Engineering and Scientific Applications for LabWindows/CVI

Engineers and scientists will use the National Instruments LabWindows/CVI
(C for Virtual Instrumentation) C automatic code-generation software to
design and develop instrumentation systems built around Microsoft Windows
PCs and SPARCstations from Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation.
Following the strategy of other National Instruments application software,
LabWindows/CVI is a general-purpose tool that users can apply in a wide
variety of application areas, including:

Aerospace Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Automotive Engineering
Motion Control
Audio/Acoustics/Speech
Physiological Research
Educational Instruction and Research
Process Monitoring and Control
Metrology
Electronics Test
Telecommunications

A brief description of how LabWindows/CVI will be used in each of these
application areas follows.

Aerospace Engineering 

Engineers and scientists developing instrumentation systems for automating
aerospace engineering applications can use LabWindows/CVI to measure,
control, and analyze parameters such as temperature, voltage, pressure,
flow, and vibration. Potential applications include automating research
labs and testing facilities for measuring engine shock, vibration, stress,
engine performance parameters, and materials testing.

Automotive Engineering 

LabWindows/CVI is ideal for engineers and scientists developing different
types of computer controlled instrumentation systems used in the harsh
environments often found in automotive research, production,
manufacturing, and test industries and even in the auto racing industry.
Engineers can combine LabWindows/CVI with plug-in data acquisition (DAQ)
boards to monitor and collect analog or digital data about mechanical
processes from the engine, transmission, chassis, and suspension. Major
automobile manufacturers are already using National Instruments software
and hardware in shock and vibration analysis, stress testing, standards
testing, and engine performance monitoring. Other uses might include
simulating road conditions in durability studies of suspension assemblies,
testing and logging data on the reliability and durability of steering
column systems, testing the operation of hydraulic brake assemblies, or
monitoring and recording oil pressure and temperatures, fuel mix,
throttle, braking, suspension travel and stresses, miles per hour, and
engine rpms.

Audio/Acoustics/Speech 

Users can combine LabWindows/CVI with our dynamic signal acquisition boards
and digital signal processing (DSP) accelerator boards to analyze AC
signals in applications such as audio, acoustics, sonar, and speech. For
example, users can combine LabWindows/CVI with this specialized hardware
to create a virtual spectrum analyzer.

Educational Instruction and Research 

LabWindows/CVI will soon join the other National Instruments products in
use at thousands of universities all over the world for educational
instruction and research. Departments that would use LabWindows/CVI
include electrical engineering, physiology, biology, chemical engineering,
chemistry, medical research, natural sciences, and any other scientific or
engineering discipline where educators and students need to monitor,
measure, and control real-world phenomena. LabWindows/CVI will be included
in the company's academic discount program.

Metrology 

The extensive instrument library that is included with LabWindows/CVI makes
it very useful in instrument calibration laboratories to engineers who are
testing and reconfiguring different types of devices. Test programs
developed with LabWindows/CVI instrument drivers make it easy to
communicate with and test IEEE 488, RS-232, and VXI instrumentation. Using
the extensive graphical user interface (GUI) tools and controls available
in LabWindows/CVI, users can build virtual instrument (VI) front panels in
software to interactively control these instruments through the instrument
drivers.

Electronics Test 

Developers can use LabWindows/CVI with GPIB and VXI instruments and plug-in
DAQ boards to build versatile, integrated systems for testing components,
circuits and circuit boards, cables, or machines. These test systems,
which match or exceed performance of dedicated and more expensive
controllers, can perform both data acquisition and analysis and have an
easy-to-use operator interface. For example, a circuit designer may want
to know how an amplifier affects a test signal that is run through it. A
computer manufacturer will want to test the quality of power supplies
before putting them into production computers.

Mechanical Engineering 

Using the signal processing capabilities and wide range of plug-in DAQ
boards and front-end signal conditioning tools controlled by
LabWindows/CVI, mechanical engineers can use a PC to develop programs and
control experiments in real time. Typical applications might include fluid
mechanics and fluid machinery, heat transfer, internal combustion engines,
control systems, materials Properties, and mechanical measurements. With
the SCXI signal conditioning system and the transducer conversion
algorithms fully integrated in LabWindows/CVI, users can acquire data and
control thermocouples, strain gauges, pressure transducers, digital
relays, thermistors, flow meters, or almost any other transducer used in
mechanical engineering applications.

Motion Control 

Developers can use LabWindows/CVI for robotics, inspection systems,
production automation, and machine tools. With LabWindows/CVI, users can
build the operator-friendly GUIs needed for such applications and take
advantage of its open system architecture to easily link in driver source
code for controlling plug-in motion control hardware and equipment.

Physiological/Psychological Research 

Researchers can combine LabWindows/CVI with DAQ products and PCs to create
custom measurement and analysis systems they can use in medical research
and clinical laboratories for laboratory automation, data collection,
process monitoring and control, and physiological monitoring. Applications
might include lab animal monitoring; researching cardiovascular,
digestive, nervous, and respiratory systems; pharmaceutical studies; drug
and forensic testing; anesthesiology; studying human emotions; and testing
prostheses.

Process Monitoring and Control 

Control engineers can use LabWindows/CVI to automate process control
applications using Windows and high-performance PCs. They can automate
instrumentation applications on the factory floor, or in research labs for
all types of process industries including pharmaceutical, petrochemical,
pulp and paper, food, metal, and textiles. Engineers can use a system made
up of LabWindows/CVI and National Instruments DAQ boards to monitor and
control a variety of variables such as temperature, pressure, chemical
weight, composition, light intensity, and materials flow, as well as
monitor and control instruments such as chromatographs using RS-232 or
GPIB.

Telecommunications 

Users can integrate LabWindows/CVI into IEEE 488 or VXI-based
instrumentation for telecommunications research and testing applications.
The LabWindows/CVI open system architecture provides a baseline
development environment that users can enhance with
telecommunications-specific tests or utilities through external DLLs or
object modules. End-user programmers then have a framework to develop
custom test programs using these integrated telecommunications tools.

Availability and How to Get More Information 

The Windows version of LabWindows/CVI will be available from National
Instruments in November. LabWindows/CVI for Sun will be available from
National Instruments in December. For additional details, see the press
release and other product background information in this press kit.

For more information, please contact National Instruments at 6504 Bridge
Point Parkway, Austin, TX 78730-5039, (512) 794-0100. Call toll free at
(800) 433-3488. Fax: (512) 794-8411.

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