Posted on

Standardized Software is Key to Lab Modernization

Two men and a woman engineer collaborating on a project

It is no secret that tech innovation is accelerating at an incredible rate- and as a result, engineers face increasing pressure to expedite each stage of product development. Each new technological advancement not only opens up new markets, but also affects how engineers develop and test their products. For any company working to stay at the forefront of evolving technologies while also meeting client demands as effectively as possible, software standardization is critical for modernizing your lab.

Continue reading “Standardized Software is Key to Lab Modernization”

Posted on

Tackling Future Obsolescence Today

Closeup of woman testing a circuit board with an oscilloscope in the background

Do you have a plan for when your NI products reach the next phase of their life cycle? Back in April, we published a blog post about planning for test equipment obsolescence in 2022. As we get closer to the end of the year, we are looking ahead to see which parts from NI are soon to be obsolete, now including Last Orderable Dates slated for December 2022 and into 2023.

Continue reading “Tackling Future Obsolescence Today”
Posted on

How LabVIEW & Python Are Better Together

Closeup to the side of a laptop screen, showing someone coding in Python

Both LabVIEW and Python are indispensable tools when it comes to development and programming. With so many strengths and benefits to both- how do you decide which one to use? The answer is simple. You don’t need to choose! LabVIEW and Python work even better together when it comes to automating test systems. In a recent webinar, NI product marketing engineer Austin Stanton put these complementary capabilities on display.

Continue reading “How LabVIEW & Python Are Better Together”

Posted on

How-To: Submitting a RMA Request

Closeup of a green circuit board being repaired

Even the most well maintained systems will encounter issues every now and again. When the unexpected happens, the last thing you want is to jump through hoops to get a repair- which is why Apex Waves is making it even easier to request a return merchandise authorization form. In this post, we will go over how to utilize the new Apex Waves online request form and answer some common questions about the RMA process.

Continue reading “How-To: Submitting a RMA Request”

Posted on

25 Years of PXI- A History

PXI-4071 Card in front of a full PXI -1045 chassis

PXI is a robust platform that is powered by software and PCI electrical-bus characteristics with CompactPCI’s modular, Eurocard design. For over 2 decades, this high-performance and inexpensive deployment platform has been useful for a wide variety of applications across an expansive range of industries- including the military, aerospace, and industrial industries. The capabilities of PXI in test, measurement, control, and data acquisition applications set the industry standard- but how did it get to this point?

Continue reading “25 Years of PXI- A History”

Posted on

Semiconductor Chips and Circuits

Closeup of a green circuit board

RAM, ROM, GPU, CPU. Each of these terms are familiar to anyone who has spent time researching the components necessary to build their own computer. For the casual user, however, these similar acronyms can raise more questions than they answer. What is the difference between them? This post will give a brief and easily digestible overviews for four of the biggest categories of chips used in manufacturing today; memory chips, microprocessors, GPUs, and CICs.

Continue reading “Semiconductor Chips and Circuits”

Posted on

The Space Tech of Planetary Defense

Rendered graphic of the DART spacecraft in space

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission successfully collided with the asteroid “Dimorphos”. While this relatively small asteroid does not pose a threat to Earth, it provided the perfect target to test NASA’s ability to steer a spacecraft to contact an asteroid in order to divert it. While DART is the first mission of its kind when it comes to testing full scale planetary defense, it is only a part of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which was established in 2016.

Continue reading “The Space Tech of Planetary Defense”

Posted on

Electronic Color Coding

“Cut the red wire!” This is a familiar line to any fan of high-stakes action movies like Lethal Weapon. In the movies, characters hoping to diffuse a bomb before it’s too late are faced with a dilemma- what color wire do they cut? While the answer to that question may depend on the film- the difference in color coded wires has real life consequences. How does a color coded system improve electrical safety? Are all color coding systems still used today? Most importantly- what do all of these different colors mean?

Continue reading “Electronic Color Coding”

Posted on

Checking in With LabVIEW in 2022

Closeup of two people using a laptop and pointing to the screen

Back in June, we published a blog post navigating the initial project outlines for LabVIEW in 2022. Recently, NI released their Q3 Roadmap for the platform, outlining their plan for upcoming releases. September also marks the 9th month since LabVIEW switched over to an all subscription model in January of 2022. In this post, we will see what has changed for the LabVIEW roadmap since our June post, and we will dive into the different options for LabVIEW subscriptions.

Continue reading “Checking in With LabVIEW in 2022”

Posted on

Are AI Images Real Art?

4 panel photo created by the Midjourney AI with oscilloscopes and oceans

In August 2022, Jason M. Allen won first place at the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition. The category for his submission was “digital arts/digitally manipulated photography”. Normally this award wouldn’t make national news headlines, but the prize-winning image was controversial in its creation. Allen used the AI image generator Midjourney as the base to create his piece, leading to a divisive debate: are AI images truly art, owned by the artist? Are these AI generators another artistic tool, or are they just the product of randomized computer code?

Continue reading “Are AI Images Real Art?”