Today, National Instruments (NI), now part of Emerson Electric, introduced the NI mioDAQ, a USB data acquisition device designed to enhance measurement precision and user experience.
The mioDAQ connected to NI’s FlexLogger Lite software.
As electronic systems become more complex, engineers face pressure to improve the quality of their designs while reducing time to market. Power electronics, telecommunications, and IoT devices require solutions that provide accurate measurements and integrate smoothly with development workflows. Here, engineers rely on data acquisition systems that combine performance with ease of use to test, analyze, and iterate their designs quickly and efficiently.
All About Circuits interviewed Brett Burger, National Instruments’ chief solution marketer, to learn how the new NI mioDAQ may up measurement performance, provide more robust software, and simplify setup.
Performance Specifications and Capabilities
National Instruments built the NI mioDAQ’s architecture to handle demanding electronic measurement tasks.
“This is going to raise the bar,” Burger said. “This is setting a new benchmark in the market for how much data we can move, and it’s got the NI-consistent quality.”
The device supports up to 16 channels of simultaneous 20-bit analog input, offering precision measurements with a sample rate of one million samples per second (MS/s) per channel. According to NI, this level of accuracy is useful for applications requiring high-speed data acquisition, such as capturing transient signals, voltage monitoring in power supplies, or high-frequency sensor data.
The mioDAQ includes four ±10-V analog output channels with a 250,000 samples per second (kS/s) update rate. These channels can be used for signal simulation, waveform generation, or controlling external devices. Use cases for this capability include closed-loop control systems, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, and prototyping.
The mioDAQ in a benchtop setup
The mioDAQ has 16 flexible digital I/O lines and four counter/timer channels that can be configured for various digital measurement and control tasks. Engineers can define each digital pin’s role via software, enabling advanced digital signal processing tasks like pulse counting, quadrature encoding, and pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal generation. The combination of analog and digital I/O makes the mioDAQ a versatile tool for multifunction data acquisition tasks.
Flexible Models and Usable Features
Burger explained some of the useful housing features of the device as well:
“This is a newly designed metal enclosure with low-profile rubber feet on the bottom. The tail won’t wag the dog. When you have it plugged into a USB cable and your signal wire is in front, it won’t slide all over the desk. We’re using spring terminals, so you can just depress it with a fingernail and it’ll pop right out. It’s also got zip tie holes because we’ve seen hundreds of engineers using bungy cords, duct tape, and other various ways to shove DAQ devices in their test rigs. We just want to make it easier for them to get up and moving.”
With four distinct models available, engineers can choose between 16-bit and 20-bit resolutions depending on their specific measurement needs. The highest-end model supports 16 simultaneous analog inputs with 20-bit resolution at 1 MS/s per channel. The device also supports gain settings ranging from ±200 mV to ±10 V so users can optimize input ranges per channel for enhanced signal integrity.
Integration with NI Software
The mioDAQ leverages National Instrument’s larger ecosystem of software and tools, integrating with NI’s renowned LabVIEW software suite.
“[With the mioDAQ], you get the seamless LabVIEW experience,” Burger said. “It fits in because we focus on the engineer, their job, and their workflow. We understand that there are different tools that they like to use, and we want to support that.”
LabVIEW, a staple in the engineering community, offers a graphical programming environment for creating custom measurement and control applications. The mioDAQ’s tight integration with LabVIEW allows engineers to quickly develop sophisticated applications without writing low-level code.
LabVIEW supports multiple timing engines, which enables synchronized operation between analog and digital channels. Engineers can synchronize measurements across analog and digital channels in applications requiring simultaneous sampling of multiple signal types to guarantee accurate time-correlated data across all inputs and outputs.
The mioDAQ integrates cohesively with LabVIEW.
Additionally, LabVIEW’s extensive library of instrument drivers and analysis tools allows users to automate data acquisition tasks and integrate the mioDAQ with other instruments in the lab. Engineers can develop custom control algorithms, perform real-time data analysis, and visualize results using LabVIEW’s built-in plotting and analysis functions. The mioDAQ also benefits from LabVIEW’s waveform generation and signal simulation capabilities, allowing users to simulate sensor inputs or generate complex waveforms to test their systems in real-time.
“One of the things we’ve done on the back of every mioDAQ is stamped a QR code,” Burger noted. “That QR code takes you to a setup page. Now, you can turn your phone into the user manual and a pin map.”
Further bolstering the mioDAQ is its NI’s FlexLogger Lite software support, which offers an intuitive interface for logging and visualizing data without custom programming. FlexLogger Lite allows engineers to configure the mioDAQ quickly, log data directly to Excel or TDMS files, and visualize real-time trends and graphs.
Portability and Ease of Use
As industries demand faster iterations and more precision in testing and development, tools like the mioDAQ are essential for staying ahead of technological challenges. With its combination of high-speed, high-resolution measurement capabilities and seamless integration with industry-standard software like LabVIEW and Python, the mioDAQ offers flexibility across a broad spectrum of applications.
“One of the big strengths of mioDAQ is its portability and how easy it is to set up. It’s one cable,” Burger said. “You can throw 32 channels of high-speed data or 16 simultaneous in your backpack and hit the road.”
All images used courtesy of National Instruments, part of Emerson Electric.
