White Papers

As applications become more complex, home-run sensor wiring approaches become more difficult and costly to implement. The cost of running sensor cable can often be the single largest line item for installing new data acquisition systems once labor and capital costs are included. The alternative approach to the traditional centralized data acquisition system is to distribute the data acquisition devices around your application and run a single industrial network cable for data transfer back to the server or control room.

This brief paper gives an overview of what real-time systems are, what components make up a real-time system, and why you might choose to build a real-time system for your next project.

 Unfortunately, measuring analog signals with a data acquisition device is not always as simple as wiring the signal source leads to the data acquisition device. Knowledge of the nature of the signal source, a suitable configuration of the data acquisition device, and an appropriate cabling scheme may be required to produce accurate and noise-free measurements. The integrity of the acquired data depends upon the entire analog signal path. In order to cover a wide variety of applications, most data acquisition devices provide some flexibility in their analog input stage configuration. The price of this flexibility is, however, some confusion as to the proper applications of the various input configurations and their relative merits. This note helps clarify the types of input configurations available on data acquisition devices, explains how the user should choose and use the configuration best for the application, and discusses interference noise pick up mechanisms and how to minimize interference noise by proper cabling and shielding. An understanding of the types of signal sources and measurement systems is a prerequisite to application of good measurement techniques, so we will begin by discussing the same.

Pickering overview of switching for automated test systems. This eBook contains useful information about switching from all possible perspectives – platforms, configurations, connectivity, and so on. It provides an overview for those new to switching and a useful source of reference material for the more experienced test engineers.

Many electronic test systems use relay switching to connect multiple devices to sources and measurement instruments. In some cases, multiple sources and measuring instruments are connected to a single device. Switching allows automating the testing of multiple devices, thereby reducing error and costs.

 The NI Measurement Fundamentals Series, your FREE resource for technical test and measurement knowledge on the Web, presents technical content through theory, real-world examples, and interactive audiovisual tutorials

Style helps programmers write better code that is easier to use, maintain, and review. Even with all of our differences (programming experience, language, color preferences, etc.), a good style guide offers standards that promote reuse and sharing of code and programming concepts, ease of documentation and ease of code maintenance. 

 

 

Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control is the most common control algorithm used in industry and has been universally accepted in industrial control. The popularity of PID controllers can be attributed partly to their robust performance in a wide range of operating conditions and partly to their functional simplicity, which allows engineers to operate them in a simple, straightforward manner.

As the name suggests, PID algorithm consists of three basic coefficients; proportional, integral and derivative which are varied to get optimal response. Closed loop systems, the theory of classical PID and the effects of tuning a closed loop control system are discussed in this paper. The PID toolset in LabVIEW and the ease of use of these VIs is also discussed.

The Engineer’s Guide to Signal Conditioning is designed to help you:

• Master the fundamentals of each type of common signal conditioning type from amplification to isolation
• Achieve the best measurements by understanding signal conditioning for specific sensor types
• Explore best practices when building signal conditioning into a data acquisition system

Articles about signal conditioning, electronic measurement, and  data acquisition

Steve's index to his great articles on LabVIEW and Software Design

Many automated test applications require routing signals to a variety of instruments and devices under test (DUTs). Often the best way to address these applications is to implement a network of switches that facilitate this signal routing between the instrumentation and the DUTs. Switching not only handles this signal routing, but it is also a low-cost way to increase the channel count of expensive instrumentation while increasing the flexibility and repeatability of your measurements.