Can PXI cards be damaged without being connected to sensors?

[yorgo]

I really need to know this. Can configuration related actions damage PXI cards even if they are not connected to sensor sources?

ty

[James-D]

Hi yorgo,

Is there any specific configuration step that you are concerned about? As long as you follow the steps that are included in the installation guide and/or user manual for your device then the configuration of the hardware should not damage the device. If you are performing some steps that are outside of those guidelines (depending on what it is that you are doing) then we cannot be sure whether the device will be protected or not. What hardware are you currently working with and do you have suspicions that a configuration step has damaged the device?

Regards,

[yorgo]

Hi James,

Your Qs are logical, but let me paraphrase my inquiry - is it possible to programatically (or thourgh MAX) disable a PXI device if some boundary circumstances are reached?

Yorgo

[SnowMule]

Smash it with a hammer and you don't even need a chassis or power supply to damage it.

I can't think of any normal situation where a card could be damaged by NI software reconfiguration. 

As far as the boundary shutdown... sounds like you'll have to implement external control hardware to get that functionality.  It's usually a good idea to use some hardware safety/interlocks anyways, especially around high voltage.

[James-D]

Hi Yorgo,

The only feature that is offered on some of our devices right now that sounds similar to what you are looking for is a watchdog timer. A watchdog timer times the receipt of a confirmation that the computer is still functioning properly. If the confirmation is not received, the timeout occurs and the device goes into known safe state. I have included a couple of articles that can provide more details on this functionality. 

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/4289/en

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/21738B64B5E154C286256E8E0024611E?OpenDocument

As far as "boundary circumstances" go, a watchdog timer is probably not going to do the job. I would have to agree with SnowMule in that you would need some external control hardware to monitor these types of situations.

Regards,