National Instruments Launches SCXI-1102C: High-Performance Signal Conditioning Module for Data Acquisition Systems

National Instruments Launches SCXI-1102C: High-Performance Signal Conditioning Module for Data Acquisition Systems

National Instruments (NI) has introduced the SCXI-1102C, a versatile and high-accuracy signal conditioning module designed for its SCXI (Signal Conditioning eXtensions for Instrumentation) platform. This module is engineered to provide precise amplification, filtering, and isolation for a wide range of sensor and signal types, enabling reliable and accurate measurements in demanding test, measurement, and data acquisition applications across research, automotive, aerospace, and industrial sectors.

The SCXI-1102C is a key component in modular SCXI systems, serving as an interface between sensitive sensors and NI data acquisition (DAQ) devices like PXI or PCI boards. It accepts low-level signals from transducers such as strain gauges, load cells, thermocouples, and RTDs, and conditions them by providing amplification, excitation, and filtering before they are digitized. This process improves signal integrity, increases measurement accuracy, and protects expensive DAQ hardware from damaging voltage spikes.

“In precision measurement systems, the quality of the raw signal determines the quality of the data,” said a product manager at NI. “The SCXI-1102C is engineered to be the critical front end, ensuring that low-level sensor signals are amplified, isolated, and filtered to their highest potential before digitization. This allows engineers and scientists to capture data they can trust, even in electrically noisy environments.”

Key Features and Benefits of the NI SCXI-1102C include:

Versatile Input Channels: Features multiple differential analog input channels that can be independently configured to support various sensor types, including voltage inputs, full-bridge and half-bridge strain gauges, and 4-wire RTDs, offering exceptional application flexibility.
Programmable Gain and Filtering: Each channel offers software-selectable gain settings to optimally scale small sensor signals. It also includes built-in, configurable low-pass anti-aliasing filters to remove high-frequency noise, ensuring clean data acquisition.
Integrated Sensor Excitation: Provides stable voltage or current excitation sources for sensors like strain gauge bridges and RTDs, eliminating the need for external power supplies and simplifying system setup.
Channel-to-Channel Isolation: Offers isolation between input channels and between the channels and the DAQ system’s backplane. This prevents ground loops, rejects common-mode noise, and protects the system from potential differences and transients, which is crucial in high-voltage or noisy test environments.
Seamless NI Ecosystem Integration: Designed to work seamlessly within the NI SCXI chassis architecture and is fully programmable and controllable through NI application software such as LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and measurement & automation explorer (MAX), providing a streamlined development experience.

The National Instruments SCXI-1102C signal conditioning module is available now for engineers and scientists building high-channel-count, high-accuracy data acquisition systems. It is an essential tool for applications requiring precise physical measurements, from structural testing and component validation to process monitoring and research experiments.