Controllers: NI introduces high-performance Compact FieldPoint controllers

Austin, TX — National Instruments (NI) announced three new Compact FieldPoint controllers that the company says deliver increased performance, higher processor speed and significantly improved Ethernet throughput. The NI cFP-2220, cFP-2210 and cFP-2200 controllers include a 400 MHz PowerPC processor and Wind River VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS) for greater processing power and faster data analysis.“We use Compact FieldPoint and NI LabVIEW for mobile oil field monitoring and control,” said Mike King, product development manager for Advanced Measurements Inc. e than 10X increase in Ethernet throughput in our application.”NI says the cFP-2200 features up to 128 MB of SDRAM and onboard storage, and the cFP-2210 delivers up to 256 MB of SDRAM and up to 128 MB of onboard storage. The cFP-2220, it claims, has dual Ethernet ports for connectivity to enterprise and dedicated I/O networks, as well as three RS-232 ports and one RS-485 port for serial devices. For logging and transferring data on external memory, the controller includes an additional USB port and a removable CompactFlash slot. The cFP-2220 also has two times the amount of onboard storage and SDRAM, up to 256 MB, for storing more data on the controller itself.The company says engineers can create stand-alone embedded systems with these new controllers by using LabVIEW RT (real time) to deploy custom applications for data logging and monitoring, real-time analysis and advanced intelligent control. The new controllers also feature a 10X increase in Ethernet throughput for greater data transfer rates, and they include Reliance file system support to protect data integrity. In addition, NI says it has released two new connector blocks for convenient wiring and troubleshooting. The NI cFP-CB-2 and cFP-CB-4 offer removable connectors for easy front-panel access to the terminals for wiring sensors.The cFP-22×0 controllers are the first release of fully RoHS-compliant products for the Compact FieldPoint product line, demonstrating NI’s commitment to eliminating certain hazardous substances from products to benefit the environment. The remainder of the Compact FieldPoint product line is expected to be RoHS-compliant by 2010.— C.G. Masi , senior editor, Control Engineering News Desk Register here and scroll down to select your choice of eNewsletters free.

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