National Instruments 785064-01 CompactDAQ Chassis

National Instruments' 785064-01, sometimes referred to as the cDAQ-9185, is a flexible 4-slot Ethernet CompactDAQ chassis made for distributed sensor measurement systems. It effectively controls the data flow, timing, and synchronization between C Series I/O modules and an external host, allowing for a personalized combination of digital, analog, and counter/timer measures.

This chassis is perfect for large-scale, dispersed measurements because it uses Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) to give accurate, synchronized timing via the network. It contains an integrated network switch for easy daisy-chaining in addition to four 32-bit general-purpose counters/timers for applications such as quadrature encoders, PWM, and pulse train creation.

The 785064-01 chassis includes a grounding screw, LEDs, reset button, power connector, and a PFI SMB connector. It has two tri-speed RJ-45 Ethernet ports that support shielded straight-through Category 5 Ethernet cables or Ethernet crossover cables, facilitating network connections to a computer host, NI Linux Real-Time controller, other cDAQ chassis, FieldDAQ devices, or any network on the same subnet.

Supporting automatic network-based synchronization with IEEE 802.1AS-capable NI Linux Real-Time controllers, the chassis displays a SYNC logo indicating its hardware-based synchronization capabilities. It can be daisy-chained to other chassis or connected to external networks that support IEEE 802.1AS synchronization, ensuring all timebases are automatically synchronized. Network-synchronized chassis can utilize time-based synchronization features in NI-DAQmx, simplifying large system programming with time-based triggers and timestamps.

In Host Time or I/O Device Time, time triggers and timestamps can be provided. Within the subnet, all 802.1AS network-synchronized devices share an internal time called I/O Device Time, which is used by the 785064-01. Whether it comes from a network time protocol (NTP) server or a local real-time clock, Host Time is the current global time shown on a Windows PC or NI Linux Real-Time controller.

With the three analog input (AI) timing engines built into the 785064-01 chassis, up to three separate analog input tasks with separate timing and triggering configurations can operate concurrently. The ability of these engines to effectively handle several jobs increases the chassis' usefulness in intricate automation and measurement applications.