National Instruments Device Lets Engineering Students Dink Around

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 09/13/10

myDAQ is a USB-based portable unit that allows students to experiment with circuits.

A new sub-$200 device from National Instruments allows engineering students to experiment with circuitry. myDAQ is a portable unit that weighs about six ounces and plugs into a computer through a USB port. It lets students "play around with real circuits, change tolerances on components, and take a wire out to see what effect that has on behaviors," according to one professor who has introduced the tool into his program.

"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 Tony Ambler, chairman of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. "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."

The device is designed by National Instruments and features Texas Instruments analog circuits, including data converters, amplifiers, and interface and power management components. The hardware runs National Instruments' LabVIEW graphical development software, which provides a digital multimeter, oscilloscope, function generator, Bode analyzer, dynamic signal analyzer, arbitrary waveform generator, digital reader, and digital writer.

Previously, "we were constrained by cost. Now we can have students playing around with things in their own time," added Ambler. "They can have a much better and deeper understanding of circuit behavior."

Currently, besides U Texas Austin, the company also claims the University of California, Berkeley and Kansas State University, among others, as customers.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • interconnected cloud icons with glowing lines on a gradient blue backdrop

    Report: Cloud Certifications Bring Biggest Salary Payoff

    It pays to be conversant in cloud, according to a new study from Skillsoft The company's annual IT skills and salary survey report found that the top three certifications resulting in the highest payoffs salarywise are for skills in the cloud, specifically related to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Nutanix.

  • AI-inspired background pattern with geometric shapes and fine lines in muted blue and gray on a dark background

    IBM Releases Granite 3.0 Family of Advanced AI Models

    IBM has introduced its most advanced family of AI models to date, Granite 3.0, at its annual TechXchange event. The new models were developed to provide a combination of performance, flexibility, and autonomy that outperforms or matches similarly sized models from leading providers on a range of benchmarks.

  • landscape photo with an AI rubber stamp on top

    California AI Watermarking Bill Garners OpenAI Support

    ChatGPT creator OpenAI is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in the form of a digital "watermark." The proposed legislation, known as the "California Digital Content Provenance Standards" (AB 3211), aims to ensure transparency in digital media by identifying content created through artificial intelligence. This requirement would apply to a broad range of AI-generated material, from harmless memes to deepfakes that could be used to spread misinformation about political candidates.

  • happy woman sitting in front of computer

    Delightful Progress: Kuali's Legacy of Community and Leadership

    CEO Joel Dehlin updates us on Kuali today, and how it has thrived as a software company that succeeds in the tech marketplace while maintaining the community values envisioned in higher education years ago.