Utilizing NI DAQ hardware on a remote system.

[hecmar.arreola]

I noticed that the new version of Measurement & Automation Explorer for LabVIEW 8 now has a "Remote Systems" tab.  Would this enable me to have say Computer A setup with some DAQ hardware and then utilize that hardware at Computer B over a 100 or 1000mbps ethernet network within LabVIEW?

If not, what would I need to be able to do that?  I've played around with the web publishing tool, and would rather have the actual LabVIEW program running on Computer B rather then on Computer A.

Thank you for your input!
-nickerbocker

[GDE]

Hello Nickerbocker,

The Remote System tab is for RealTime targets, such as FieldPoint, or LabVIEW RealTime. I understand that you want Computer A to have all the DAQ hardware, but run no code, and have Computer B run the LabVIEW code but talk to the hardware on Computer A. This is not possible, and not what the Remote Systems is for. Now what you can do is take advantage of the new Shared Variable in LabVIEW 8.0 to share data from A to B. A hypothetical setup would be to have Computer A have all the DAQ hardware and be running the DAQ program to acquire data, but then share the data to Computer B via the shared variable, i.e. use that as a transport method. Let me know what your application is, and why you want to separate the program from the DAQ setup. The shared variable would be a good way to go, but depending on what you are trying to accomplish I might have some other suggestions. Hope I can help.

-GDE

[hecmar.arreola]

Thank you for your reply GDE [DE]!

That’s too bad.  I assumed too much and thought we were able to do something fancy.

I work at a test facility where the tests that we run are hazardous.  We have a lot of concrete walls between us and the tests that are run.  We have a test console setup where we have our entire test monitoring tools in a central location.  The problem is, whenever we make a new test chamber all the transducer lines have to be drawn to our test console.  These lines consist of analog outputs from Omega DP units that power and read pressure transducers and K-type thermocouple channels.

This makes it difficult, if not impossible when time is constraining, to setup for a new test.  Some of our newer test chambers and rooms that we have added to our facility are further and further away from our test console.  Long analog lines are not good for noise reasons.  Long thermocouple channels are even worse since the signal is so small and varying temperature gradients across the line can affect measurement readings.

The solution that seems apparent to me is: why don't we read our transducer values closest to the test cells and network that information back to the test console through a high speed gigabit network?

I was hoping that a remote data acquisition computer would just consist of an operating system, the hardware and hardware drivers for DAQ, and then MAX.  The computers at the test console would be in charge of actually administrating the test procedures (Digital I/O) and DAQ through the network.

I have looked at the web features available in our license of LabVIEW 8 Professional Developer and I'm pretty impressed with its capabilities.  The problem is I don't want to have to obtain a LabVIEW 8 license for each remote computer.  It is just too expensive.  I can build executables with my developer’s license of LabVIEW 8, but I don't think that the web server features can be built into an executable LabVIEW program (or can they?).

Can I use this shared variables solution that you speak of in a LabVIEW built executable?

I hope that I have provided enough information about my problem to help stimulate some possible solutions and more discussion.  I really appreciate the help that these forums provide and hope that I am able to give back to this community.

-Nic

[JLS]

Hello,

Executable

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/4D966061EE84DF5386256DE1005808CA?OpenDocument

[JLS]

Hello,

Web features such as remote front panel access are available in executables - see the attached word document.

You also asked "Can I use this shared variables solution that you speak of in a LabVIEW built executable?"

Yes, in fact, if you build an installer for your application, you can have the installer add the necessary variable engine to your installer.  See the attached screenshot for how to do this in the installer build specification.

I hope this helps!

Best Regards,

JLS

[JLS]

Just a note:

I don't know how my first post ended up that way, but hopefully the second one is helpful!

- JLS

[Dennis_Knutson]

In traditional NI-DAQ, there is (or at least used to be), something called RDA or Remote Data Access. I only remember doing some experiments with it and never needed it for an actual project, but I think you could use this if your DAQ board is supported by NI-DAQ.

[hecmar.arreola]

Thanks for the info!  I think I will initially go the "Remote Front Panels" route first, since it seems the simplest.  Good to know I can compile the web server into the executable.