NI, the provider of solutions that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, today announced the CompactRIO performance controller. This software-designed controller integrates the latest embedded technologies from Intel and Xilinx to deliver unparalleled performance and flexibility, and is fully supported by LabVIEW 2014 and NI Linux Real-Time. It is ideal for advanced control and applications in harsh, industrial environments and provides high-performance processing, custom timing and triggering, and data transfer from modular C Series I/O.

“The LabVIEW RIO architecture breaks the barriers of traditional embedded system design and provides the best off-the-shelf platform to solve any demanding control and monitoring task,” said Jamie Smith, director of embedded systems at NI. “Our platform-based approach gives small design teams the confidence to build innovative embedded systems without wasting development time and cost.”

LabVIEW 2014 with NI Linux Real-Time support lets engineers and scientists use a single, familiar development environment to continue developing their system while taking immediate advantage of increased CompactRIO hardware performance.

“The Intel and NI collaboration allows industrial customers to benefit from the latest processing technologies while meeting their rugged performance requirements,” said Shahram Mehraban, global head of energy and industrial segments at the Intel Internet of Things Group. “By working closely with NI during early phases of product development, we are able to rapidly bring the latest Intel® Atom™ processor to this segment.”

Key Features:

Intel® Atom™ Processor: Close the loop faster, tackle more tasks with the same controller, and process data with more precision, accuracy and speed with this dual-core processor.

Kintex-7 FPGA: Process more channels and implement more complex filtering and control algorithms.

NI Linux Real-Time: Get access to an extensive community of applications and IP with a robust Linux -based real-time OS.

Embedded UI: Implement a local HMI device and use the control system to handle HMI tasks, cutting component costs as well as development and integration time.

Improved Vision Integration: Add USB3 or GigE Vision cameras using NI Linux Real-Time, integrate vision acquisition directly into an application, and use new Vision IP to turn the FPGA into a high-performance vision coprocessor.

NI (Nasdaq: NATI), the provider of solutions that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, today announced the NI SOM. It combines the Xilinx Zynq All Programmable system on a chip (SoC) with supporting components such as memory on a small PCB and features a complete middleware solution and ready-to-go Linux-based real-time operating system (RTOS) already integrated. The NI SOM gives design teams the customizability of a SOM without the increased time and risk of developing custom software.

“We have evaluated several SOMs and embedded SBCs, and there is no comparison to the software integration offered by NI,” said Sebastien Boria, R&D mechatronics technology leader at Airbus. “We estimate that our development costs with the NI SOM are a tenth of the costs of alternative approaches because of the productivity gains of NI’s approach to system design, in particular to NI Linux Real-Time and LabVIEW FPGA.”

The NI SOM enables design teams to deploy reliable, complex embedded systems faster because it is based on and has the same rigorous design standards as the LabVIEW reconfigurable I/O (RIO) architecture. This architecture has already been used in high-reliability applications such as unmanned aerial vehicles and cataract surgery machines.

“Today’s embedded monitoring and control applications are more complex than ever before, and tighter deadlines and rising costs only increase stress for system designers,” said Jamie Smith, director of embedded systems marketing at NI. “Studies show that design teams using the LabVIEW RIO architecture can solve complex embedded problems in half the time compared with traditional custom design approaches.”

Product Brochure

CAS DataLoggers and Jager are proud to introduce a new processor board for ADwin-Pro-II Data Acquisition and Control Systems which has a 64-bit FPU (Floating-Point Unit) for math co-processing. The new Pro-CPU-T12 processor module offers powerful real-time computing and is largely software-compatible to previous versions. With Ethernet support enabling high-speed data transfer, ADwin’s Pro-CPU-T12 module enables standalone data recording in applications where there’s no PC or connection to one. This powerful solution is ideal for satisfying the most demanding applications including physics experiments, vibration monitoring, failure analysis, and high-speed data acquisition.

The Heart of the ADwin-Pro II System

The processor module--the ADwin CPU--is the center of each ADwin-Pro II data acquisition system. It executes the ADbasic programming instructions and accesses the inputs, outputs and interfaces of the other modules.

ADwin’s new Pro-CPU-T12 processor offers powerful Giga-performance, with a 1 Gigahertz clock, 1-Gigabyte main memory for storing code and data, and a 1-Gigabit Ethernet interface for communication to the PC. All this makes the 64-Bit double-precision FPU 5x faster than its predecessor module the CPU-T11. The T12 module also has a trigger input and 2 Digital I/Os, and as a special feature the board can also run C code embedded into ADbasic code. The module also enables stand-alone operation without a PC using the Bootloader.

Flexible Access:

Users have the choice of either USB or a SATA storage device on the module: the SATA device can either be integrated into the module or removable. Access to the memory is provided via processor module or via NFS/SMB/FTP from the Ethernet network.

ADwin data acquisition systems feature tightly-coupled analog and digital inputs along with counters to provide users’ applications with extremely low-latency operation. The ADwin-Pro II Series utilizes a modular form factor with plug-in modules to allow up to 480 analog or digital inputs in a single chassis, along with a high-performance 300 MHz DSP processor and Ethernet communications interface. Users also have a variety of other I/O options including CANbus, SSI, Profibus/Fieldbus, RS-232/485, and signal conditioner modules.

The extraordinary speed of the Pro-II system provides complex applications with a high data rate while the fast processor allows an intelligent pre-selection of relevant data, mathematical functions or digital channel filtering.

Siemens has launched two particularly slim, powerful and energy-efficient power supply units in the shape of the new Sitop PSU8200 5 A and 10 A. The single-phase power supplies, featuring 5 A or 10 A of rated output current respectively, expand the "Sitop modular" product range for high-end 24 V DC applications. Thanks to the wide input voltage ranges from 85 V to 132 V AC, and 170 V to 264 V AC, they can be connected to power systems worldwide. The power supply units are characterized by a slim design (45 mm for the 5 A version and 55 mm for the 10 A version), high efficiency of up to 94 percent, and high overload capability. They are therefore especially suitable for industrial environments with exacting reliability and functionality requirements, such as in car production, or in special-purpose machine manufacturing. They can be used in a temperature range of -25 to +70 degrees Celsius.

The new power supply units in rugged metal enclosures offer extensive functions such as automatic voltage switching for operation on single-phase 120 V and 230 V AC networks. With an overload capability of three times the rated current for 25 ms and 1.5 times the rated current for 5 s, they feature large power reserves for brief overload situations, such as for high inrush currents. Their high efficiency of up to 94 percent ensures low energy consumption and reduced heat losses. In addition, they can be switched on and off by remote access, to save energy during breaks, for example. Thanks to the integrated signaling contact, the power supply unit can be integrated quickly and easily into the plant monitoring system. The status LEDs for "DC ok.", "Over Load" and "Shut Down" indicate the operating state of the power supply. The installation area can be minimized due to the narrow width of 45 mm on the 5 A version, and 55 mm on the 10 A version that requires no installation clearances to neighboring devices.