#NIweek Ditch the Lab: Take measurements in rugged environments

NI extends its investment in the NI CompactDAQ platform with a new rugged chassis, as well as NI CompactDAQ support for the LabVIEW Electrical Power Suite.

The NI cDAQ-9188XT, an 8-slot NI CompactDAQ Ethernet chassis designed for distributed or remote measurements in extreme environments. The cDAQ-9188XT can withstand temperatures from -40 to 70 C, 50 g of shock and 5 g of vibration. Engineers in the automotive, military and aerospace industries have used it to successfully acquire data and avoid costly repeat tests.

1 mile in just 4.2 seconds! North American Eagle uses NI cDAQ-9188XT for datalogging. (Pic Adam Kemp on Twitter)

“We’re using the cDAQ-9188XT to track pressure, vibration, velocity and more in our jet-powered vehicle as we try to break the world land speed record,” said Steve Wallace, Data Acquisition Scientist for the North American Eagle Project. “So far it’s survived everything we’ve thrown at it and given us great results.”

In addition, the chassis is the first in the NI CompactDAQ platform to offer an onboard watchdog with defined safe states to help protect your tests and equipment. The platform includes 10 chassis options, three buses and over 50 C Series modules with a wide range of connectivity and I/O. The platform also has native integration with NI LabVIEW system design software, which provides signal processing libraries and user interface controls designed for data visualisation.

“From single-signal benchtop measurements made in laboratories to distributed, rugged or stand-alone measurements made in some of the most extreme conditions on earth, it’s amazing how our customers’ applications have evolved over the past 25 years,” said Chad Chesney, Director of Data Acquisition Marketing at National Instruments. “By continuing to invest in NI CompactDAQ, we’ll contribute to even more engineering accomplishments over the next quarter century.”

Another example of NI’s continual investment in the NI CompactDAQ platform is the support for the LabVIEW Electrical Power Suite. With this toolkit, NI CompactDAQ users can integrate power analysis functions such as energy, frequency, voltage unbalance and event detection into their monitoring systems.