Emerson, a software and technology company, has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing its test and measurement business, previously known as NI. At the NI Connect 2024 conference, Emerson revealed updates to its core software solutions, including NI LabVIEW, and outlined its vision for intelligent testing.
During the conference, Emerson showcased the latest advancements in NI hardware and software, aiming to improve the efficiency of engineers by enabling more time for root cause analysis and cross-business collaboration.
Emerson acquired NI in October 2023. NI has since become a new reported segment within Emerson called Test & Measurement and consolidated into the Software and Control group. The Test & Measurement business operates in Austin, Texas.
To ensure continuous improvement in NI technology, Emerson says it is dedicated to supporting R&D efforts for core NI products like LabVIEW and TestStand; these aim to build a connected workflow through the NI LabVIEW+ Suite.
The updates to NI solutions announced at NI Connect included the latest version of NI LabVIEW, which improves collaborative engineering workflows with new features such as improvements in diff and merge functions, version management and support for calling .NET Core Assemblies (.NET 8).
AI integration within LabVIEW aims to increase productivity by automating code description and documentation, which is particularly useful for engineers working with inherited code. Emerson is currently testing AI technology within LabVIEW and plans to expand this program soon.
Emerson also announced that NI LabVIEW Community Edition, launched in 2019, is now free for students. Additionally, parts of NI LabVIEW, starting with Icon Editor, will become open source to encourage greater community collaboration.
Set to launch in July, NI InstrumentStudio Professional will extend the functionality of the PXI companion software InstrumentStudio, covering more aspects of the electronic validation workflow, including automation and measurement customization. Designed to work alongside LabVIEW and TestStand, InstrumentStudio Pro will be automatically included in the LabVIEW+ suite for license holders.
The company also said it has continued to expand its NI PXI hardware portfolio, with recent additions like the NI PXIe-5633 Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) module, the PXIe-6571 Digital Pattern Instrument and new controllers based on 11th-generation Intel Core processors.
“Our software-centric, modular hardware approach to test is our unique value proposition and a differentiator for our customers,” said Ritu Favre, group president of Emerson’s Test & Measurement business.
“We are excited to share our vision for harnessing the power of AI in test and measurement and to continue our commitment to innovate on our industry-leading NI products. Through our innovative, secure and expert-led approach, we will revolutionize intelligent test across the industry.”
