Highlights from the NI Automated Test Forum

Last month, I attended NI’s Automated Test Forum in Milpitas, CA. This event provided an excellent opportunity for NI representatives, partners, and customers to connect and learn about NI’s latest offerings.  

Highlights included expert presentations from NI industry leaders, interactive hands-on sessions with PXI and cDAQ systems, a diverse range of live demonstrations and engaging discussions.  

What’s New at NI 

NI remains committed to investing in new hardware and software. At the event, they showcased a range of new offerings and shared insights into their future roadmaps. Here’s a brief overview of some of the key topics discussed. 

Hardware Updates

• Revamped PXI offerings: NI is making significant investments to enhance their PXI hardware, introducing a new line of PXI controllers with substantial performance improvements, along with a range of new cards focused on Precision DC and RF applications. DMC is excited to share these new offerings with our customers as the latest and greatest in flexible, high-performance control & measurement systems.

PXI demo

• New mioDAQ device: NI’s newest USB DAQ device is a robust, powerful, totally redesigned DAQ. As a part of NI’s greater “DAQ is Back” campaign, this compact device is perfect for quick simple measurements, automated test systems, and more! It can mount to any test bench in seconds with zip ties and comes in four different models, with sample rates up to 1 MS/s/ch. The mioDAQ is a huge step into the future of powerful, high sample-rate testing in a small form-factor.

 
mioDAQ Demo

Software Updates

• .NET 8.0 support: NI has introduced support for .NET 8.0 code modules in the TestStand 2024 Q4 release, in addition to limited .NET 8.0 support within LabVIEW 2023 Q4. 
   
• InstrumentStudio Pro: In addition to the free InstrumentStudio software, NI’s new InstrumentStudio Professional allows for sequence configuration and third party hardware integration. This powerful tool integrates seamlessly with NI’s LabVIEW and TestStand platforms. 
   
• FlexLogger Lite: NI’s new “Lite” version of the FlexLogger software is available for free with NI’s DAQmx driver, and is the perfect quick and easy tool to configure simple logging from a compactDAQ device. This tool released with the mioDAQ as a part of NI’s revamped focus in high-performance DAQ. 

SystemLink Overview  

SystemLink is an enterprise-level solution for lab and test site management, monitoring, data collection & visualization. From downtime tracking, calibration management, and test plan management to advanced data analysis, SystemLink is an excellent tool for making the most of large hardware fleets (see DMC’s case study on Large Data Standardization and Storage).  

As a NI SystemLink Specialty Partner, DMC is skilled at developing specialized SystemLink solutions for our customers. Read more about DMC’s expertise using SystemLink for data management, or reach out to learn more about how a custom SystemLink application can be useful to your team. 

Learn more about DMC's Test and Measurement Automation expertise and contact us for your next project.