Which DAQ software interface should I use?

ATI Supports 4 different methods of getting F/T data from your DAQ sensor system: 

• A .NET assembly which reads the voltages and performs the matrix calculations for you.
• An ActiveX component which only performs the matrix multiplications - you have to write the routines to read the voltages.
• A C library which only performs the matrix multiplications - you have to write the routines to read the voltages.
• Manual calculations - you have to read the voltages and perform the matrix multiplications.

Please read the following notes, they are the areas people get most confused on.

Note 1: As long as you can read voltages from the DAQ product you purchase, you can calculate the F/T values from those voltages, even if you have to perform the calculations manually.  It is your responsibility to find out if the DAQ devices we sell are compatible with the environment your software will be developed and deployed in.

Note 2: National Instrument's M-Series cards work fine with the legacy ActiveX component as well as the .NET component.  M-series cards don't work with all the same hardware drivers that the E-series cards work with (see Note 3), but the matrix calculation is still the same because the voltages are the same regardless of the hardware or hardware driver used to read them, and since the ActiveX component is hardware independent (you read the voltages and pass them to the ActiveX component), it doesn't know or care whether the voltages came from an M-series, E-series, or other type of device.

Note 3: M-series cards require the "NI-DAQmx" driver software from National Instruments.  All E-series devices were originally designed to work with an older version of driver software, which is now called "Traditional NI-DAQ".  No M-series devices work with Traditional NI-DAQ, but most E-series devices that ATI sells do work under NI-DAQmx, and National Instruments is adding support for even more E-series devices to NI-DAQmx.

Note 4: ATI has no plans to discontinue support for the ATIDAQFT ActiveX software in favor of the ATICombinedDAQFT .NET assembly, so if you are more comfortable using ActiveX than .NET, or do not yet have the software necessary to use .NET assemblies, there is no need to worry about learning a new interface or buying expensive new software.

ATI provides three software interfaces to the DAQ F/T product line, and also supports manual F/T calculations.  Below are descriptions of these four methods, and pointers on when they can be used.  It should be noted that there are significant overlapped areas where more than one software interface is usable, i.e. using Visual Studio.NET in Windows with an M-series device, one could choose any of these four methods.  In these cases, you can choose whatever interface you are most familiar or comfortable with:

• ATICombinedDAQFT - A .NET assembly, which is a reusable code component.  ATICombinedDAQFT provides a 'unified' interface, which allows the user to read the voltages and calculate the F/T values in a single step, rather than writing their own routines to read the voltages, then passing those values to a separate math library, such as the ActiveX component or C library.
  What customers can use ATICombinedDAQFT? 
  Any customer who: 
  A) uses a programming environment that supports .NET assemblies, and
  B) has a device which is compatible with NI-DAQmx.  Most of the devices ATI sells, with the exception of the DAQPAD-6020E at the time of this writing, are compatible.
• ATIDAQFT - An ActiveX DLL, which is an older type of reusable code component.  ATIDAQFT requires the user to read the voltages from their DAQ device, then pass those voltages to ATIDAQFT in order to calculate the F/T values.  If the customer's environment also supports .NET assemblies and their DAQ device is supported by NI-DAQmx, the ATICombinedDAQFT interface may be easier for them to use, although ATIDAQFT will work fine if they are more comfortable working with ActiveX.  For customers who don't have NI-DAQmx devices, the ATIDAQFT component provides a hardware-independent math library they can use with any device.
  What customers can use ATIDAQFT?
  Any customer who:
  A) Uses a programming environment that supports ActiveX, and
  B) Is capable of writing their own routines to read voltages from the DAQ card, then passing those voltages to the ActiveX component.
• C Library - A set of routines written in the 'C' programming language, which is nearly universally supported on multiple operating systems.  The C library is recommended for applications written on non-Windows operating systems, such as Linux, although it can also be used on Windows.
  What customers can use the C Library?
  Any customer who:
  A) uses a programming environment that can use C code, and
  B) is capable of writing their own routines to read voltages from the DAQ card, then passing those
  voltages to the C functions.
• Manual Calculations - The procedure to calculate the F/T values is a simple matrix multiplication.  This is very useful for embedded applications, as the customer does not have to waste space on functions they will never use.
  What customers can perform manual calculations?
  Any customer who:
  A) can write their own routines to read voltages from their DAQ device, and
  B) is capable of writing routines to do basic matrix multiplication.