New version of LabVIEW debuts at NI Week event

By Plant Engineering Staff August 8, 2006

National InstrumentsW 8.20’s new features allow for advanced analysis and control, improved distributed system management and new targets for human-machine interfaces (HMIs).

“The success of LabVIEW over the past 20 years is a result of its intuitive graphical programming environment that a broad set of engineers working in many different domains can use,” said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. “LabVIEW continues to evolve into a powerful control software solution, bringing custom measurement and real-time execution capabilities together with industrial and advanced control algorithms for a unique, integrated platform stretching across many different applications.”

Company officials said the latest version of LabVIEW improves the execution speeds of PID control loops by up to 14 times and execution speeds of the LabVIEW Simulation Module for advanced control algorithms by up to nine times, making it possible for engineers to develop and execute complex control modules of more than 1,000 nodes.

“By combining the rugged, compact design of CompactRIO; the reliability of FPGA-based implementation; and the ease-of-use of LabVIEW FPGA, developers now can embed powerful protection monitoring and control systems into their industrial machines,” the company said in a press release.

National Instruments unveiled its new LabVIEW software Aug. 8 at NI Week in Austin, TX.