Product specs for National Instruments Corporation 781063-01

The NI DeviceNet interface for PCI adds high-performance master/scanner or slave capabilities to DeviceNet networks for PCs and NI industrial controllers. Compatible with both Windows and LabVIEW Real-Time OSs, the NI PCI-8532 DeviceNet interface is shipped with NI-Industrial Communications for DeviceNet software. The software driver provides a high-level API and deterministic control through the LabVIEW Real-Time Module.

The main difference between the new PCI-8532 DeviceNet interface and the older PCI-DNET interface is the high-level programming API with the NI-Industrial Communications for DeviceNet software. You can now use the LabVIEW project to view all of the connected DeviceNet slave devices on the network, configure their settings, and access their physical channels via I/O variables. With these drag-and-drop I/O variables, you can read and write to the slave devices while automatically synchronizing their timing to the NI Scan Engine of the controller. In addition, you can use the new DeviceNet Explicit Message Function Block to quickly send and receive requests from your master interface to the remote slave device.

The combination of these new software features makes it easier to configure and program your DeviceNet master interface when managing a large network of DeviceNet slave devices.