Have you ever dealt with 160 sensor in one project CRIO or CDAQ?

[GerdW]

Hi lhab,

don't you think you should invite your local NI representative to your site to discuss all the details for such a project?

[preston_johnson]

I agree with GerdW that a face to face consultation is in order as we get started.  The NI Field Engineers are familiar with these applications, can meet in your local time zone and speak local languages as needed. 

The challenge with cDAQ - is it requires a computer to be connected always, and the bandwidth requirements on the network (ethernet version of cDAQ) can cause problems with the information technology team. 

With CompactRIO, we monitor for specific conditions in the measurements (change in speed, change in time (every 15 minutes), change in vibration levels) and then take a snapshot (perhaps 10 or 20 seconds) and write the data to disk in a fully documented TDMS file.  The CompactRIO does NOT need to be connected to the network and can operate autonomously.  All this is configured thru XML files, and when a host comptuer is online, data files are retrieved for additional analysis off-line on the host computer.  The built in FTP server in cRIO, does not require any additional code to be writting on the RT controller for this to work.  All of these functions are found in the CompactRIO vibration data logger reference design listed in my earlier post. I have attached a more compelte listing of LabVIEW components useful for this application. 

We have a number of customer using this reference design, some on cement kilns, some in power plants, some in wind turbines, and some in remote compressor applications using cellular modems. 

Can we start the discussion with a face to face meeting with the local NI Field Engineer?

Thanks

Preston

[Ihab]

Dear Preston,

Thank you for your reply. In fact we started this discussion face to face with NI Arabia about a Month ago. They send me comparison between cDAQ and cRIO. It is clear for the cRIO is winning in this situation. But do we need such high specification for the Vibration Monitoring in Cement Plant? Is cDaq is easier to handle - in terms of writing VIs- than cRIO? Of course yes? But my discussion here is about programming- Software- I developed system with 4 points (channels) easily. My concern comes with the high count of channels, how to deal with them? NI Arabia are selling for the me the Hardware. I am joining the forum because of the software.

In fact I got many points clarified from your replies:

"and the bandwidth requirements on the network (Ethernet version of cDAQ) can cause problems with the information technology team. " like this  phrase my colleague from IT team asked me what kind of problems are expected?

In fact we need to connect the system to a network either cDAQ or cRIO, I mean from the Plant to the control room. In case of cDAQ, the sensor will be mounted on the machine connected to the cDAQ with cable near to the machine and then connected to the Industrial Access Point to the Computer in the Control Room. Similarly will be the cRIO. My concern here is the structure of the VIs and the User interfaces. I wanted from the forum member any feedback or guide lines regarding the high count of channels interface and VIs structure. I think the hardware point would have also an effect on that.

Many thanks and waiting for your prompt reply.

Ihab