NI myDAQ User manual

myDAQ
iDaq Component
User guide
July 2016
Rev 03

myDAQ iDaq Component –User Guide
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Copyright © 2014 TOOLS for SMART MINDS. All rights reserved.

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SUMMARY
Overview............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Installation .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Getting started with myDAQ devices ................................................................................................................................. 7
Adding a myDAQ device to the list of active devices...................................................................................................... 7
myDAQ settings .................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Analog Input settings .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Channel Settings ........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Editing channel properties............................................................................................................................................ 11
myDAQ Digital Multimeter (DMM)............................................................................................................................... 12
Useful links........................................................................................................................................................................ 14

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OVERVIEW
NI myDAQ is a data acquisition device that gives students the ability to measure and
analyze live signals anywhere, anytime. myDAQ for iDaq component allows the acquisition
of analog signals with NI myDAQ boards.
This guide explains how to install and use the myDAQ component.
INTRODUCTION
This component manages acquisition of myDAQ channels. It allows users to acquire audio
signals, general analog input signals and DMM signals.
myDAQ component has the following features:
Acquisition of audio signals.
Acquisition of general analog input signals (ai0 and ai1).
Acquisition of DMM (Digital Multimeter) signals.
Easy-to-use console for the DMM.
Quick setup.
It has seven analog input channels:
oDMM Voltage
oDMM Current
oDMM Resistance
oAudio Left
oAudio Right
oai0
oai1

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INSTALLATION
myDAQ component is distributed with iDaq and it is installed automatically during iDaq
installation process. To check if this component is installed correctly, run iDaq, open Device
& Sensors tab and click on Configuration button as indicated in figure below.
FIGURE 1–CHECKING INSTALLATION OF MYDAQ COMPONENT
As shown in the following figure, if the installation process of iDaq has been successfully
completed, myDAQ and myDAQcquisition should be in the list of installed components.
FIGURE 2-CHECKING INSTALLATION OF MYDAQ COMPONENT

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GETTING STARTED WITH MYDAQ DEVICES
This section explains how to add, configure and use myDAQ device with iDaq.
ADDING A MYDAQ DEVICE TO THE LIST O F ACTIVE DEVICES
To add a new myDAQ device to the list of active devices, open Device tab from the iDaq
main window end select Add button, as shown in figure below.
FIGURE 3–INSTALLING A NEW MYDAQ IN IDAQ
A new dialog window shows the icons of available devices you can use in iDaq to acquire
signals. The list of icon in your iDaq installation may be different from the image below,
according to the number of components you have installed.
FIGURE 4–DEVICE TYPE SELECTION WINDOW.

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From Device type selection window, click on myDAQ. As shown in the following window,
myDAQ Selection Window will appear.
FIGURE 5-MYDAQ SELECTION WINDOW
MyDAQ Selection Window contain the following elements:
1. Table of available myDAQ devices. It shows a list of connected myDAQ devices.
2. Refresh button. Use this button to refresh the list of available myDAQ devices.
3. Reset button. Use this button to reset settings of the selected myDAQ device to
default.
To add an existing myDAQ device to the active device list, highlight it and press OK button.
It will be added to the list of active devices and the last-used device settings will be loaded.

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MYDAQ SETTINGS
As shown in the following figure, to define settings of a myDAQ device, click on the myDAQ
device in the active device list.
FIGURE 6–MYDAQ DEVICE EDITOR
Device editor contains the following settings:
1. myDAQ Acquisition settings. Use this button to configure analog input settings.
2. Analog Input Channel Settings button. Use this button to edit channels properties.
3. Voltage Generation Settings. For more details, view DAQ-mx User Manual.
4. Analog Output Channel Settings. For more details, view DAQ-mx User Manual.
5. Description. Click on this field to edit device description.
6. Reboot button. Use this button to reboot myDAQ device. Reboot is required to be
sure that changes made in settings page take effect.
7. Help button. Use this button to open myDAQ user guide (the document you are
reading now).

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ANALOG INPUT SETTINGS
To configure Analog Input acquisition, click on myDAQ Acquisition button, the following
dialog is shown.
FIGURE 7–MYDAQ ACQUISITION SETTINGS WINDOW
myDAQ Acquisition Settings Window is composed of the following elements:
1. Acquire audio signals. NI myDAQ has two audio channels (left audio channel and
right audio channel) and other two generic analog input channels that cannot be
acquired simultaneously. If Acquire audio signals is enabled, myDAQ will be
configured to acquire audio channels only; hence, ai0 and ai1 will not be acquired.
Vice versa, if Acquire audio signals is disabled, myDAQ will be configured to
acquire ai0 and ai1 channels only.
2. Sampling Rate. You can change the sampling rate used for all channels acquired with
myDAQ. Although DMM signals are acquired with a slow frequency (about 2 Hz), all
the signals will be resampled at the specified sampling rate. In particular, for DMM
signals, myDAQ component performs a 0-order padding in order to obtain the
desired sampling frequency.

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CHANNEL SETTINGS
To edit properties of myDAQ channels, click on Channel Settings button. The following
window will appear.
FIGURE 8–CHANNEL SETTINGS WINDOW
Channel Settings Window has the following elements:
1. Real-time value of DMM voltage. This indicator shows the real-time voltage value
of the digital multimeter. If the digital multimeter is not set to measure a voltage,
this value will be zero. For more details about the myDAQ DMM, view section
myDAQ Digital Multimeter (DMM).
2. Real-time value of DMM current. This indicator shows the real-time current value
of the digital multimeter. If the digital multimeter is not set to measure a current,
this value will be zero. For more details about the myDAQ DMM, view section
myDAQ Digital Multimeter (DMM).
3. Real-time value of DMM resistance. This indicator shows the real-time resistance
value of the digital multimeter. If the digital multimeter is not set to measure a
resistance, this value will be zero. For more details about the myDAQ DMM, view
section myDAQ Digital Multimeter (DMM).
4. List of analog input channels. It is the list of analog input channels supported by
myDAQ (excluded DMM channels).
5. Edit Channel Settings button. Use this button to edit selected channel properties.
Notice that, although myDAQ has 7 analog input channels (DMM Voltage, DMM
Current, DMM Resistance, Audio Left, Audio Right, Ai0, and Ai1), only 4 channels
are editable (audio channels and generic analog inputs ai0, ai1).
EDITING CHANNEL PROPERTIES
Channel properties window allows users to change channel properties.

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FIGURE 9-CHANNEL PROPERTIES EDITOR
As shown in the Channel properties editor, for each channel, several details are editable:
1. Channel Description. It is the channel name.
2. Minimum Range Value. This value indicates the lower limit of signal range,
expressed in "Units".
3. Maximum Range Value. This value indicates the upper limit of signal range,
expressed in "Units".
4. Units. It is the channel unit of measurement.
5. Sensor Type. Define the sensor type.
6. Group. Define a group name for the selected channel.
7. Edit Processing Units button. Use this button to edit processing units associated to
selected channels. To get more details about Waveform Processing Units, see
Waveform Processing Units User Guide.
MYDAQ DIGITAL MULTIMETER (DMM)
myDAQ board has a 60 V digital multimeter that can be easily used in iDaq. When a new
myDAQ device is added in the active device list, the DMM console appears. As shown in the
following figure, myDAQ DMM allows you to measure voltage, resistance, and current.
FIGURE 10 –MYDAQ DMM

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myDAQ control window contains the following elements:
1. Real-Time acquired value. It can be a voltage, current, or resistance value
according to the selected Measurement Type.
2. % FS. It represents the percentage with respect the full scale (range).
3. Measurement type. Use this button to select the type of measurement to be
performed. Supported values are:
a. Voltage DC
b. Voltage AC
c. Current DC
d. Current AC
e. Resistance.
4. Connection diagram. It shows the Banana Jack Connection to be used with the
selected Measurement Type.
5. Auto range. If enabled, range is automatically calculated by the DMM.
6. Manual range. Use these buttons to set the range of DMM. Range Values depends
on the Measurement type.

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USEFUL LINKS
iDaq product page: http://www.idaq-datalogger.com/idaq.php
iDaq ADD-ON Store http://www.idaq-datalogger.com/addons.php
Support: http://www.idaq-datalogger.com/support.php
More details about NI MyDAQ http://www.ni.com/mydaq/