NI CompactRIO Control and Acquisition System
The National Instruments CompactRIO programmable automation controller is an advanced embedded control and data acquisition system designed for applications that require high performance and reliability. With the system's open, embedded architecture, small size, extreme ruggedness, and flexibility, engineers and embedded developers can use COTS hardware to quickly build custom embedded systems. NI CompactRIO is powered by National Instruments LabVIEW FPGA and LabVIEW Real-Time technologies, giving engineers the ability to design, program, and customize the CompactRIO embedded system with easy-to-use graphical programming tools. CompactRIO combines an embedded real-time processor, a high-performance FPGA, and hot-swappable I/O modules. Each I/O module is connected directly to the FPGA, providing low-level customization of timing and I/O signal processing. The FPGA is connected to the embedded real-time processor via a high-speed PCI bus. This represents a low-cost architecture with open access to low-level hardware resources. LabVIEW contains built-in data transfer mechanisms to pass data from the I/O modules to the FPGA and also from the FPGA to the embedded processor for real-time analysis, postprocessing, data logging, or communication to a networked host computer. 
C Series I/O ModulesA variety of I/O types are available including voltage, current, thermocouple, RTD, accelerometer, and strain gauge inputs; up to ±60 V simultaneous-sampling analog I/O; 12, 24, and 48 V industrial digital I/O; 5 V/TTL digital I/O; counter/timers; pulse generation; and high voltage/current relays. Because the modules contain built-in signal conditioning for extended voltage ranges or industrial signal types, you can usually connect wires directly from the C Series modules to your sensors and actuators. FPGAThe embedded FPGA is a high-performance, reconfigurable chip that engineers can program with LabVIEW FPGA tools. Traditionally, FPGA designers were forced to learn and use complex design languages such as VHDL to program FPGAs. Now, any engineer or scientist can use graphical LabVIEW tools to program and customize FPGAs. Using the FPGA hardware embedded in CompactRIO, you can implement custom timing, triggering, synchronization, control, and signal processing for your analog and digital I/O. Real-Time ProcessorThe CompactRIO embedded system features an industrial 400 MHz Freescale MPC5200 processor that deterministically executes your LabVIEW Real-Time applications on the reliable Wind River VxWorks real-time operating system. LabVIEW has built-in functions for transferring data between the FPGA and the real-time processor within the CompactRIO embedded system. Choose from more than 600 built-in LabVIEW functions to build your multithreaded embedded system for real-time control, analysis, data logging, and communication. You can also integrate existing C/C++ code with LabVIEW Real-Time code to save on development time. Size and WeightSize, weight, and I/O channel density are critical design requirements in many embedded applications. A four-slot reconfigurable embedded system measures 179.6 by 88.1 by 88.1 mm (7.07 by 3.47 by 3.47 in.) and weighs just 1.58 kg (3.47 lb). Application ExamplesWith the low cost and reliability of CompactRIO, as well as its suitability for high-volume embedded measurement and control applications, you can adapt it to solve a wide variety of industry and application challenges. Examples include:
The CompactRIO platform is available in three configurations:
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The reconfigurable embedded system comes in two configurations: modular, and integrated. In the modular configuration, the embedded controller chassis containing the FPGA are sold separately. The modular configuration provides the most flexibility in system configuration and performance selection. The integrated configuration combines the controller and chassis containing the FPGA in a single unit. This configuration provides a high level of system performance and is ideal for high volume applications.
