Compact FieldPoint Frequently Asked Questions (1 of 3)

National Instruments Compact FieldPoint is an easy-to use, highly expandable industrial control and measurement system composed of rugged and dependable I/O modules and intelligent communication interfaces. With Compact FieldPoint, you can download your LabVIEW application to the embedded controller for reliable stand-alone operation and connect your sensors directly to high-accuracy analog and discrete I/O modules. The Compact FieldPoint I/O modules filter, calibrate, and scale raw sensor signals to engineering units, and perform self-diagnostics to look for problems such as open thermocouples. Compact FieldPoint network communication interfaces automatically publish measurements with an Ethernet network. You can access I/O points nearby or miles away on the network using the same simple read/write software framework. You can connect virtually any sensor type to one of the wide variety of I/O modules. The most common sensor types include thermocouples, RTDs, strain gauges, 4-20 mA sensors, and a variety of digital signals from 5-30 VDC and 0-250 VAC.

Compact FieldPoint Frequently Asked Questions (2 of 3)

Compact FieldPoint Frequently Asked Questions (3 of 3)

What Are the Differences and Similarities Between FieldPoint and Compact FieldPoint?

Similarities:

• Configuration in FieldPoint Explorer
• Programming palettes for LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI
• Embedded LabVIEW Real-Time
• Hardware capabilities (hot-swappable I/O, automatic scaling to engineering units, self-diagnostics)

FieldPoint Only:

• Bus options: Serial (232 & 485), FOUNDATION Fieldbus, CAN
• Modular terminal blocks
• Dual-channel modules
• Low cost

Compact FieldPoint Only:

• Increased shock (50 g) and vibration (5 g) tolerance
• Up to four serial ports, including RS-485
• CE Heavy Industrial electrical immunity
• Removable Compact Flash storage
• Solid metal backplane with four or eight I/O module slots
• Connectivity options via 37-pin DSUB connectors

  How Do I Select Components For Compact FieldPoint?
  

All Compact FieldPoint systems will consist of five main components.

1.      The Controller

• cFP-2020 for advanced applications using removable Compact Flash or multiple serial ports
• cFP-2010 for large LabVIEW applications with moderate to complex code
• cFP-2000 for simple applications, small code, or 1601 functionality

2.      The I/O Modules 

Many different kinds of analog and digital I/O modules are available for Compact FieldPoint. The Compact FieldPoint (cFP) I/O modules have the same number of channels, speed, and resolution as the corresponding FieldPoint (FP) I/O modules. For instance, a cFP-AI-100 has the same specifications as an FP-AI-100.

3.      The Backplane

The backplanes are not expandable.  If you need more than 8 modules, you will need multiple systems. The systems can talk to each other over Ethernet:

• cFP-BP-4 for 4 or fewer I/O modules
• cFP-BP-8 for 8 or fewer I/O modules

If you are not using all the slots on a backplane, there are blank slot covers to protect the unused slots.

4.      The I/O Connectivity

• Internal connector blocks with screw terminals. The cFP-CB-3 is an isothermal connector block for thermocouple measurements with the cFP-TC-120, and the cFP-CB-1 is a general-purpose connector block.
• External connector blocks with screw terminals. The external connector blocks (CB-37FV vertical block and CB-37FH horizontal block) can be mounted on DIN rails. You will also need a 37-pin cable to connect the connector blocks to the backplane (for example, SH-37M-37F ).
• Custom cable.  We sell a 37-pin to pigtails cable (SH-37M-P), or you can have a third-party manufacturer make custom cables.

5.      The Accessories

• Compact Flash (64, 128, 256, 512 MB with industrial temperature ratings) for use on the cFP-2020.
• Mounting options. All backplanes come with a horizontal panel-mount kit. Other kits are available for vertical panel mounting, DIN rail mounting, and mounting in 19 in. industrial racks.
• Serial cables.
• DIN rail.
• Enclosures. Standard FieldPoint enclosures work with cFP and either the DIN rail clip or the horizontal panel-mount kit. 

  See Also:
  Products and Services: Compact FieldPoint for Rugged Intelligent Control and Measurement
  

  What Options Do I Have for Installation and Mounting?
  

NI offers four mounting options for Compact FieldPoint.

There are two panel-mount options: the horizontal panel-mount kit (cFP-PM-H) with the holes at the sides of the backplane, and the vertical mounting kit (cFP-PM-V) with the holes at the top and bottom of the backplane. Each backplane is shipped with one cFP-PM-H kit.  The kit works with either the cFP-BP-4 or the cFP-BP-8. 

You can also easily mount either the 4- or the 8-slot backplane in a standard 19 in. rack using the cFP-RM-8 rack-mount kit.  The kit features captive screws for mounting the backplane and cutouts for running grounding cables to the backplane. 

The fourth mounting option is to mount Compact FieldPoint on a DIN rail using the DIN rail mounting clip.  The cFP-BP-4 uses one clip; the cFP-BP-8 uses two clips.

See Also:
Products and Services: Panel Rack and DIN-Rail Accessories

What Alternatives Do I Have for Connecting I/O Signals?

CompactFieldPoint uses industry-standard 37-pin DSUB signal connectors, which gives a wide variety of connectivity options.

The first option is to use a screw-terminal connector block, the cFP-CB-1 (general purpose) or cFP-CB-3 (isothermal). These connector blocks plug into slots on the Compact FieldPoint backplane. If you are connecting to high-voltage signals (UL CAT II), you must use the cFP-CB-1 connector block. Both connector blocks provide screw-terminal connections, a strain-relief bar, cable tie slots, and a built-in CJC sensor for thermocouple measurements. The cFP-CB-3 is an isothermal connector block that provides the highest accuracy thermocouple measurements. You can also use the cFP-CB-1 for thermocouples but the cold-junction compensation may not be as accurate.

The second option is to use an external connector block that cables to the Compact FieldPoint bank. You can have the external connector block up to 2 m away on a DIN rail. You will need a cable and a DIN rail-mounted terminal block.  For the cable, you can use the SH-37M-37F, a 37-pin male-to-female cable (available in 1 or 2 m lengths). You have two options for the external connector block: the horizontal (CB-37FH) or vertical (CB-37FV) external DIN rail-mounting connector block.

The third option is to purchase another 37-pin connector block from a third-party vendor, or you can create your own custom cable to connect Compact FieldPoint I/O modules to external devices, sensors, and actuators. The operating instructions for each I/O module include a table that lists the pin assignments for each I/O signal. National Instruments also offers a 4 m cable with a 37-pin connector at one end and color-coded pigtail wires at the other. For details, consult the Compact FieldPoint Accessories Operating Instructions.

See Also:
Products and Services: Connectivity Accessories
Compact FieldPoint Accessories Operating Instructions

How Do I Get Started with Compact FieldPoint?

Compact FieldPoint is very easy to use and allows you to quickly begin performing industrial control and measurement. Getting started is a simple two-step process: 1) Configure the I/O using FieldPoint software, and 2) Read or write the I/O. During configuration, you may wish to select measurement units and range, for instance, “-270 ºC to 1770 ºC” for a thermocouple input channel. You can then read or write the scaled measurements in FieldPoint software or from any OPC Client. For example, you can connect any LabVIEW control or indicator to an I/O channel by simply right-clicking, selecting Data Operations>DataSocket Connection>Browse, and then browsing to the I/O signal under National Instruments.OPCFieldPoint. For the highest performance and for embedded applications, use the FP Read and FP Write functions in LabVIEW, which are located on the FieldPoint palette. For non-embedded applications, you can also use the FP functions in CVI.

How Do I Embed My LabVIEW Application on a cFP-20xx Controller?

Tight integration between the LabVIEW software environment and real-time hardware targets, such as Compact FieldPoint, make your control development process quick and easy. You can take advantage of powerful graphical development using industry-standard LabVIEW to rapidly implement your control system using an extensive palette of open-source functions and tools. First, develop on your Windows host computer using graphical programming blocks. Next, download the application to an embedded controller such the Compact FieldPoint cFP-2020. Finally, deploy your application for dependable long-term execution that performs reliably with or without a network connection. Once the embedded application is deployed, you can access it through any web browser by connecting to the embedded Web server of the FieldPoint controller.

For more information on embedding aplications, see Chapter 5 of the cFP-20xx User Manual. 

See Also:
cFP-20xx and cFP-BP-x User Manual
LabVIEW Real-Time Module User Manual

Related Links:
Products and Services: Compact FieldPoint for Rugged Intelligent Control and Measurement
Compact FieldPoint Frequently Asked Questions (2 of 3)
Compact FieldPoint Frequently Asked Questions (3 of 3)

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