How do you interface a Renishaw laser real-time with NI DAQ?

Question

I understand that it is possible to acquire "real time" feedback from a Rensishaw Laser while measuring linear position, with the following modifiers applied.
*The standard output is a digitized value to a proprietary (Renishaw) data acquisition (DAQ) card.
*Renishaw lasers have a quadrature output facility on the back of the laser head. This permits capture of the �raw� interferometry signal. This raw signal is not compensated for environmental factors such as temperature, air pressure, humidity, etc.
*The standard system integrates signals from an environmental unit for air temperature, pressure, and humidity, as well as signals from up to three material probes. Acquisition and pro
cessing of these or equivalent signals would have to be considered to provide data for environmental compensation calculations (Edlen equation). This is mandatory in order to obtain accurate distance and velocity readings.
*The quadrature output can communicate with other cards. (NI DAQ?)
Specifics with regard to Labview software and required DAQ to read real time Laser output would be very much appreciated.

Answer 1

You can use a counter available on the E-series MIO DAQ boards or the 660x counter boards. You can measure the position, frequency, and period of the output from a quadrature encoder. Examples on how to measure signals from a quadrature encoder for LabVIEW can be found on the web at ww.ni.com/support under the technical resource section search under the example programs section.
You may also want to contact Renishaw to see if they have drivers available for LabVIEW and their DAQ equipment.