To experience engineering outside the lab for students, National Instruments has released the NI myDAQ portable instrumentation device for students in university engineering courses. The device is designed by National Instruments and features Texas Instruments analog circuits including data converters, amplifiers and interface and power management components. NI myDAQ hardware integrates with NI LabVIEW graphical development software to help reverse the trend of rising educational costs by giving students hands-on interaction with real analog circuits, sensor measurements and signal processing for about the price of an engineering textbook.
"Students need exposure to real circuits and hardware, but the problem for engineering professors is trying to meet the increasing cost of providing real electronics with continually tighter budgets," said Dr. Tony Ambler, Chairman, Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas, Austin. “NI myDAQ is inexpensive enough for every student to have their own, plug it into their laptop at home, in the dorm or in the park, and experiment with the real electronics all around them, without using lab time or lab equipment.”
When combined with LabVIEW on a PC, NI myDAQ delivers a complete solution for hands-on learning of core concepts in engineering curricula that include analog circuits, sensor measurements and signals and systems courses.
NI myDAQ also integrates with the NI Multisim circuits education environment to provide a far-reaching educational platform. The device includes the eight software-based instruments, DMM cables, an audio cable and a reusable storage tray. LabVIEW Student Edition software and Multisim Student Edition software also are available with the device at a significant discount to students.
