Custom Design for NI Hardware

National Instruments provides engineers with a number of different hardware platforms for test, measurement, and design. For example, you can take advantage of NI Single-Board RIO, PXI, or data acquisition (DAQ). Each of these hardware platforms allows you to effectively interface to real-world measurements, analyze data, and perform advanced functionality.

Although many modules, accessories, and add-ons are available for each of these platforms, there may be a need for a custom fixture to complete your platform. For example, depending on the type of application you are working on, you may require custom signal conditioning to interface real-world signals to a control system. If an off-the-shelf component is not available, then you need to be able to design such a fixture.

With this NI resource you can learn about NI software and hardware that allows you to deploy a complete, custom designed system.

 

Custom Design Resources

Custom Design:  Design with NI software tools. NI Single-Board RIO:  View resources for NI Single-Board RIO. CompactRIO:  Discover resources on NI CompactRIO. NI M Series DAQ:  Explore how to design for DAQ devices.

 

 

Introduction to Custom Design with NI Software

With National Instruments circuit design tools you have the ability to prototype custom circuitry faster. NI Multisim is a schematic capture and simulation environment for analog and digital circuits. Sister product NI Ultiboard is a board layout and routing environment to rapidly prototype a PCB. Regardless of experience with printed circuit board (PCB) design tools, you can easily prototype a complete design.

Download NI Multisim evaluation software >>

 

 

How can you improve design?

When designing circuits, considerable time is lost performing the following tasks:

Building a schematic: Common, repetitive tasks are made difficult due to numerous “design modes” and messy wiring. Multisim simplifies schematic capture by making repetitive tasks intuitive. For example, rather than having to switch to a “wiring mode,” Multisim allows you to connect symbols together automatically.

Defining custom connectors: No design tool has all connector symbols, particularly when working with hardware from a specific company (such as National Instruments). Creating the symbol and land pattern for a connector is a time-intensive task. With multiple precisely distanced pins, it can literally take days to create a library of connectors. Often a mistake can be made, and an inaccurate symbol can result in hours of prototype rework. When designing for NI hardware, Multisim has made design easier by including a library of connectors for NI hardware such as NI Single-Board RIO, CompactRIO, and M Series DAQ. This library can save hours in your design flow.

Transferring to Layout: The PCB design industry offers a number of different design tools. The issue has often been that the integration between the initial schematic phase and latter layout stages are between tools that have not been properly integrated together. National Instruments had identified this as a major issue in the design procedure of engineers, and based upon customer feedback and the need to simplify design, completely rearchitected the integration between Multisim and Ultiboard. Annotation of your design from Multisim schematic and Ultiboard layout is completely transparent. For example, the “guessing game” of what is happening during transfer has been replaced with clear dialogs.

 

 

Multisim Database of Connectors

In Multisim, there is a database of 26 symbols and land patterns for NI mating connectors. These connectors allow you to interface a custom PCB designed in Multisim to NI hardware (NI Single-Board RIO, CompactRIO, and M Series DAQ).
To access these components:

1. Open Multisim (Start >> All Programs >> National Instruments >> Circuit Design Suite 11.0 >> NI Multisim 11.0)
2. Select Place >> Components
3. Select the Master Database in the Database dialog.
4. Select NI_Components in the Group dialog.
5. View the four separate families of components (Figure 1).

 

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Figure 1 - The Logical Organization of the Select A Component Interface

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Custom Design for NI Single-Board RIO

NI Single-Board RIO is a low-cost embedded deployment solution. You are able to program both a real-time processor and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) using NI LabVIEW software, and interface to analog and digital I/O. The NI Single-Board RIO motherboard configuration allows for designers to integrate a complete solution into any form factor.

Figure 2 - The NI Single-Board RIO Diagram

 

The NI Single-Board RIO platform allows you to easily interface a Xilinx FPGA to either analog/digital ports or to C Series I/O modules.

The analog and digital I/O ports reside on the top of the NI Single-Board RIO unit. As such, if you require any specific amplification or filtering to be completed prior to a signal interfacing to the board, you can build a custom daughter card to fit onto the board in any custom form factor.

By using Multisim and Ultiboard, you can define a PCB of any size or shape, specific to your application. To make this task easier, NI provides connector symbols and land patterns for the ports on this platform. Also available are a number of reference designs and white papers.

What kind of custom designs do customers design for?

1. Signal amplification
2. Signal filtering
3. Interface to domain specific signals (biomedical, mechanical, and so on)
4. Transmit over different communication protocols

User Solutions: Learn about other engineers designing custom PCBs for NI Single-Board RIO

1. Creating an Innovative Medical Instrument Using NI Single-Board RIO and NI Multisim
2. Embedded FedEx Fire Suppression System Using NI Single-Board RIO

Reference Designs and Whitepapers: View resources on how to design for NI Single-Board RIO

1. Whitepaper: Custom Design for NI Single-Board RIO with Multisim and Ultiboard
2. Reference Design: NI Single-Board RIO Reference Design with NI Multisim and Ultiboard

Tools Used: Learn about the products

1. NI Multisim and NI Ultiboard (available as the NI Circuit Design Suite)
2. NI Single-Board RIO

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Custom Design for NI Compact RIO

CompactRIO is a low-cost reconfigurable control and acquisition system design. CompactRIO combines a real-time processor and FPGA, enclosed within a rugged form factor. I/O modules for acquisition and transfer of measurement data are hot swappable and small in size. CompactRIO is ideal for prototyping designs quickly (Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Designing for CompactRIO

 

The FPGA on CompactRIO interfaces to the real world through C Series I/O modules, which can comprise some form of isolation, digital-to-analog converter (DAC) or analog-to-digital converter (ADC), as well as a specific connector block. The function of the I/O can depend on your specific design and control needs.

There are a number of times when you must customize your CompactRIO. For example although there are a number of I/O modules available, you may need something domain specific. This can include transmission over a communication network, or filtering for certain interference. There are other situations in which the I/O module can perform the actions necessary; however, there is difficulty in interfacing the external signals to the CompactRIO. For this scenario, using a breakout board to take external signals and refashioning them appropriately for the CompactRIO can help to improve design performance or deployment.

What kind of customization do customers design for?

1. Breakout signals
2. Signal conditioning
3. Interfacing to domain specific signals (biomedical, mechanical and so on)
4. Transmitting over different communication protocols

User Solutions: Learn about other engineers designing custom PCBs for CompactRIO

1. Rapid Design of a Military Communication System Using NI Multisim and CompactRIO 
2. High-Performance Electronics for a Forumulat Race Car with CompactRIO and Multisim

View Designs and Whitepapers: View resources on how to design for NI CompactRIO

1. Reference Design: Breakout Board Design for a CompactRIO Module
2. Reference Design: Custom C Series Module Design
3. Reference Desgin: Custom C Series Module with Freescale Acceleration Sensor

Tools Used: Learn about the products

1. NI Multisim and NI Ultiboard (available as the NI Circuit Design Suite)
2. CompactRIO Module Development Kit

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Custom Design for M Series DAQ

NI multifunction DAQ devices provide analog and digital I/O for various applications. You can deploy low-cost solutions for the acquisition of measurements for various test and analysis applications.

Figure 4 - The NI M Series DAQ Module

 

A great example of customization for M Series DAQ is for the purposes of a breakout board. When designing a breakout board, the engineer needs to take signals from a specific source and interface signals in such a manner that they “mate” with an external system. For example a breakout board can be designed to take signals from an M Series DAQ connector and re-orient signals to an R Series DAQ connector, which has different pin numbering.

Though this can be achieved by a breadboard and wires, the mess and lack of ruggedness of such a design can be an issue in most laboratory environments.

 

Reference Designs and Whitepapers: View resources on how to design for NI Single-Board RIO

1. Reference Design: Creating a Custom R Series to M Series Connector Board

 Tools Used: Learn about the products

1. NI Multisim and NI Ultiboard (available as the NI Circuit Design Suite)
2. National Instruments DAQ Devices

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