NI gets big break

A leading, Chennai-based brake system manufacturer will soon be using the software and hardware supplied by National Instruments (NI) for developing new products. This is expected to take the product development capabilities of the company to the next level.

The company has been using NI’s SCXI (signal conditioning extension for instrumentation) tool for testing vacuum boosters that accentuate brake pedal effort. This relationship has been underway even before the Austin headquartered company set up its subsidiary in India in 1998. With the acquisition of the new tools, the manufacturer will now be to reduce product development time as well as predict breakdown – both product and process – using tests that are systematic, repeatable and easily measurable.

NEWER TECHNIQUES

This is a big departure from the time when the company undertook endurance tests manually using independent hardware, discreet measurement, manual reading of data supported by programmable logic control (PLC). But this process was inefficient in pinpointing whether a breakdown was due to product or process failure. When the company first shifted to NI’s products like Fieldpoint modules, it moved into the digital realm.

Sources within the company told this publication that the unique combination of NI software (LabVIEW) and hardware would provide a self-sufficient system which was capable of reporting on a wide spectrum of tests including tolerance cycles and endurance tests. Being completely digital the testing engineers can now control and manipulate inputs, log data and report at the click of a mouse. These tools also make field tests more reliable and faster.

Currently, the manufacturer is working on developing assembly testing with precise ramp controlling application, which will help improve overall braking efficiency. Sources added that the acquisition of NI’s software and hardware would prove to be a big advantage in product development, particularly when the use of electronic components in vehicles is on the increase. They said the tools would make the validation of electronic components easier.

COMPETITIVE EDGE

National Instruments’ managing director for India and regional manager for Russia and Arabia, Jayaram Pillai, said his company’s tools allowed the designer to quickly prototype concepts and acquire feedback from the field before actually deploying the real product. “This is apt for a developing country like India which is currently seeing the introduction of a lot of new products. In this competitive scenario, time-to-market becomes critical in gaining market share and brand value. Our tools will give companies get the leading edge by cutting time-to-market.”, he said.

The tools also allow for the swift implementation of hardware-in-loop and rapid control prototype. “In addition to drastically reduce time-to-market, it also helps the user in terms of lower cost of ownership, and the flexibility in reconfiguring the system for more than one application,” he added.

T MURRALI