Affordable portable computer-based instrumentation for students

Computer-based instrumentation that supports hands-on learning anywhere, anytime for students and institutions

National Instruments has announced the release of the NI myDAQ portable instrumentation device for students in university engineering courses. NI myDAQ advances engineering education by making it possible for students to experience engineering outside of the lab, in their dorm room or anywhere they choose, at any time. The device is designed by National Instruments and features Texas Instruments analogue circuits including data converters, amplifiers and interface and power management components. The hardware integrates with NI LabVIEW graphical development software to help reverse the trend of rising educational costs by giving students hands-on interaction with real analogue circuits, sensor measurements and signal processing for about the price of an engineering textbook.
“Students need exposure to real circuits and hardware, but the problem for engineering professors is trying to meet the increasing cost of providing real electronics with continually tighter budgets,” said Dr. Tony Ambler, Chairman of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. “NI myDAQ is inexpensive enough for every student to have their own, plug it into their laptop at home, in the dorm or in the park, and experiment with the real electronics all around them, without using lab time or lab equipment.”

Compact enough to fit in a student’s pocket and powered by USB connection, NI myDAQ provides a solution for college engineering professors who want their students to experiment during homework and beyond, through a student-owned measurement, signal processing and control device. NI myDAQ bridges the gap between theory and real-world practice by providing students eight LabVIEW software-based instruments including a digital multimeter (DMM), oscilloscope, function generator, Bode analyser, dynamic signal analyser, arbitrary waveform generator, digital reader and digital writer. Students can use all these instruments to perform many laboratory-style experiments.

When combined with LabVIEW on a PC, NI myDAQ delivers a complete solution for hands-on learning of core concepts in engineering curricula that include analogue circuits, sensor measurements and signals and systems courses. Multiple universities throughout the United States are already developing NI myDAQ curricula, and National Instruments is making these and other resources available to educational institutions and students at www.ni.com/mydaq.

NI myDAQ also integrates with their Multisim circuits education environment to provide a far-reaching educational platform. The device includes the eight software-based instruments, DMM cables, an audio cable and a reusable storage tray. LabVIEW Student Edition software and Multisim Student Edition software are also available with the device at a significant discount to students.