Programming instructions

© National Instruments Corporation 18-1 LabVIEW Data Acquisition Basics Manual
18
Things You Should Know
about SCXI
Signal Conditioning eXtensions for Instrumentation
(SCXI) is a
highly-expandable signal conditioning system. The next few chapters
describe the basic concepts of signal conditioning, the setup procedure for
SCXI hardware, the hardware operating modes, the procedure for software
installation and configuration, the special programming considerations for
SCXI in LabVIEW, and some common SCXI applications.
Note
For a better understanding of signal conditioning concepts, the chapters in
Part V refer to SCXI. However, the concepts and techniques discussed in these
chapters also apply to VME eXtension for Instrumentation Signal Conditioning
(VXI-SC).
What Is Signal Conditioning?
Electrical signals can be generated by transducers to measure physical
phenomena, such as temperature, force, sound, or light. Table 18-1 lists
some common transducers.
Table 18-1.
Phenomena and Transducers
Phenomena Transducer
Temperature Thermocouples
Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs)
Thermistors
Integrated circuit sensor
Light Vacuum tube photosensors
Photoconductive cells
Sound Microphone
Force and pressure Strain gauges
Piezoelectric transducers
Load cells