This sounds like a very interesting application! You should definitely be able to wirelessly send and receive data from an in-vehicle cRIO, but there may be a bit of programming involved depending on the communication method.
The simplest way to communicate would be over wireless ethernet, provided that you have wireless network coverage during your data acquisition. Since the cRIO is specifically designed to communicate back to a host over ethernet, this should be the least amount of work on your part.
I would encourage you to browse the forums (ni.com/forums) for other communication ideas as well. We have had customers write applications that communicate through cell phones, radio, etc as well. Using one of these communication methods should be possible, but may require more work on your part to send device-specific commands in order to transfer your data.
The cRIO can definitely be powered off of a DC source. You will require a DC supply between 11-30V (refer to your specific cRIO controller specifications to double check). Power consumption will vary depending on your controller and modules in the cRIO chassis.
Would you like me to have someone give you a call and provide more information about our cRIO systems and the various I/O modules that you can use?
I hope this helps!
Regards,
Casey Weltzin
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
