Instrument Control

What Is Instrument Control?
See 50+ Instrument Control Demos and Technical Information
Learn about Buses
Configure Instrument Control Systems
Find FREE Instrument Drivers
Explore Instrument Control Software
National Instruments offers an extensive assortment of instrument control hardware and software tools to help save you time and money throughout the life of your instrument control system. You can rely on bus hardware for GPIB, USB, Ethernet, and serial and software tools including National Instruments LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and instrument drivers that offer improved performance, high reliability, and increased productivity.

Highlights

Customer Solutions

• NASA Uses Integrated Characteristic Laser Beam
• Building a Fuel Cell Test System
• Other Instrument Control Solutions

Services and Training

• NI LabVIEW Instrument Control Course
• Instrument Driver Development Course
• Training
• Services

Support

• Technical Support
• Drivers and Updates
• FREE Instrument Drivers

Events and Seminars

• More Than 100 Webcasts on-Demand
• Webcasts
• Technical Seminars

Related Resources

• Instrument Driver Developer Program
• LabVIEW
• Instrument Control Software
• OEM Device-Side Tools

Technical Resources

• Instrument Control Fundamental Series
• Create Your Own Instrument Control Application Online with LabVIEW Eval Software
• Instrument Control and Connectivity White Paper
• Long-Term Instrument Control and Connectivity Solutions
• Create Instrument Control Application Online with LabVIEW
• Future of Bus Technology White Paper
• Basic Serial Concepts White Paper

Instrument Control System Components

Instrument Control Bus Hardware

GPIB

Plug-in and external controllers, industry-standard development software, custom ASICs, support products, and cables and accessories for GPIB applications

Serial Interfaces

Complete family of serial interfaces and driver software for communication with industrial devices using RS232, RS422, and RS485 serial buses

USB

Family of converter products to control GPIB or serial devices from the USB port of your desktop or laptop PC

Ethernet/LAN

Family of converter products to control GPIB or serial devices on an Ethernet/LAN-based network from your desktop or laptop PC

Instrument Control Software

Instrument Control Software

Software development environments optimized for instrument control including LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement Studio

Instrument Drivers

More than 5,000 FREE instrument drivers available for download to simplify and reduce the cost of instrument control test program development

I/O Software

Comprehensive I/O software packages for configuring, troubleshooting, and controlling instrumentation hardware systems

Instruments

Modular Instruments

Compact, high-performance measurement hardware devices with integrated timing and synchronization resources including digitizers, function and arbitrary waveform generators, high-speed digital I/O, digital multimeters, and RF measurement hardware for PCI and PXI

PXI

PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) is the open, multivendor standard for measurement and automation that delivers more than 10 times the performance of older measurement and automation architectures

Stand-Alone Instruments

See resources and download instrument drivers for controlling and automating your stand-alone instruments

Third Party Partners

LabVIEW, SignalExpress, and Tektronix

Tools to quickly solve your design challenges and efficiently automate your tests by combining the advanced analysis and automation capabilities of LabVIEW and SignalExpress and the high-precision measurements of Tektronix oscilloscopes.

National Instruments Alliance Partner Directory

Searchable directory with more than 600 worldwide consultants, system integrators, developers, channel partners, and industry experts

Assistance and Contact

Questions? Get real-time assistance now!

» Global Contact Information