NI News from National Instruments Your Global, Customized Source for Company and Product News, Events, and Support Top Stories -------------------------------------------- New NI M Series DAQ Devices Offer 80 Analog Input Channels http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605aT1 Five Essential Elements of Low-Cost USB DAQ http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605aT2 In This Issue -------------------------------------------- Company and Product News-- 1. Johns Hopkins University Uses NI LabVIEW and PXI 2. NI PACs Replace PLCs for Advanced Centrifuge Control 3. Behind the Scenes: Seven Key Industrial I/O Technologies 4. Using LabVIEW for Ultrasonic Nondestructive Test Applications 5. Learn More about Technologies and Products in New NI Blogs 6. NIWeek 2005 Preliminary Program Is Now Available 7. NI PCI Data Acquisition Device Ideal for OEMs and Volume Customers 8. Create Sophisticated Applications with LabVIEW Events 9. Integrating LabVIEW Code into Other Programming Languages 10. Program DSPs with National Instruments LabVIEW Events-- 1. Developing Machine Condition Monitoring Applications with LabVIEW 2. Learn about the Evolution of FPGAs in Data Acquisition Hardware 3. Develop Modular Instruments Applications with LabWindows/CVI 4. Why You Should Choose PCs over PLCs for Your Next Automation Application 5. Sound and Vibration Design Strategies Web Event Series Support-- 1. How Does Temperature Affect Your Strain Measurement Accuracy? 2. Tutorial: Using Instrument Drivers in LabVIEW 3. Tutorial: Strain Gage Configuration Types 4. Learn the Basics of the NI Synchronization and Memory Core 5. Tutorial: Developing a Periodic Waveform Generator 6. Developing an IVI Driver 7. Using NI-VISA to Program PCI and PXI Devices 8. Developing Multithreaded GPIB Applications Using NI-488.2 Software Architecture 9. Interfacing LabVIEW Real-Time Applications with LabWindows/CVI 10. Learn IMAQ Vision and Machine Vision Basics for LabWindows/CVI Company and Product News -------------------------------------------- 1. Johns Hopkins University Uses NI LabVIEW and PXI The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory used NI LabVIEW and PXI to develop a ground-based system to accurately simulate the operational conditions of spacecraft solar arrays and automate that process using LabVIEW while simulating spacecraft orbital profiles from a missions operation center. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a01 2. NI PACs Replace PLCs for Advanced Centrifuge Control Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder recently implemented National Instruments programmable automation controllers and the LabVIEW graphical development environment to streamline experiments involving a 400 g-ton centrifuge, one of the nation’s most powerful centrifuges capable of spinning two tons of material at 200 times the force of gravity. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a07 3. Behind the Scenes: Seven Key Industrial I/O Technologies Programmable automation controllers (PACs), which offer PC performance with PLC reliability, are emerging as the platform of choice for complex industrial applications. Industrial I/O modules designed for PACs benefit from the use of off-the-shelf commercial technologies, such as FPGAs, coupled with flexible software to improve performance and reliability. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a02 4. Using LabVIEW for Ultrasonic Nondestructive Test Applications Download the LabVIEW Ultrasonic Starter-Kit, which includes data presentation features, such as gating, as well as application examples showing analysis, such as Hilbert transforms, and check out the complete ultrasonic resources page for example systems and tutorial information. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a04 5. Learn More about Technologies and Products in New NI Blogs Check out new Web logs (blogs) hosted by National Instruments employees for up-to-the-minute discussion about the technologies and products they build and work with every day. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a05 6. NIWeek 2005 Preliminary Program Is Now Available Download the NIWeek 2005 Preliminary Program, which provides a snapshot of technical sessions, hands-on workshops, daily keynotes, exhibitions, and new summit activities. You also can contact your local sales representative to request a printed copy via mail. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a06 7. NI PCI Data Acquisition Device Ideal for OEMs and Volume Customers National Instruments announced a new PCI plug-in data acquisition device, the NI PCI-6010, which is ideal for original equipment manufacturers needing to get their products to market faster and at lower costs. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a03 8. Create Sophisticated Applications with LabVIEW Events When your operating system detects a user event, such as a mouse click or keyboard input, it notifies applications by executing code written specifically for that event. The National Instruments LabVIEW event structure provides a simple, effective way to combine dataflow and event-driven program execution. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a10 9. Integrating LabVIEW Code into Other Programming Languages If you have large amounts of legacy code and want to reuse the code, you need to be able to integrate LabVIEW code with existing legacy programs. Recent advances in the LabVIEW environment have made integrating LabVIEW code into other applications as easy as creating DLLs in any development environment. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a08 10. Program DSPs with National Instruments LabVIEW The new NI LabVIEW DSP Module includes tools for designing, implementing, and analyzing DSP-based algorithms and systems. The LabVIEW DSP Module extends the LabVIEW graphical development environment to embedded signal processing applications and offers engineering students an easy-to-use, hands-on approach to learning key signal processing techniques. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a09 Events -------------------------------------------- 1. Developing Machine Condition Monitoring Applications with LabVIEW View this Web Event on Demand about creating machine condition monitoring test systems with LabVIEW and learn how you can use off-the-shelf hardware such as NI PXI and CompactRIO to develop systems for vibration monitoring and predictive maintenance. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a11 2. Learn about the Evolution of FPGAs in Data Acquisition Hardware Explore how FPGAs have evolved instrumentation. From being a rapid communication interface between components on a data acquisition device to bringing customization and reconfigurability to data acquisition devices, the high performance and software configurability of FPGAs has finally become accessible to measurement and control end users. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a12 3. Develop Modular Instruments Applications with LabWindows/CVI Review this technical tutorial to discover how you can use some of the many LabWindows/CVI and ANSI C features to take advantage of the power of modular instruments. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a14 4. Why You Should Choose PCs over PLCs for Your Next Automation Application View this Web event to learn how NI PC-based automation gives you stand-alone, reliable operation with LabVIEW Real-Time; industrial features like 24 V logic levels and watch-dog timers with the new low-cost industrial digital I/O boards; and tight I/O, motion, and vision integration on PCI or PXI/CompactPCI platforms. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a13 5. Sound and Vibration Design Strategies Web Event Series During four sessions presented jointly by MTS and NI, learn about a framework for the physics of sound and vibration using a source-path-receiver model, and how organizations at different stages of maturity approach sound and vibration design and manufacturing challenges using this model. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a15 Support -------------------------------------------- 1. How Does Temperature Affect Your Strain Measurement Accuracy? You commonly measure strain using a strain gage. Ideally, the resistance of the strain gage would change only in response to applied strain, but it also responds to changes in temperature. Temperature-related effects are the most common causes of error in strain measurements. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a16 2. Tutorial: Using Instrument Drivers in LabVIEW Learn about the introduction and evolution of instrument drivers and how to use the drivers in your LabVIEW applications. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a17 3. Tutorial: Strain Gage Configuration Types Learn how to arrange, connect, and scale signals from bridge-based sensors, especially strain gages. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a20 4. Learn the Basics of the NI Synchronization and Memory Core National Instruments designed the Synchronization and Memory Core as the common architecture for a suite of high-speed modular instruments that answer the challenge of testing converged devices. Analog and digital instrumentation can no longer be stand-alone systems with disparate timing engines and mismatched analog performance. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a18 5. Tutorial: Developing a Periodic Waveform Generator One major benefit of reconfigurable I/O (RIO) technology is the ability to create custom hardware to generate analog waveforms for specific applications. This tutorial describes one common method for developing a customized periodic waveform generator using RIO-enabled hardware (this tutorial uses CompactRIO) and the LabVIEW FPGA Module. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a19 6. Developing an IVI Driver Learn about the IVI driver architecture and the IVI development tools that automate the process of writing a driver. Get detailed information about the IVI engine, IVI callbacks within a driver, and the IVI driver development wizard in LabWindows/CVI 5.x or higher. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a21 7. Using NI-VISA to Program PCI and PXI Devices Engineers writing an application for a PCI or PXI device with NI-VISA gain full access to the device configuration, including I/O and memory-mapped registers. NI-VISA programming is available under selected Windows OSs and the LabVIEW Real-Time Module. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a22 8. Developing Multithreaded GPIB Applications Using NI-488.2 Software Architecture View this application note to learn how to take advantage of the multithreading features of NI-488.2 software for OSs that offer multithreading. Obtain an overview of NI-488.2 API multithreaded capability and examples of multithreaded applications for GPIB-based instrument control. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a23 9. Interfacing LabVIEW Real-Time Applications with LabWindows/CVI As opposed to the traditional LabVIEW Real-Time approach, which requires having LabVIEW applications both as target and host, the methodology described in this document shows you how to interface existing LabWindows/CVI applications with new LabVIEW Real-Time features via TCP/IP. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a24 10. Learn IMAQ Vision and Machine Vision Basics for LabWindows/CVI Get tips and tricks for working with IMAQ Vision functions in LabWindows/CVI. Learn about viewing IMAQ Vision structures, declaring IMAQ Vision structure variables, setting up text overlays, and using region-of-interest contours and machine vision functions. http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nn0605a25 NI News is customized to your product, industry, and content subscription preferences. To update these preferences or to add news, events, or support content to your newsletter, visit http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nnupdate Your current product preferences: Academic, Arbs/Functional Generators, BioBench, C++, CAN, CWorks/VB, Compact FieldPoint, Customer Education, DAQ, DASYLab, DIAdem, DMM, DSA, Data Loggers, Developers Suite, Developers Suite/Test Edition, DeviceNet, Distributed I/O, Fieldbus, Fieldpoint, GPIB, High-Speed Digital I/O, Industrial Communications, Instrument Drivers/IVI, Instruments, LV, LVDSC, LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation, LabVIEW FPGA, LabVIEW PDA, LabVIEW Real-time, LabWindows/CVI, Lookout, MATRIXx, Measure, Measurement Studio, Motion, NI ELVIS, PXI/CompactPCI, Profibus, RF, Real Time, Scopes/Digitizers, Serial, Service/Support, Signal Conditioning, SignalExpress, Switch Executive, Switching, TestStand, VI Logger, VXI/VME, Vbench, Vision HW/SW, Visual Studio .NET Your current industry preferences: ATE/Instrumentation, Aerospace/Avionics, Automotive, Basic Materials - Steel/Lumber/Construction, Biotechnology/Biomedical/Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods, Electromechanics/Electrotechnics, Electronics, Energy/Power, Food/Beverage, Government/Defense, Imaging Equipment, Industrial Controls/Devices/Systems, Machines/Mechanics, Medical/Medical Instrumentation, Oil and Gas/Refining/Chemicals, Pulp/Paper, Research, Semiconductor, Telecommunications, Textiles/Fibers/Plastics, Transportation, University/Education, Water/Wastewater Send your feedback to NI News at nnfeedback@ni.com For questions about the technical support content, visit http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nnask To activate a new e-mail subscription, visit http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nnnewsub To unsubscribe, go to http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/nnunsub © 2005 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.