cRIO bus connections for every use case with LabVIEW RT libraries for real-time Ethernet, gateways, and interface modules

The requirements for connecting devices to industrial buses are as varied as the tasks that can be solved with NI-PAC compactRIO. While the controller must be a bus master for connecting sensors and actuators, slave interfaces are usually easier to connect to an existing PLC. Control tasks require real-time behavior with low latency, while for the exchange of metadata and test parameters, simplicity of connection is more important than data throughput. Finally, testing devices with different bus interfaces even requires the ability to change the bus protocol or to use communication mechanisms beyond cyclic data transmission.

We will present the right solution for each of these use cases at NI Days on February 24 in Munich:

A universal gateway based on Hilscher netTAP and the prototype of our bus interface module can be either master or slave in the network. The gateway offers moderate data rates and latency times, while with the C-series bus module we are developing a solution for high clock rates with minimal latency. Our LabVIEW RT bus interface for Hilscher netHost allows both on-the-fly bus switching and access to mailboxes to change parameters or detect bus devices.

What all solutions have in common is that they each cover several real-time Ethernet protocols (such as Profinet, EtherCAT, SERCOS III, Ethernet/IP). Some variants also support classic buses such as Profibus or CAN.

CONTACT:
Holger Mueller
Email: mueller@mueller-krahmer.de
Mobile: +49 160 / 287 7294