FAQ
Q: What are your qualifications?
A: AST has a licensed professional engineer, a Certified LabVIEW Architect, LabVIEW Champion, NI Professional Instructor, and a Certified Motion Professional with over 25 years of experience developing test and measurement systems. AST is an NI Partner since 2005 and has been in business since 2002. See our certifications page for more information.
Q: Do you work with hardware from other vendors?
A: YES! NI does not compensate AST to recommend their hardware. AST works with other data acquisition hardware from other vendors. We want you to be successful and will work with the right hardware for your application.
Q: Do I need a license of LabVIEW to run my test software?
A: No. AST distributes all test software as an executable. There are no additional licensees you need to buy from NI or AST. If you want to view or edit the source code you need a licensed copy of LabVIEW. There is a LabVIEW Debug Deployment version that is available from NI. This is a perpetual license and can be used to view and modify source code. More information on LabVIEW debug deployment license can be found here.
Q: Does AST make the source code available?
A: Yes. AST can give a copy of the source code once full payment for the project is received. You will need a licensed copy of LabVIEW to view the code. Also any changes to the software made by the customer voids the warranty. There is a LabVIEW Debug Deployment version that is available from NI. This is a perpetual license and can be used to view and modify source code. More information on LabVIEW debug deployment license can be found here
Q: What to I need to start a project?
A: Please see our Project Process page on how we manage a project
Q: Can you provide remote support and installation?
A: Yes. We have been using Microsoft Quick Assist . Quick Assist is free to use, is already loaded on Windows 10 machines, and doesn't require any email or personal information to use. All the customer needs to do is launch Microsoft Quick Assist and enter the code supplied by AST. We have also used Teamviewer
Q: Do you make changes to existing code not written by AST
A: Generally no. Usually the time to evaluate the code, make changes, and then debug is usually more time and money then just to rewrite the code. Rewriting the code will greatly improved the quality making future changes much easier to make.
Q: Do you build panels?
A: YES! We can build a panel that encloses your hardware. We can provide connectors to sensors and external devices. We can even install an industrial PC in the panel that can run your custom software. Learn more here
Q: Where do I buy NI hardware?
A: NI has moved to using distributers for selling hardware.
Testforce
www.testforce.com
Newark
Digikey
https://www.digikey.com/