NVSI - The Solutions

NVSI Rule #1: Clients and Partners want Solutions to Their Problems

We have been in the automation and measurement industry for a long time, and that's what brings our clients and partners back time and time again. We solve problems - we're not only System Integrators, we're Solution Providers. We also know that a web page that's full of marketeering is of little use in today's economic climate, so we've provided a short list of some of the solutions that we have solved. These solutions represent only a few of the hundreds of applications that we have provided to many companies across several industries.

User Solution	. Australian Square Kilometre Array Site Testing An international consortium representing more than 15 countries including the European Union, the USA, Australia, Canada, China, India and South Africa has been established to research the viability of a very large telescope array that will enable astronomers to see the formation of the early universe, including the emergence of the first stars. With 100 times the sensitivity of existing telescopes, the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will revolutionize many areas of astronomy and also make unique contributions to basic physics, including some extreme predictions of general relativity. The Australia National Telescope Facility (CSIRO) requested a system to satisfy the international high sensitivity SKA measurement protocol and be suitably robust to run reliably in unattended operation for weeks at a time in some of the most remote areas of Australia. NVSI created a custom system based primarily on a Rohde and Schwarz frequency spectrum analyser (FSA), and a gigabit Ethernet link to a client notebook PC running Microsoft Windows XP. Read more... .
User Solution	FlexLog Fully Flexible and Customisable Data Logging System The FlexLog System is the most flexible logging application available in the market place. Why is it so flexible? Because we can alter the source code to communicate with virtually all commercially available sensors, including DAQ based and remote Ethernet units. Whether environmental monitoring or production process logging, FlexLog is modular and robust to ensure that your data is acquired, presented and logged to Microsoft Excel compatible files with an absolute minimum of user interaction. FlexLog can be installed in your facility for very little cost (prices start from $1200). Read more...
User Solution	. National Standards Commission Environmental Monitoring Chamber The National Standards Commission (NSC) performs pattern approval type testing on measuring instruments used for trade purposes in Australia. This project relates to a 34m³environmental chamber where achieving reliable controlled environmental conditions has proved difficult in the past. The NVSI solution is database driven, leveraging an existing NSC SQL database on site - which interfaces to the code using the LabVIEW database connectivity toolkit. All tables and stored procedures used in this project were created in a generic format to allow a simple transition to other projects with NSC. Temperature set points were attained to an accuracy of ±0.1K, an order of magnitude of improvement over the previous system. Some filtering (modified Savitzky-Golai) was included to limit the noise produced by the rapid movement of air within the chamber. The relative humidity (RH) set point was met with an accuracy of ±1%, again an improvement of an order of magnitude. Read more... .
User Solution	. EnviroMON Environmental Monitoring Long term collection and presentation of environmental data currently requires large and expensive personal computers and networking hardware. This equipment is used for environmental monitoring, for example, storage area monitoring, home/office monitoring, factory floor and warehouse materials monitoring, agricultural data collection, biological and environmental research, etc. The solution to the problem is to use an ethernet connected device that can collect, store, and present environmental data over the Internet or intranet. The device is compact and low powered (provided by plug pack or optionally, batteries if in a remote environment). Data is presented as a simple HTML page via HTTP protocols, as well as comma separated values for remote archival and programmatic interpretation. The device functions as a remote weather station, as well as a scientific environmental data collection device. The use of plug in modules enhances the product making it more flexible. Plug in modules consist of low speed environmental monitoring hardware, low speed analogue acquisition, low speed digital inputs, low speed digital outputs, etc. Read more... .
User Solution	. CSIRO Alphachron^TM He Extraction/Measurement Uranium-helium geochronology is a highly sensitive and cost-effective method of radiometric age dating that can be used to determine the thermal history of the Earth's crust. Helium (⁴He), in addition to the radiogenic isotopes of lead (atomic symbol: Pb), is a natural fission product of the uranium (U) and thorium (Th) decay series. Similar to the more commonly used U-Pb geochronology system, age relationships can be determined by measuring the concentrations of both the parent (U and Th) and daughter (⁴He) elements in minerals. NVSI was approached by CSIRO to create an integrated solution, whose the task was to tie several hardware technologies together in order to help develop R&D laboratory experimentation into a commercially robust prototype. The result is a professional, industry-focused solution called the Alphachron™ He Extraction/Measurement Instrument. Alphachron™ is an automated, integrated and compact turnkey system, designed for the extraction and measurement of gases from mineral samples. Read more... .
User Solution	. Automated Object Inspection System A leading New Zealand manufacturing company contracted NVSI to provide a flexible and cost effective vision-based non-destructive method of detecting course defects on various populated Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). NVSI created a proof of concept software package that performed vision analysis using low cost, commercially available technology. This included networking, IEEE-1394 (Firewire™) cameras and the National Instruments NI-1455 Compact Vision System. The system was comprised of two parts: an Embedded PCB Inspection System (EPIS) and an Interactive Terminal PC (ITP). Read more... .
User Solution	Wheat Grain Crush Curve Analysis System Responsible for providing valuable research information to the grains, grains processing and grains food industries, an independent Australian centre of expertise in grains, grain processing, milling and baking performs research analysis of large amounts of statistical data arises. The centre’s need was for a customised software solution that could manage large statistical files (up to 100Mb) produced by a scientific grain crusher. NVSI created a software package that was able to handle large custom format statistical files, and perform peak-detection analysis on the averaged crush curves. After minimal analysis had occurred, other parameters could then be ascertained from the crush curve data. The relationships between the parameters were able to be viewed on a user intuitive XY scatter plot, and was developed using LabVIEW. Further features of the software included trimming and weighting data set according to certain parameter values, exclusion of sample sets and historical data processing, ability to load additional external parameter sets for statistical comparison, save both the graphs and parameters in a separate user- defined format files, print crush curves and scatter plot relationships on a custom report, and handle alpha-numeric sample values. Read more...
User Solution	Laboratory Subject Monitoring and Stimuli Delivery System A leading Australian Physiology research institution conducts lengthy experiments upon lab rats in their research labs. The subjects under test need constant monitoring and stimulus events at specific timing intervals from a few seconds up to 15 minutes, over approximately an hour of testing. The stimuli events that are executed include audible white noise, clicks, fluid and food dispensing, flashing lights, and mild electric shocks. Previously these stimuli events and the monitoring process were operated manually with a stopwatch and a push button array. The new system allows laboratory staff to carry out more critical research and offline analysis, whilst leaving an automated computer system to carry out more menial testing tasks. NVSI created a vision software package called “RatCam” that is able to monitor a video feed of multiple subjects over the duration of the test whilst recording levels of movement to a data file. RatCam also simultaneously controls the event stimulus hardware through the new National Instruments PCI M-Series Data Acquisition (DAQ) cards, with their advanced technology including 6 DMA channels, meaning fast response times and simultaneous access to all of the card’s features. Read more...