NI News from National Instruments Your Global, Customized Source for Company and Product News, Events, and Support Top Stories -------------------------------------------- NI Releases Industry’s Most Accurate PXI Multimeter http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305aT1 Interactively Design Digital Filters with LabVIEW Toolkit http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305aT2 In This Issue -------------------------------------------- Company and Product News-- 1. NI-MCal Calibration Methodology Improves Measurement Accuracy 2. Try LabVIEW Graphical Development Platform Online 3. Advanced Auto Pumper Controls Oil-Well Fracturing 4. ABCO Automation Integrates NI PACs with Allen-Bradey PLCs 5. Five Components to Consider When Building a DAQ System 6. See Online Demo of USB DAQ and Sensors Plug&Play 7. NI High-Power Switch Modules Increase PXI Capability 8. Join New Discussion Forums on LabVIEW Zone 9. Tutorial: Using LabWindows/CVI with LabVIEW Real-Time 10. NI Vision Debuts New Geometry-Based Matching Tool Events-- 1. Register Early to Attend NIWeek 2005 and Save 2. Automating Analog and Digital Measurements Using LabVIEW 7.1 3. Why Should I Care About XML vs. Binary vs. ASCII? 4. Gain a Technical Overview of PCI Express 5. Accelerating Part Evaluation and Prototype Development Support-- 1. Comparing LabVIEW Filters 2. Architecting Distributed Systems with NI Software 3. Understanding NI PXI-4071 7½-Digit FlexDMM Architecture 4. Letter of Volatility for DSA Devices 5. Programming Data Acquisition for Linux with NI-DAQmx Base 6. Tutorial: Digital Waveform Timing 7. Build a Bluetooth-Enabled PDA Digital Multimeter 8. NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras 9. Tutorial: Quadrature Encoder Velocity and Acceleration Estimation Company and Product News -------------------------------------------- 1. NI-MCal Calibration Methodology Improves Measurement Accuracy National Instruments M Series data acquisition devices dramatically improve measurement accuracy with NI-MCal, a software-based calibration algorithm that generates a third-order polynomial to correct for the three sources of voltage measurement error -- offset, gain, and nonlinearity. Learn how you can optimize every selectable range with this new methodology. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a01 2. Try LabVIEW Graphical Development Platform Online On ni.com, you can evaluate NI LabVIEW in a simple, three-step process -- a guided tour to introduce you to the software; feature demos to show you how LabVIEW revolutionizes test, measurement, and control applications; and an online evaluation so you can test-drive the complete LabVIEW 7.1 Professional Edition. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a02 3. Advanced Auto Pumper Controls Oil-Well Fracturing Select National Instruments Alliance Partner Advanced Measurements and leading oil field equipment manufacturer Crown Energy Technologies recently introduced Auto Pumper, a system that controls the flow of high-pressure slurry through six independent pumper units. The control system contains two banks of NI Compact FieldPoint hardware, with cFP-2020 controllers running LabVIEW Real-Time software. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a05 4. ABCO Automation Integrates NI PACs with Allen-Bradey PLCs Using NI LabVIEW running on an embedded PXI controller, ABCO created a PAC solution for its automotive wheel speed sensor assemblies. The company integrated the solution with existing Allen-Bradley PLCs via an RSLinx OPC server for increased throughput of one part every six seconds. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a07 5. Five Components to Consider When Building a DAQ System Data acquisition involves gathering signals from measurement sources and digitizing the signals for storage, analysis, and presentation on a personal computer. This article evaluates the five components you should consider when building a basic data acquisition system. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a03 6. See Online Demo of USB DAQ and Sensors Plug&Play View this three-minute online demonstration to see how you can use NI USB data acquisition devices with Sensors Plug&Play (TEDS) technology to create a plug-and-play data acquisition system. This online demonstration illustrates auto-detection, configuration, and measurement using USB measurement hardware and IEEE 1451.4 TEDS-enabled smart sensors. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a04 7. NI High-Power Switch Modules Increase PXI Capability NI expanded its current offering of more than 80 switch configurations with the introduction of the NI PXI-258x series of 12 A switch modules and the NI PXI-2564 5 A switch modules. These modules are ideal for switching high-power signals in military, aerospace, and automotive applications. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a10 8. Join New Discussion Forums on LabVIEW Zone NI recently launched a major upgrade to NI Discussion Forums, its award-winning technical support Web site. The new system offers forums in native languages, a customizable interface, and an advanced user-ranking system. With the new version, you can post in seven languages -- Chinese, Taiwanese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a06 9. Tutorial: Using LabWindows/CVI with LabVIEW Real-Time With this technical tutorial, learn how you can use LabWindows/CVI to create LabVIEW Real-Time applications to greatly reduce development time. Find out about specific LabWindows/CVI features that help you integrate ANSI C code with the LabVIEW Real-Time module and learn about the benefits that accompany these features. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a08 10. NI Vision Debuts New Geometry-Based Matching Tool With the NI Vision 7.1 Development Module, you can use geometric matching to solve complicated vision application challenges. Geometric matching is a powerful algorithm for finding and sorting partially visible overlapping objects, matching components containing distinct geometric information, and guiding robots when objects in the field of view change scale. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a09 Events -------------------------------------------- 1. Register Early to Attend NIWeek 2005 and Save Register now to take advantage of early-bird discounts and priority exhibitor booth selection. At NIWeek, you can network with scientists, engineers, and educators from around the world to learn about the latest in measurement and automation technologies for creating advanced test, control, and design solutions. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a11 2. Automating Analog and Digital Measurements Using LabVIEW 7.1 View this 45-minute Web event to learn how to take advantage of new Express technology in LabVIEW 7.1 to automate analog and digital measurements including stimulus-response, limit test, distortion, and pattern differencing. See how you can implement these complex measurements in a matter of minutes. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a12 3. Why Should I Care About XML vs. Binary vs. ASCII? During this 45-minute Web event, you will learn about new data storage features in LabVIEW and see how they reduce programming complexities while also providing a flexible API for meeting your specific data storage needs. See how you can dramatically improve information sharing in your company. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a13 4. Gain a Technical Overview of PCI Express Attend this 45-minute Web event to learn how PCI Express technology can improve your measurement and automation system performance. Explore the physical characteristics of the PCI Express link, the details of the packet-based communication protocol, the software layers of PCI Express, and the packaging options PCI Express offers. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a14 5. Accelerating Part Evaluation and Prototype Development During this 45-minute Web event, technical experts from National Semiconductor and NI demonstrate how the WEBENCH online design and simulation environment includes tools for making physical measurements on these prototypes using NI SignalExpress and PXI modular instruments. Using this environment, you can accelerate the design process for new products. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a15 Support -------------------------------------------- 1. Comparing LabVIEW Filters Learn the major differences between the LabVIEW Digital Filter Design Toolkit VIs and the LabVIEW Advanced Analysis Library Filters VIs. This document lists the similar VIs and provides examples that demonstrate how to convert filters designed with the LabVIEW Development System for use in the Digital Filter Design Toolkit and vice versa. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a16 2. Architecting Distributed Systems with NI Software Connecting multiple components to create a distributed system can be a daunting task. With the proper tools, however, you can architect a distributed system to meet measurement, timing, space, and geographic constraints and benefit from increased computing power. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a24 3. Understanding NI PXI-4071 7½-Digit FlexDMM Architecture National Instruments PXI-4071 7½-Digit FlexDMM provides engineers with a solution to the measurement challenges inherent in traditional precision instruments, including limited measurement throughput and flexibility. Learn how the FlexDMM helps you overcome these challenges by delivering measurement throughput rivaling higher-resolution, more expensive DMMs. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a17 4. Letter of Volatility for DSA Devices This KnowledgeBase article covers NI DSA device types, the amount of memory in each type, and whether the information stored in that memory is retained. Volatile memory loses its contents when the device is powered off while nonvolatile memory retains its contents when the device is powered off. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a19 5. Programming Data Acquisition for Linux with NI-DAQmx Base This document is part of the Advanced Data Acquisition Series, consisting of tutorials and interactive presentations on how you can use NI LabVIEW, NI-DAQ software, and NI hardware to easily create advanced DAQ applications. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a20 6. Tutorial: Digital Waveform Timing This tutorial is part of the National Instruments Measurement Fundamentals series. Each tutorial in this series focuses on a specific common measurement application by illustrating the theory and giving practical examples. This tutorial covers the timing characteristics of digital signals. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a21 7. Build a Bluetooth-Enabled PDA Digital Multimeter This document describes in detail how you build a Bluetooth-enabled PDA digital multimeter using the LabVIEW PDA Module and the NI PCMCIA-4050 driver for PDA devices. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a18 8. NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras NI-IMAQ for USB cameras is a downloadable software driver for acquiring images from any DirectShow imaging device into LabVIEW. These devices include USB cameras, Webcams, microscopes, scanners, and many consumer-grade imaging products. With the driver, you can configure your device and acquire images into LabVIEW. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a22 9. Tutorial: Quadrature Encoder Velocity and Acceleration Estimation Reconfigurable I/O technology gives you the ability to define FPGA logic for high levels of performance and reliability. This tutorial demonstrates how you can use the LabVIEW FPGA and LabVIEW Real-Time modules to develop a LabVIEW application that calculates the rotation velocity and acceleration of a quadrature encoder. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0305a23 NI News is customized to your product, industry, and content subscription preferences. 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