Remote communication with DAQ hardware on networked PC

[Bent Nail]

I have LabVIEW 8.2 installed on a laptop I use for development. I want to write a simple application for a DIO card installed in a PCI slot in a desktop PC (the laptop will not accomodate a PCI card). The desktop does not have LabVIEW installed, but both PCs are connected to the same local network. Is it possible to remotely communicate from my laptop, via LabVIEW, with the DIO card installed in the desktop?

Thanks,
Mark

[hoffiz]

So let’s see we have a laptop with LabVIEW 8.2 and the necessary drivers for the DIO card, use for development and then you have a desktop with a PCI DIO card on the same network.  Since your desktop computer does not have LabVIEW you will need to install on it at least the NI DAQmx drivers and the LabVIEW run time engine, both are downloadable from our website.

1.       First option and the easiest one is to simulate your DIO card in Measurement and Automation Explorer, this way you don’t need to connect to the desktop and you can develop even if the laptop is not connected to the network. For more information look at: NI-DAQmx Simulated Devices.

2.       Second option can be building an executable that will bind your DAQmx channels to shared variables, since share variables can be deployed over the network and you only need the runtime engine on the desktop it can be a feasible solution for you, though you will have to create an executable that will be deployed on the desktop handling the binding of the variable to the DAQmx channel. For more information: Knowledge base: 3S08AS88 and Using the LabVIEW Shared Variable.

3.       In the case you have traditional DAQ drivers you might be interested in using Remote Device Access, for more information you can check this DevZone article: Networking Two PCs for Remote Data Acquisition.

I hope it helps

Message Edited by Jaime F on 11-20-2007 01:06 PM

[hecmar.arreola]

Jaime F,

Reading through the article on RDA for traditional DAQ devices it seems like a pretty handy approach to accessing DAQ hardware remotely.  Do you know what this wasn't implimented with DAQmx?

I'm working on a project now, and my needs are similar to the OP.  Developing a LabVIEW exectuable on my Laptop that will handle hardware on remote computers.  Furthermore, the application has to handle hardware on multiple computers and everything is to be executables instead of full LabVIEW.

I am currently using simulated hardware on my laptop with a carfully planned out LabVIEW project (see attched image).  I'm making use of Shared Network Variables which are pretty dang flexable and are a very nice feature.  That being said, I now have to write LabVIEW programs to handle the DAQ to Shared Variable interface for each computer that is driving hardware.  The VIs to do this are simple enough, but the whole project would be a lot simpler if functionallity similar to RDA was available for DAQmx drivers that was configurable in MAX.

-Nickerbocker

[jaced]

Hi,

I cannot attest as to why the RDA feature was removed, If this is a feature that you would like to see return then you can always create a product suggestion to give us feedback. Our developers take these suggestions into consideration when developing the next version of a product. I am glad to hear that everything seems to be going smoothly with your application.  Please post back if you encounter any troubles.