NI Week is National Instruments’ annual worldwide conference on measurement and automation. In this forum, NI announces its most exciting new products. In this year’s keynote, NI announced in spectacular fashion their first FBG interrogator instrument — the PXIe-4844.

This new interrogator is a result of a deep engineering collaboration between Micron Optics and NI. It combines several important technologies and capabilities:

1) Micron Optics’ world leading swept laser optical sensor interrogation technology
2) Micron Optics’ patented, NIST traceable wavelength calibration technology
3) NI’s rugged and versatile PXI Express instrumentation platform
4) NI-OSI Explorer for configuration and NI-OSI LabVIEW Driver Software for application development in NI LabVIEW
5) NI’s worldwide sales, marketing and support organization to promote FOS solutions

NI and Micron Optics share a similar vision for FOS applications. That is, the unique advantages of fiber sensors will complement, and in some cases will work side by side with, conventional electrical based sensors. Broader availability and awareness of FOS interrogators and sensors surely help engineers and scientists solve measurement problems that may have been unsolvable until now.

Of course we’re pleased that NI chose Micron Optics to design and build the core of their interrogator, but perhaps it’s even more important that this large, well respected and influential company is investing in introducing FOS to thousands of new users. We think that all users, manufacturers, and sellers of FOS technologies will benefit by NI’s bold entry into this technology.