Structural Health Monitoring Systems Monitor Stability, Reliability and

                   Livability of Landmark Venues in China



    AUSTIN, Texas, July 23 /EMWNews/ -- National Instruments

(Nasdaq: NATI) today announced the China Earthquake Administration (CEA),

the leading governmental body managing the country's earthquake

preparedness and disaster mitigation, selected a structural health

monitoring (SHM) solution developed by National Instruments Alliance

Partner CGM Engineering, Inc., based on the NI LabVIEW graphical system

design platform and NI CompactRIO programmable automation controllers. The

systems are designed to aid engineers in conducting structural health

research on seven recently constructed megastructures in China including

both of the main venues for the 2008 Summer Olympics -- the Beijing

National Stadium and the National Aquatics Center.



    



    "The main objective of this civil engineering project is to develop a

state-of-the-art solution to monitor structural health characteristics

including stability, reliability and livability in real time by using

contemporary computing, sensor and communication technology," said Chris

McDonald, vice president of CGM Engineering. "Our systems are designed to

capture the vibrational signatures of structures and detect any sudden

shifts of structural characteristics to improve structures and help reduce

the loss of life and property when catastrophic events such as earthquakes,

hurricanes or fires occur."



    The nine 64-channel and two 36-channel SHM systems each contain

multiple CompactRIO controllers that directly connect to accelerometers for

vibration measurements and an external GPS receiver for inter-chassis

synchronization. Within each chassis, the LabVIEW FPGA Module is used to

synchronize each measurement channel to within +/- 10 microseconds of the

GPS-disciplined clock. The LabVIEW Real-Time Module also is used to program

user-configurable filtering to prevent unwanted noise from interfering with

the low-frequency measurements being acquired. Each system is encapsulated

in a rugged NEMA enclosure, which permits the unit to operate in high

humidity and temperatures ranging from -40 C to 70 C.



    The SHM system performs continuous, real-time monitoring at each

location, and engineers can remotely access the locally stored data from

anywhere in the world via secure Internet connections. Additionally,

engineers can configure the systems using either a single or multivariate

architecture to send e-mail notifications when events occur.



    The CEA selected this system based on NI technology over other

solutions because it offers continuous, real-time monitoring, time-based

GPS synchronization and the highest channel count for the lowest cost. The

technology also provides a simple, out-of-the-box setup and a variety of

I/O options that can be quickly and easily reconfigured to meet changing

system requirements.



    In addition to the Olympic venues, the SHM systems are deployed in the

104-story World Trade Center in Shanghai, 66-story Park Hyatt Hotel complex

in Beijing, 240 m concrete arch dam in Ertan, 8266 m cable-stayed bridge in

Shan-Tou and base-isolated CEA data center in Beijing. Ultimately, the data

collected from this research will be used to improve the structural

integrity of future buildings and reduce the number of lives lost from

catastrophic events.



    To learn more about structural health monitoring using NI products,

visit http://www.ni.com/data_logger/structural_data_logger.htm.

    About CGM Engineering, Inc.



    CGM Engineering, Inc., is a Southern California engineering and systems

integration firm specializing in automation, test and measurement. Our

commitment is to provide you and your company with top quality products and

services, offering proven performance and reliable results from a team of

engineering experts. Our customer focus and attention to detail have helped

make CGM one of the premier system integrators in California. From the

simplest application to the most technically complex, CGM can design a

solution for you. CGM has been a National Instruments Alliance Partner for

10 years.



    About National Instruments



    National Instruments (http://www.ni.com) is transforming the way

engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for

measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers

with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective

hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies

worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue

and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,800 employees and direct

operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE

magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Readers can obtain investment information from the company's investor

relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing [email protected] or

visiting http://www.ni.com/nati/.



    CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, National Instruments

Alliance Partner, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments.

Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of

their respective companies.



    A National Instruments Alliance Partner is a business entity

independent from NI and has no agency, partnership, or joint-venture

relationship with NI.



    Editor Contact: Julia Betts, (512) 683-8165



    Reader Contact: Ernest Martinez, (800) 258-7022