Join the revolution

In the past 25 years, measurement and control systems have gone through a fundamental change. This revolution has been driven by a new system architecture in which the computer is at the heart of measurement systems. Test, measurement, and automation applications have evolved from loosely coupled, and often incompatible, stand-alone instruments and devices to tightly integrated, high-performance measurement and automation systems linked by networks. The revolution is founded not only on more reliable and available networking, but also on a component that is becoming increasingly more important - software.

Thomas Edison is recognised for his innovation in a wide variety of areas. He accomplished all his work with a small team. By the late 20th century, R&D became the domain of large projects requiring hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers and scientists working together, often never fully understanding the scope of their projects. At the start of the 21st century, we are seeing a return to Edison's small teams as a way for companies to create breakthrough innovations that improve the productivity of their engineers and scientists. Many of these engineers and scientists are convinced of the importance of software in encouraging innovation.

Hardware advances in PC technology have brought about significant performance improvements and cost reductions in measurement and control systems. By using highly productive, integrated software many thousands of engineers and scientists have been empowered to take advantage of these benefits. A complete set of software tools gives engineers and scientists the freedom to create a new level of powerful, customised measurement and control systems. These range from measurement and control driver architectures and connectivity software to highly productive application development environments and standardised open connectivity across enterprise networks.

Application Development Environments (ADEs) play a critical role in the development of measurement and control systems. With these tools, a system developer designs and integrates the system that takes measurements, controls processes, displays information to the end user, connects with other applications, and much more. Just as a home computer user today is more intimately knowledgeable about their web browser than their modem card, system developers spend the majority of their development time working with an ADE. Not only must ADEs integrate tightly with measurement and control hardware, such as remote I/O, PLCs, and cameras for inspection, but it is also imperative that an ADE provides transparent access to underlying protocols and technologies. An engineer should have access to the latest software and hardware technologies without having to know about them in minute detail.

Too often, developers of measurement and automation systems assume they can successfully use any programming language to combine components into an integrated system. They often feel that they should choose a tool based solely on the maximum amount of flexibility it offers. At the opposite end of the spectrum, some developers opt to build their tools in-house or use turnkey tools that work only with a single measurement device. Both of these options can severely limit productivity and prevent a measurement and automation system from achieving maximum performance. And it makes integration with other systems difficult. Organisations that use proprietary software often incur unintended expenses as they fight to keep up with rapidly advancing technology. But by using an off-the-shelf ADE designed for measurement and automation, developers can quickly upgrade to the latest operating system, or integrate emerging internet and XML standards with minimal development investment.

Ease of use in ADE tools is critical to the productivity of system developers, but although this is important, ease of use goes beyond how quickly someone can get a system up and running. By taking advantage of easy-to-use ADEs, developers can easily integrate processing routines with multiple measurement devices, create sophisticated interfaces and deploy an application, which can then be maintained and modified as products evolve and system requirements change. National Instruments believes that the ADE revolution has only just started, as more and more engineers learn what an easy-to-use, flexible development environment can do for them.

National Instruments
q100@industrialnetworking.co.uk