USB digital I/O device suits harsh industrial apps

National Instruments has announced the NI USB-6509, a bus-powered, portable USB digital I/O device for acquiring data in a broad range of applications. With 96 bi-directional digital I/O channels and plug-and-play USB connectivity, the device is suitable for industrial control and automated test applications yet versatile enough for general-purpose DAQ and academic applications. The USB-6509 delivers, to a portable USB form factor, an industrial feature set of four high-reliability features for industrial or harsh applications previously available only in PCI and PXI systems.

The industrial feature set includes programmable power-up states, digital I/O watchdog timers, change detection and programmable input filters. With programmable power-up states, engineers can pre-define the state in which the USB-6509 device powers up, ensuring consistent, reliable operation when connected to industrial actuators such as pumps, valves, motors or relays. Digital I/O watchdog timers can detect a variety of fault conditions, such as a computer crash, and automatically respond by setting the outputs to a user-defined safe state. With change detection, the device automatically triggers an application to perform a read operation after a digital line changes state. Also, engineers can eliminate unintended glitches and spikes in input data and avoid false readings caused by noise with programmable input filters.

The 96-channel device is compatible with transistor-transistor logic (TTL), CMOS and 5V digital logic levels, and each port of eight lines is individually configurable for input or output. The USB-6509 can drive external digital devices such as solid-state relays (SSRs) with current up to 24mA per line while pull-up and pull-down resistors included on the device stabilize the bus potential during a non-access state. The bus-powered device can source up to 215mA total across all digital output lines. An optional 12Vdc power supply is available for additional sourcing current.

The USB-6509 works with NI-DAQmx driver software, which features an easy-to-use and intuitive interface for programming. The device is also compatible with NI LabVIEW, NI LabWindows/CVI, ANSI C/C++, Visual Basic .NET, C# and Visual Basic 6.0.

The NI USB-6509 is priced at $449.