Monitoring Applications with Data Acquisition Hardware

Monitoring is everywhere, from weather stations and power meters to industrial systems, to help reduce cost, improve productivity, and even save human lives. It is different from typical measurement applications because monitoring measurements are usually performed over extended periods of time to generate alarms or notifications, identify data trends, and gain efficiencies. An example is machine condition monitoring (MCM), which is often used for the predictive maintenance of mechanical devices. MCM incorporates sensor measurements to identify when components such as gears or bearings within a mechanical system need to be changed or updated before a failure occurs. This maximizes the lifetime of mechanical components while avoiding costly system failures.

Using Data Acquisition Hardware for Monitoring Applications

Customization is an essential part of building a monitoring system because many factors vary from application to application. Data acquisition hardware adds inputs and outputs (I/O) to standard laptop and desktop computers, turning a general-purpose PC into a flexible, high-performance monitoring system. By taking advantage of the rapid pace of standard PC technology improvements, you can achieve progressively faster processing, more memory, larger hard drives, and graphics displays for system visualization, all at increasingly lower costs. With software flexibility, you can meet your exact application requirements and ensure scalability for future requirements.

Computer-based monitoring systems provide access to a wide variety of communication interfaces, from device communication ports such as USB or PCI Express to Internet communication over wireless or Ethernet. You can implement informative human machine interfaces (HMIs) with standard computer graphics displays and automate report generation with commercial industry software.

You can choose from a wide variety of measurement hardware with different form factors and I/O performance, and each device offers different benefits for various monitoring applications. Wireless devices, for example, are ideal for environmental monitoring, where wires can be cumbersome and the device is exposed to outdoor elements. Ethernet is ideal for distributed monitoring, where distances between the measurement device and computing platform can be more than 100 m before you need to connect with a hub, switch, or repeater. Internal plug-in buses, such as PCI Express or PXI, offer higher-bandwidth measurements and are securely installed in the mechanical casing of the PC itself.

Table 1 lists some of the main considerations.

Table 1. Data Acquisition Hardware Considerations

At the heart of a PC-based monitoring system is the hardware driver and application software. A high-performance, easy-to-use driver ensures short development times while maximizing the performance of data acquisition hardware.

NI-DAQmx and NI LabVIEW Graphical Programming

Included with more than 200 National Instruments data acquisition (DAQ) devices, NI-DAQmx driver software is used to communicate with measurement hardware. NI-DAQmx works with several programming languages including LabVIEW, NI LabWindows™/CVI, ANSI C/C++, Visual Basic 6.0, and C#/Visual Basic .NET.

Although you can develop monitoring applications in a wide variety of software development environments, LabVIEW graphical programming software provides ease of use with tools specifically designed for the needs of engineers and scientists.

[+] Enlarge Image
Figure 2. LabVIEW applications consist of a Front Panel (left) and Block Diagram (right)

LabVIEW is an open development environment that offers access to built-in and third-party functions to help you meet your monitoring needs. With LabVIEW, you can easily measure and visualize data, perform real-time signal analysis, set conditions for notifications and alarms, and generate meaningful reports with trending.

Deploy on LabVIEW Real-Time Targets for Long-Term Reliability

A real-time operating system (RTOS) offers the maximum level of software reliability for system monitoring by dedicating all of its resources to the deployed application. LabVIEW Real-Time Module software is an add-on component for LabVIEW. When installed, this software compiles LabVIEW graphical code and optimizes it for the selected real-time target. Using the LabVIEW Real-Time Module, you can develop and deploy applications to all NI real-time hardware targets including standard desktop PCs and PXI systems. With the NI-DAQmx driver software, you can easily migrate all PCI, PCI Express, and PXI platform devices from LabVIEW for Windows to LabVIEW Real-Time and retain the exact same function calls and hardware configurations.

See How Others Have Created PC-Based Monitoring Systems with Data Acquisition Hardware

Performing Structural Health Monitoring of the 2008 Olympic Venues Using NI LabVIEW

Monitoring the Structural Health of the Rion-Antirion Bridge Using LabVIEW Real-Time

Create the Exact Monitoring System to Meet Your Application Requirements

Monitoring applications help you reduce cost, improve productivity, and make future design decisions using trends based on real-world measurement data. PC-based monitoring systems offer high-performance data acquisition hardware with software customization to take measurements, perform analysis, initiate alarms, log data, and generate reports. By using LabVIEW graphical programming, you can easily create a scalable and intuitive monitoring system.

Next Steps

Watch a demonstration of building a LabVIEW application from scratch

Download and Try LabVIEW Today for Free

Click here for your local contact information or have an NI technical representative call you now.

The mark LabWindows is used under a license from Microsoft Corporation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

1 ratings | 3.00 out of 5

Print

Reader Comments | Submit a comment »