Signal analysis

National Instruments has released a small, rugged dynamic signal analyser (DSA) built on NI reconfigurable I/O (RIO) hardware.

The new cRIO-4408 DSA is a 24-bit, eight-channel data acquisition device for making sound and vibration measurements from integrated electronic piezoelectric (IEPE) sensors. Because of its small size, ruggedness and Ethernet communication, the device is ideal for in-vehicle or embedded machinery monitoring applications in harsh environments.

The cRIO-4408 DSA delivers 102 dB dynamic range and IEPE signal conditioning for accelerometers and microphones, as well as eight input channels that simultaneously acquire at rates from 2 to 33.3 kS/sec (up to 50 kS/sec for four channels). In addition, it offers communication through standard 10/100 Ethernet and built-in analog and digital antialiasing filters that automatically adjust according to the sampling rate.

Because the cRIO-4408 DSA includes an example National Instruments LabVIEW program that details the required TCP/IP communication, engineers simply plug in the device and assign it an IP address to begin acquiring data. Engineers can use the cRIO-4408 DSA with NI software, including the NI LabVIEW Sound and Vibration Toolkit and LabVIEW Order Analysis Toolkit, to calculate weighted sound level, integrated vibration level, baseband and zoom FFTs, fractional octave analysis, frequency response, order tracking and order spectra.

National Instruments' CompactRIO systems weigh less than 3.5 pounds with a -40 to 70 °C temperature range and 50 g shock rating. In addition, CompactRIO is especially useful for in-vehicle applications because of its dual 11-30 VDC supply inputs.