DMC implemented a temperature monitoring solution using a distributed design pattern with four National Instruments Compact RIO systems. Each subsystem was dedicated to a bank of ovens. Subsystems provide coarse and fine configuration settings, allowing flexibility by bank or by oven. Utilizing a Real-Time platform, the system is designed for high availability with implemented logic for local logging in the event of communications failure with the resident database.

With integrated local logging for redundancy, the main application layer, running on a Windows PC in the lab, continuously communicates with the cRIO systems for status information, and to provide the end user a live system display. As a LabVIEW based application, the interface provides an intuitive user experience placed on top of both the Real-Time subsystems, and the SQL database. The user interface also provide operators the ability to query for historical data to correlate temperature trends with curing information tracked with each product sample. By allowing for ease of database interaction, the interface also provides rapid exporting of data subsets to be attached to product sample information as it enters is post-cure testing phase.

The oven temperature monitoring system blends a number of proven platforms to provide an intuitive and easy to use application interface for lab operators and engineers. By providing directly accessible historical temperature data, the client is able to more efficiently sequence products through their testing and validation phases. Providing an interface for monitoring data trends now, the Compact RIO platform provides the client reliability, and expandability for future test and control needs in the oven monitoring environment.