NI offers its highest-density PXI motion controller

-- Control Engineering, 8/1/2003

Austin, TX—National Instruments launched July 22 its highest performance PXI motion control module, NI PXI-7350, with added data acquisition capabilities. The high-density PXI-7350 gives automation engineers eight axes of stepper or servo motion control in what NI reports is the industry's smallest form factor, which amounts to a single slot of a 3U PXI chassis. Using the PXI-7350, an 18-slot PXI chassis could potentially contain up to 144 axes of motion.

NI adds that its LabView and Motion Assistant configurable software also simplify integration of motion control with NI data acquisition (DAQ) and machine vision hardware to help engineers create seamless measurement and control applications.

Using PXI-7350's integrated data acquisition capabilities, engineers can incorporate analog I/O into motion control applications to take measurements, from potentiometers for position data, to thermistors for temperature measurements. This new motion control module includes eight 16-bit analog inputs for accurate, single-point data acquisition, and 64-bit digital I/O for controlling solid-state relays or reading digital encoders.

PXI-7350 also features arbitrary position triggers that enable users to trigger measurements at up to 2 kHz rates, a more than 100% increase over NI's previous motion control modules. In addition, PXI-7350 features sinusoidal commutation, which gives engineers the option of building systems with high-speed brushless servo motors.

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news editor
jmontague@reedbusiness.com