Last month, several members of DMC’s Test and Measurement team attended NI Connect, an annual conference hosted by National Instruments. This conference features technical presentations, new product announcements, and networking events.
As a first-time NI Connect attendee, I had a ton of fun meeting Test and Measurement folks from all over the country and learning about lots of exciting new NI offerings. I also got to present on the Battery Test System 3.0 alongside a member of the NI team.
BTS 3.0 Presentation
The BTS (battery test system) is an NI product for performing electric vehicle battery validation testing. As experts in battery testing for well over a decade, DMC has been partnering with NI in the development and implementation of BTS. Through the development of BTS 1.0, 2.0, and now 3.0, the DMC and NI partnership has created a scalable, validated, and customizable product. I have personally managed multiple projects with the NI team during the development and implementation of BTS 3.0, so it was a wonderful experience to witness that effort come to fruition and to share our work with the NI Connect conference attendees.
Ben Black of NI and I presented on the BTS 3.0 together. We went into detail about the benefits of the BTS, which include:
- User-friendly web screens for lab managers, facility members, and test engineers to view multiple running tests and look at long-term battery stats
- Custom devices for integration across a range of hardware components and vendors
- Validated, built-in template sequences for common battery tests
- Flexible, turn-key measurement hardware
- Balance of validated, fleshed out product with easy-to-customize design
I had a blast presenting about the BTS 3.0 and helping to share DMC and NI’s work with folks at the conference.
Technical Highlights
The NI Connect keynote speeches (available to watch here) were enjoyable. The focus was on several key industries: automotive, semiconductor & electronics, aerospace & defense, and software & technologies.
It was exciting to learn more about NI’s product offerings and gain insights from LabVIEW experts through the various presentations and workshops.
One standout presentation was called “NI Lifecycle Solutions: A Data-centric Approach to Product Life Cycle Performance." This presentation covered multiple NI offerings, including OptimalPlus, which provides high throughput data collection and leverages that data for manufacturing optimization using machine learning, AI, and other strategies. I was especially interested in Machine Learning, since I have experience with DMC projects which employed this. You can learn more about DMC’s battery test offerings here.
Building Connections
Even more than the technical insights, I found NI Connect incredibly valuable for the personal connections that I made. After a year of Zoom meetings, it was amazing to see lots of folks I had worked with in person, and to meet others for the first time!
DMC has a very strong relationship with many members of the NI team, and it was wonderful to strengthen those connections by meeting together at the conference.
It was also great to be surrounded by lots of Test and Measurement enthusiasts from all over the country (and the world)! The energy at the conference was electric—and it was clear that after a very tough few years, many folks were happy to be at this exciting event in person.
Learn more about DMC's partnership with National Instruments.