BusinessWire
August 02, 2005 09:43 AM US Pacific Timezone

New NI Machine Vision Board Combines FireWire with Industrial Digital I/O; With NI Reconfigurable I/O Board, Engineers Now Can Trigger, Synchronize IEEE 1394 Cameras

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2005--Engineers building machine vision systems now can trigger and synchronize multiple IEEE 1394 (FireWire) cameras without requiring additional digital I/O or custom circuitry using the new National Instruments (Nasdaq:NATI) PCI-8254R image acquisition board. The NI PCI-8254R board, which features NI reconfigurable I/O technology, combines an IEEE 1394 host adaptor with the digital I/O required for industrial control and communication.

"Its ongoing innovation of FireWire-based vision products is one reason why National Instruments is one of the largest vision companies in the world," said Hardy Mehl, Basler Vision Components director of marketing. "NI products, such as the new PCI-8254R and the NI Compact Vision System, integrate with Basler's new A600 Series of FireWire cameras to provide a wide range of IEEE 1394-based machine vision solutions."

Traditionally, engineers developing machine vision systems with FireWire were required to purchase extra hardware or build custom circuitry to synchronize their system components. With the new PCI-8254R board, engineers can access 29 digital I/O lines for synchronizing vision components such as cameras, triggers and lights. In addition, they can use quadrature encoder inputs, pulse generation lines and general-purpose digital I/O for communicating with actuators, PLCs and NI programmable automation controllers (PACs). To help integrate and troubleshoot signals, NI also offers an I/O terminal block and prototyping accessory that simulates inputs and displays outputs on LEDs.

Engineers can extend the functionality of the PCI-8254R board by taking advantage of NI reconfigurable I/O technology. Using the NI LabVIEW FPGA Module, engineers can customize the board's 29 digital I/O lines to perform a wider variety of packaging inspection, assembly verification and robot control applications.

The PCI-8254R image acquisition board includes two IEEE 1394a ports and the NI-IMAQ for IEEE 1394 Cameras driver software to help engineers access, configure and acquire images from up to 16 cameras.

NI continues to create innovative vision hardware and software products for the IEEE 1394 (FireWire) standard. NI hardware and software products for FireWire cameras provide a simple, low-cost way to acquire images from more than 300 supported FireWire cameras, including infrared and linescan. Engineers can use FireWire cameras with the NI Compact Vision System, NI 8252 interfaces, the NI PCI-8254R image acquisition board or any other OHCI-compliant IEEE 1394 interface devices.

About National Instruments

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation -- a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists in industry, government and academia approach measurement and automation. Leveraging PCs and commercial technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control and design applications through easy-to-integrate software, such as NI LabVIEW, and modular measurement and control hardware for PXI, PCI, USB and Ethernet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,500 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. In 2004, the company sold products to more than 25,000 companies in 90 countries. For the past six years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Readers can obtain investment information from the company's investor relations department by calling 512-683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.

Pricing and Contact Information

NI PCI-8254R image acquisition board             
Priced from $895                                 
Web: www.ni.com/vision                           

11500 N Mopac Expwy, Austin, Texas 78759-3504       
Tel: 800-258-7022, Fax: 512-683-9300            
E-mail: info@ni.com                                 
      

LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com and NI-IMAQ are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.