Customisable Monitoring and Control Systems

National Instruments has released the 8-slot NI 9154 MXI-Express RIO expansion chassis and the 4-slot NI 9146 Ethernet RIO expansion chassis. CompactRIO expansion chassis scale the breadth of the C Series platform to applications requiring hundreds or even thousands of I/O channels. Engineers can gain full control of the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) capabilities inside both chassis using the NI LabVIEW FPGA Module, which enables custom inline processing, closed-loop control, synchronisation, and custom timing and triggering.

“The performance, customisation, and expansion potential of the CompactRIO platform makes it an excellent long-term, scalable investment,” said Albion W. Knight IV, President of Green Mountain Research, who is using CompactRIO and the MXI-Express RIO expansion system to create a next-generation missile test platform.

NI 9154 Features
• High-throughput MXI-Express x1 interface for 200 MB/s multichassis streaming bandwidth
• Access to thousands of I/O channels from a single controller by daisy chaining multiple CompactRIO devices, NI PXI chassis, NI industrial controllers or PCs
• Support for up to eight C Series mixed-signal-conditioned I/O modules, enabling direct connectivity to any sensor on any bus

NI 9146 Features
• Simplified software experience, which helps engineers seamlessly add distributed monitoring and control to any Ethernet network
• Instant access to FPGA-enabled I/O using LabVIEW from any Windows PC or LabVIEW Real-Time controller
• Diagnostic and auto-configuration features that simplify installation, operation and maintenance
• Low power consumption, quick startup times and rugged industrial construction