In this DAQ Series, we discuss how DAQs are scaled down for educational purposes. National Instruments is dedicated to teaching engineering fundamentals beyond theory and mathematical applications. Its target is to teach students engineering concepts as a whole. The idea of teaching students hands-on, visual applications came from the suggestions of professors and teachers at various Universities. The goal is to keep students’ interest level in engineering piqued beyond their first year of engineering school. The company also developed these portable miniSystems platforms to be affordable for high school and college students.

This podcast discusses myDAQ and myGrid from the miniSystems platform. The myGrid concept is a replica of an electrical power plant whose power is stepped down in a transformer. The transformed power is then run into homes by power lines. myGrid also has software that allows students to visualize power usage when one, two, or three houses are drawing power from the source. The miniSystem is a complete system of engineering platforms scaled down for the learning engineer.

National Instruments