NI Connect 2024 has just concluded, marking not only NI’s first global industry conference since joining Emerson but also a platform brimming with insights into future development trends and innovative explorations in the test and measurement sector.
Ram Krishnan, Chief Operating Officer of Emerson, expressed his enthusiasm after attending NI Connect for the first time, highlighting the collaborative efforts aimed at delivering multidimensional breakthroughs in technology and business value to the industry.
The conference was characterized by two major themes: showcasing technological innovations and fostering partner interactions. Throughout the innovation showcase, AI emerged as a central keyword, permeating nearly all discussions on this year’s technological advancements. This underscores the most significant direction for the transformation of the test and measurement industry in the coming years.
AI will be closely integrated with NI’s existing products and technologies, enhancing efficiency and value in users’ test and measurement operations.
Ritu Favre, President of Emerson’s Test & Measurement business unit, firmly believes that testing, measurement, and data analytics are integrating into every phase of the product lifecycle. Real-time data insights enable precise decision-making, thereby improving product quality, accelerating time-to-market, and enhancing overall organizational performance.
AI Accelerates LabVIEW Evolution, Providing New Methods for Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement in the Test and Measurement Industry
To achieve desired results from data analysis, integration with AI is imperative. Eli Kerry, Software Community Director, demonstrated how LabVIEW, enhanced by AI, automates code inheritance and annotations seamlessly, without the need for users to adapt to new interfaces. This significantly accelerates measurement and insight processes, allowing users to focus on the most creative and valuable aspects of their work.
During demos, NI’s Software Technology Director, Michael Phillips, and Application Software Director, Shruti Shirhatti, showcased how AI simplifies testing tasks, enabling them to complete the workload of two days in just 15 minutes.
While AI enhances platform capabilities, it also introduces risks and challenges. As part of NI’s principles for controlling and using AI, Chief Technology Officer Kevin Schultz summarized the following:
- Expert-led: Engineers retain control to optimize outputs and make final decisions when using AI technology.
- AI-enhanced: Seamless integration of AI capabilities into existing tools minimizes learning curves, accelerates measurement and insight processes, and allows users to concentrate on the most creative and valuable aspects of their work.
- Industry-ready: Ensures data and intellectual property security, adhering to best practices in data security and privacy. Collaboration with industry leaders like Microsoft guarantees that AI applications meet enterprise-level requirements. NI commits to transparent AI use, providing opt-out options, clear terms for data use, and designing auditable logging systems to enhance transparency and user trust.
Driving Continuous Innovation and Expansion in Industry Technology through Collaborative Partnerships
The session on user collaboration achievements showcased how NI’s software-centric testing methods have helped companies enhance efficiency. Notable participants included Siemens Mobility and Magna International.
Siemens Mobility’s Development Manager, George Kaehler, highlighted how NI’s testing systems, including PXI, CompactDAQ, VeriStand, and LabVIEW, expedite digital twinning, transitioning from test validation tools to core design elements. The openness of the NI platform has saved Siemens thousands of hours and millions of dollars in testing efforts.
Global automotive components supplier Magna International launched the SmartBridge embedded software platform to address electrification challenges, prioritizing functional design principles.
During the SmartBridge Connect project launch, Magna International leveraged NI technology to develop the hardware-in-loop (HIL) systems required for real-world vehicle-level testing. Its standout feature lies in its exceptional cross-domain integration capability, seamlessly interfacing with various components. This ensures effective testing of platform and embedded software quality, achieving reduced complexity and costs during rapid iteration and deployment cycles.
