could be a good way to create an application which could simulate a complete process ... this application could be used to validate a complete system

(such a kind of SIL architecture)

Other idea .... A complete daqMx simulation API ...

Creation of an API which could instanciate a simulated daqMx board (Wich could be seen via MAX)
- Takes place of the actual limited daqMx simulated board
This device could then be accessed by other application thru daqMx
This API could have access to all channels of this simulated device.
This API could force, programmatically, the value of the simulated input channels according to a realistic process model

Something like this ...

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Terminal Block layouts

NI Terminal block layout should be designed so that wiring can be done straight from terminal to wire trunking.

For example TBX-68 has 68 wire terminals aligned to inside of the terminal block. This causes that each wire should make tight curve to wire trunking. Another problem with TBX-68 is that wires are heavily overlapped because of the terminal alignment.

Also the cables from terminal block to DAQ device should be aligned to go directly to wire trunking (not straight up).

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Add LabVIEW events based on hardware

Hello,

I recently discovered that the SCXI-1600 is not supported in 64-bit Windows. From what NI has told me, it is possible for the hardware to be supported, but NI has chosen not to create a device driver for it.

I'm a bit perplexed by this position, since I have become accustomed to my NI hardware just working. It's not like NI to just abandon support for a piece of hardware like this -- especially one that is still for sale on their website.

Please vote if you have an SCXI-1600 and might want to use it in a 64-bit OS at some time in the future.

Thanks,

Doug

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I find myself quite often needing to modify the DaqMX tasks of chassis that aren't currently plugged into my system. I develope on a laptop, and then transfer the compiled programs to other machines. When the other machines are running the code and thus using the hardware I have to export my tasks and chassis, delete the live but unplugged chassis from my machine, then import the tasks and chassis back in generating the simulated chassis. When I'm finished with the task change and code update, to test it I have to export the tasks and chassis, plug in the chassis, and re-import to get a live chassis back.

Can it be made as simple as right clicking on a chassis and selecting 'simulated' from the menu to allow me to configure tasks without the hardware present?

Thanks,

Brian

Certified LabVIEW Developer

GE Appliances

Modern Upgrade for ExpressCard-8360

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As far as I'm aware there is no current way to export the quadrature conversion clock from an encoder task. It would be great to be able to export that signal to use for other things.

For example, you could use this signal to perform an analog acquisition each time your encoder passed a mark, giving you position vs. signal. This would be useful for something like a roughness tester where you drag a stylus across a sample and get roughness vs. position. Or a pressure sensor reading pressure versus crankshaft angle.

USB Counter Device

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As someone who migrated entire product lines from PLCs to cFieldPoint platforms, and now is in the process of migrating further into cRIO platforms, I am finding some cRIO module selection limitations. One big gap I see in the selection is with analog in/out modules. A set of 2-in / 2-out analog modules would be very welcome, offering standardized +/- 10V or 0-20mA ranges. There are a many times in our products that we need to process just a single analog signal, which now with cRIO requires 2 slots be used, with many unused inputs and outputs (which just feels like a waste of money and space).

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Dear NI, please consider a future hardware feature addition:

Add a "Power Up Delay DIP Switch" to the back of the PXI Power Supply Shuttle.

It would allow end users to reliably sequence the powering-up of multi PXI chassis solutions. It could also be handy to sequence any other boot-order sensitive equipment in the rack or subsystem. This would also be a world-voltage solution since this capability already exists in the power shuttle. We are seeing the need for more input-voltage-agnostic solutions. I'm sure you are too.

It might offer time delay choices of 1,2,4,8,16 seconds, etc.

We run into this problem on every multi-chassis integration. We have solved it several ways in the past like: human procedure (error prone), sequencing power strips ($$$ and not world-voltage capable), custom time-delay relays ($$$).

Imagine never having your downstream chassis(s) disappear. Or worse yet, having them show up in MAX, but act strangely because of not enough delay time between boots.

Thanks for reading this, and consider tossing me a Kudos!

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cDAQ Chassis with integrated PoE/PoE+

Having the ability to connected a cDAQ chassis to a PoE or PoE+ switch.

Then the cDAQ does not have to be powered locally.

Ethernet is throughout our facility the ability to drop a cDAQ chassis with sensors and not worrying about power would be helpful.

Currently I am using external hardware to power cDAQ chassis off of PoE+ switch, it would be nice if it was integrated.

One of my nodes includes 4-slot chassis with two CAN cards, a temperature card and an accelerator card.

Currently there are only two options for acquiring +/-60V input signals:

NI 9221: 8-Channel, ±60V, 12-Bit Analog Input Modules ($582)

NI 9229: 4-Channel, ±60 V, 24-Bit Simultaneous,Channel-to-Channel Isolated Analog Input Modules ($1427)

I would like to see a new module provided that is identical to the NI9205 (32-Channel Single-Ended, 16-Channel Differential, ±200 mV to ±10 V, 16-Bit Analog Input Module, $881) but with an input signal range of ±60 V.

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Dear NI Idea Exchange,

I had a service request recently where the customer wished to use a mass flow meter, using the HART protocol (massive industrial protocol used worldwide with over 30 million devices) to communicate updated values to a cRIO 9074 chassis using a NI 9208 module.

They did not know how they could use this protocol with our products. There was only one example online regarding use of this protocol using low level VISA functions. There is currently no real support for this protocol.

I suggested that if they wished to use this sensor they would be required to convert it to a protocol we do support, for example Modbus or to RS-232 (using a gateway/converter).

Then they could use low level VISA functions to allow the data communication.

They were fine with doing this but they felt that NI should probably support this protocol with an off-the-shelf adaptor or module. This is the main point of this idea exchange.

There is clearly a reason why we do not currently provide support for this protocol in comparison to PROFIBUS or Modbus.

I thought I would pass on this customer feedback as it seemed relevant to NI and our vision.

Regards,

Dominic Clarke

Applications Engineer

National Instruments UK

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Every n encoder pulses callback

It is a frequent requirement to make measurements on production lines. Position on these is often tracked with Rotary Encoders https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_encoder . Many NI devices can accept the quadrature pulse train from such a device, and correctly produce a current position count. The information in the 2 phase pulse train allows the counter to correctly track foward and reverse motion.

What would be very useful would be a callback in NI-DaqMX that is called after every n pulses, ideally with a flag to indicate whether the counter is higher or lower than the previous value, i.e. the direction.

This has recently been discussed on the multifunction DAQ board here: http://forums.ni.com/t5/Multifunction-DAQ/quadrature-encoder-based-triggering/td-p/3125468 . So I am not alone in requesting something more programmer friendly than the workaround offered there.

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Data Acquisition Idea Exchange

1U Rack Mount cDAQ

Interactive DaqMx simulation interface ... (Popup panels for simulated hardware) ... Or better, DaqMx Simulation API for process simulation ...

Terminal Block layouts

Add LabVIEW events based on hardware

Add support for SCXI-1600 in 64-bit Windows

Make it easy to change a chassis in MAX from a live chassis to a simulated chassis

Modern Upgrade for ExpressCard-8360

Allow export of "Quadrature conversion" signal

USB Counter Device

cRIO Analog In/Out Combination Modules

Add RSI Support to 9361 for Scan-Mode in EtherCAT 9144/5 Chassis

Add "Power Up Delay DIP Switch" to PXI Power Supply Shuttle

cDAQ Chassis with integrated PoE/PoE+

Create a new ±60 V version of the NI9205 C-Series Module

Support for Absolute Encoders in NI Motion or SoftMotion

SSI (synchronous serial interface) Bus Module or card

C Series HART (Highway Addressable Remote Transducer) Module/ HART Adapter

Develop a PCIe network card able to provide TSN sync

Every n encoder pulses callback

Digital/Counter Output Voltage Settings