Category : Automation, process control equipment, industrial communications > Embedded electronics, software and systems

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Dec 8, 2004 – Engineers can now extend the National Instruments CompactRIO reconfigurable embedded system platform by creating their own custom I/O modules for applications requiring unique and specialised I/O signal types. By using the new CompactRIO Module Development Kit, embedded system developers can access the low-level electrical architecture of their CompactRIO systems and design unique I/O, communication or control modules. They then can use NI LabVIEW to program the CompactRIO reconfigurable FPGA chipset to communicate with their new custom module circuitry at rates exceeding 40 million bits per second.

“We selected CompactRIO as the platform for a new line of standardised instruments due to its size, speed and reconfigurable FPGA hardware,” said C. Allen Weekley, Senior Development Engineer at California-based Alpha Technics, a manufacturer of high-precision temperature instruments and sensors. “In just eight weeks, we were able to use the CompactRIO Module Development Kit to implement our own high-precision instrument modules and a LabVIEW FPGA interface for calibrating smart probe temperature sensors.”

CompactRIO is a small, rugged, high-performance industrial control and acquisition platform that uses LabVIEW FPGA reconfigurable I/O (RIO) technology to deliver a highly customisable embedded control and measurement system. The CompactRIO Module Development Kit delivers all the tools engineers need to build a customised module, including custom CompactRIO module development software, the CompactRIO Module Development Kit user manual and the licensed right to develop and manufacture custom CompactRIO I/O modules. The CompactRIO Module Development Kit also includes a set of CompactRIO module housings with a variety of connector options and is ideal for end users, OEMs and system integrators working with highly specialised measurements such as fuel injector drivers or high
precision temperature probes.

“The CompactRIO Module Development Kit made it extremely easy for us to develop three custom I/O modules, including a fuel injector driver module for automotive engine control unit prototyping,” said Carroll G. Dase, President of Drivven, Inc., an automotive control and data acquisition solutions provider. “CompactRIO and the module development kit deliver a powerful universal prototyping system that control design engineers can use to quickly implement highly customised embedded systems using off-the-shelf tools.”

In conjunction with the release of the new CompactRIO Module Development Kit, NI also introduced the charter group of precertified CompactRIO module developer companies, an additional resource for customers wanting to outsource the development of custom CompactRIO modules. The five precertified CompactRIO module design houses include:

• Advanced Measurements, United States

• GÖPEL Electronic, Germany

• KGC, Japan

• VI Engineering, United States

• Drivven, Inc., United States

For more information on the CompactRIO Module Development Kit and precertified CompactRIO module developers, readers may visit www.ni.com/compactrio.

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