Programming instructions

Chapter 18 Things You Should Know about SCXI
© National Instruments Corporation 18-5 LabVIEW Data Acquisition Basics Manual
Transducer Excitation
Signal conditioning systems can generate excitation for some transducers.
Strain gauges and RTDs require external voltage and currents, respectively,
to excite their circuitry into measuring physical phenomena. This type of
excitation is similar to a radio which needs power to receive and decode
audio signals. Some plug-in DAQ devices and SCXI modules, including
the SCXI-1121 and SCXI-1122 modules, provide the necessary excitation
for transducers.
Linearization
Many transducers, such as thermocouples, have a nonlinear response to
changes in the physical phenomena being measured. LabVIEW can
linearize the voltage levels from transducers, so the voltages can be scaled
to the measured phenomena. LabVIEW provides simple scaling functions
to convert voltages from strain gauges, RTDs, thermocouples, and
thermistors.
For specific information about the VIs you can use with your SCXI module
in LabVIEW, refer to Chapter 29,
Calibration and Configuration VIs
, in
the
LabVIEW Function and VI Reference Manual
, or refer to the LabVIEW
Online Reference
, by selecting
Help»Online Reference…
.