National Instruments Adds High-Density Strain and High-Voltage Modules to NI CompactDAQ and CompactRIO Hardware

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 9, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced the expansion of its C Series data acquisition family with the NI 9225 300 V power measurement module as well as the NI 9235 and NI 9236 eight-channel strain gage measurement modules. These modules are supported on NI C Series-based devices including the NI CompactDAQ plug-and-play data acquisition system, NI CompactRIO rugged control and acquisition system and NI Single-Board RIO embedded design devices. These three new modules expand the C Series I/O platform to more than 40 modules and add power quality testing capabilities.

Using the NI 9225 300 V measurement module, engineers now can make high-voltage measurements to test battery stacks or monitor power quality events. The analog input module is designed for high-voltage waveform measurements, such as line-to-neutral as well as line-to-line measurements of 110 V power grids and line-to-neutral measurements of 240 V power grids. The NI 9225 has three simultaneously sampled channels at 50 kS/s for accurate three-phase power metering and power quality measurements such as flicker, harmonics and power factor.

“The application we are developing requires sub-cycle response to changes in voltage and current,” said Richard Jennings, president of Jennings Embedded Services, LLC. “Using the NI 9225 measurement module along with the NI 9239 analog input module, LabVIEW and CompactRIO, we easily were able to build a power quality meter with unmatched real-time response, but with all the analysis capabilities of a high-end, off-the-shelf instrument.”

The NI 9235 and NI 9236 strain gage modules deliver eight channels of simultaneously sampled 24-bit quarter-bridge strain gage measurements. The channel density and fast sampling rate of 10 kS/s per channel make these modules well-suited for structural health monitoring, dynamic mechanical test and impact test. Engineers can synchronize up to eight modules in an NI CompactDAQ or CompactRIO chassis to create a 64-channel strain measurement system, and synchronize multiple chassis to the same clock or GPS signal for even higher-channel-count or distributed systems.

The intuitive NI LabVIEW graphical programming environment makes it easy for engineers to communicate to and read data from C Series I/O modules. Because of the enhanced software integration with I/O modules, engineers can use the LabVIEW programming environment to develop and deploy code across multiple C Series platforms to fit their specific project needs. They can use the same LabVIEW environment to create a USB data logger with NI CompactDAQ, an industrial control or structural health monitoring system with CompactRIO or an embedded system with NI Single-Board RIO.

For a complete list of C Series modules, readers may visit www.ni.com/compactrio/cseries.

About National Instruments

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company’s investor relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.

Pricing and Contact Information

    NI 9225 priced* from $1,499; euro 1,349; 182,000 yen
    NI 9235 priced* from $1,499; euro 1,349; 182,000 yen
    NI 9236 priced* from $1,499; euro 1,349; 182,000 yen

    11500 N Mopac Expwy, Austin, Texas 78759-3504
    Tel: (800) 258-7022, Fax: (512) 683-9300
    E-mail: info@ni.com

    Web: www.ni.com/compactrio/cseries

* All prices are subject to change without notice.

CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com and NI CompactDAQ are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

    Editor Contact:    Julia Betts, (512) 683-8165
    Reader Contact:    Ernest Martinez, (800) 258-7022

SOURCE National Instruments