February 2, 2011 – National Instruments announced a line of touch panel computers with an extended operating temperature range based on the 1.33 GHz Intel Atom processor. With Intel Atom processors, engineers can build high-performance human machine interfaces (HMIs) with a low-power, fanless device. The NI TPC-2206 and TPC-2212 feature a -20 to 60°C operating temperature range for harsh industrial applications, 4 GB solid state drives for reliable operation in extended vibration environments and Windows Embedded OS for long-term deployment and support.
They also feature 1 GB of RAM, two gigabit Ethernet ports and LED backlight technology to maintain screen brightness across the range of temperatures.The use of Intel Atom processors as the basis for these touch panel computers facilitates not only their extended temperature range, but also their improved application performance. The industrial touch panel computers work with a variety of hardware including NI CompactRIO, PXI, NI Smart Cameras, NI Embedded Vision Systems and other third-party industrial devices. Engineers can develop advanced and intuitive HMI applications with the LabVIEW graphical development environment, which they use to communicate with their hardware through standard communication methods such as TCP, OPC, USB, Modbus, Ethernet/IP and many more.
LabVIEW provides easy network deployment, prebuilt template applications and navigation controls for building complex multiscreen interfaces. Engineers also gain programmatic control of advanced OS features such as Enhanced Write Filters and Hibernate Once/Resume Many (HORM). “The touch panel computers releasing today, combined with NI LabVIEW software, provide a rugged high-performance interface for monitoring and control applications,” said Eric Starkloff, NI vice president of marketing for test and embedded. “The Intel Atom processors bring more intelligence than ever before to embedded connected devices such as touch panel HMI computers,” said Staci Palmer, senior director of marketing for the Intel Low Power Embedded Processor Division.
“Devices that integrate smart, connected services to monitor, sense, serve and control applications intelligently and interactively help our world operate more efficiently.”
About National Instruments
National Instruments is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 30,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 4 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 15 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past 12 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.
