Software Overview

Data Record AD I/O plug-ins acquire data from the sensors in your vehicle, process that data, record it to the data storage drive, and send it out to other applications, such as the user interface (UI), to be visualized. The application is comprised of a data processing engine service, a debug panel service, and a gRPC Remote Procedure Calls (gRPC) server service that allows you to remotely control the data processing engine through a UI. You can write data using the built-in gRPC server or through direct connections from an I/O plug-in to a client using a communication method of your choice. Refer to the Data Record AD GitHub Repository at https://www.ni.com/r/datarecord-devguide for information about the gRPC server, gRPC client interface, and other communication options.

The data processing engine provides Data Record AD with a high-bandwidth, low-latency interface to transfer data between I/O plug-ins with zero-copy operations. At the beginning of each datalogging session, it checks the INI file alongside the executable for initial settings and loads the system configuration file from the Configuration Editor. Throughout the session, the data processing engine responds to user commands, monitors the status of the system, and logs errors for debugging. The data processing engine also shuts down the system when prompted at the end of datalogging sessions.

The Data Record AD installer optionally includes the Data Record AD User Interface as well as a common set of built I/O plug-ins that you can use, along with the included Configuration Editor, to configure the functionality of Data Record AD. You can also create custom I/O plug-ins with the Plug-In Creation Toolkit. Each datalogging session is set up according to the system configuration file that you export from the Configuration Editor.

Use the Configuration Editor to add, connect, and configure the built I/O plug-ins that Data Record AD uses to interface with the Data Record System, as well as adjust Data Record AD settings such as timing and synchronization.

Each system configuration is exported as a JSON file that Data Record AD will load.

You can use I/O plug-ins to customize your system to fit your application needs. The Plug-In Creation Toolkit includes G libraries to develop user-defined I/O plug-ins in LabVIEW.

The Visualization Toolkit includes the Data Record AD User Interface as both an executable and LabVIEW source code, as well as the tools and API you need to customize this sample UI and read data from the system in text-based languages. The UI uses a gRPC client to read data from and write commands to the Data Record AD gRPC server service.

You can launch the Data Record AD User Interface at any point, regardless of whether or not Data Record AD is running, and you can reconfigure it at any point by selecting the gear symbol within the Operator panel.

Refer to the Measurement & Automation Explorer Help, accessible through the Help button in MAX, for more information about using MAX.