Archived: Product Support for the cRIO-9951 Module Development Kit

cRIO-9951 Module Development Kit

Designing a custom module requires knowledge of electrical circuit and firmware design as well as board layout and application driver-level software design skills. NI answers only general questions about the cRIO-9951 MDK and cannot support in-depth circuit design or firmware-specific questions.  

Contact NI Technical Support for general questions from our Support page.

As part of the cRIO-9951 MDK Suite, you have access to a specific number of technical support hours per the cRIO Module Development Kit Distribution Agreement. To obtain support, please contact your NI Account Manager or local NI Support office. In addition, you may use the private NI discussion forum. 

As part of the cRIO-9951 MDK Base, you may use the private NI discussion forum. 

You can find the private support forum for the MDK at http://forums.ni.com/t5/cRIO-Module-Developers-Kit/bd-p/private5. To register for the private forum, you need to have a forum alias. If you do not have one, please visit http://forums.ni.com and click the Register link to create one. If you already have an alias, email mdkforum@ni.com with your direct email address and the NI forum alias name. Our goal is to update the NI web systems within 48 hours. Please check back after that time to view the forum. If you do not see the new forum once you log in to ni.com after this time, please email mdkforum@ni.com.

Inside the shell of a C Series module is a PCB that hosts the components for conditioning and capturing signals as well as communicating the data to the CompactRIO controller.

Table 1. MDK Mechanical Specifications and Guidelines

C Series modules connect to the CompactRIO controller through a 15-pin D-SUB connector. An ID EEPROM is required to store identification information. You also can use the EEPROM for module-specific calibration data. The I/O circuitry implements the primary functionality of the module.

The module interface supports two modes of communication between the CompactRIO controller and individual modules: ID mode and operation mode. ID mode is required and used to access the ID EEPROM on the module. As noted, the ID EEPROM contains information about the module, such as the vendor ID, product ID, and serial number. NI requires that you use a default vendor ID as described in the module development kit user manual if you do not plan to resell your module per the NI AGREEMENT (NI cRIO MODULE DEVELOPMENT KIT) license. You will obtain a vendor ID after purchase.

Operation mode is used to communicate with the I/O circuitry on the module. It can be used to initiate, communicate, and retrieve data. Although most modules support Operation mode, it is not a requirement. The module interface defines 11 signal lines. Two of these signals have predefined, fixed functionality. The definition of the remaining nine signals changes depending on the selected communication mode.

The communication requirements for most modules designate that one of the two general templates be provided within the module development kit: SPI or parallel. Use the SPI template to implement a serial interface to the I/O circuitry and for EEPROM communication. Use the parallel template for simple, direct access to your I/O circuitry. The two general templates cannot meet the requirements of some modules. For example, a custom module may require two independent serial interfaces across the module interface. In this case, you can implement your own arbitrary interface with the user template. In the user template, you can use the I/O lines as general-purpose user lines.

Table 2. MDK I/O Signals

• See Other Third-Party Modules