Does NI still produce Windows-based cRIOs?

[JKSH]

Hello,

I have a customer who wants a small embedded PC that does the following:

• Acquire data through a 3rd-party device over TCP and store on disk
• Show a live video feed (and capture photos) from a GigE camera
• Drive a 2-axis servo motor
• Run 3rd-party Windows software

The only part of the system that needs to be real-time is the motor controller. It's also the only part that needs physical I/O; everything else talks to the PC via TCP.

The PC and other hardware are to be installed inside a portable industrial box, to be taken to various mine sites. The customer is happy to supply an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

I thought that a cRIO chassis running Windows would be perfect for this job. The FPGA could drive the motor and check for limit switches, while the Windows side would do the rest (log data, capture images/video via IMAQdx, run 3rd-party software). However, the only Windows-based cRIOs I could find are the cRIO-9081 and cRIO-9082, which are considered "legacy" and have way too many C-series slots. NI recommends the NI-9039 instead of the cRIO-908x, which doesn't seem to support Windows....

Questions:

1. Is it possible to run Windows on a non-legacy, 4-slot cRIO?
2. Can you think of an alternative solution to meet my customer's needs? I've considered the following:
   • A PXI system, but that won't fit in the box.
   • A Touch Panel Computer for the Windows part + a separate RT cRIO to drive the motor, but the box doesn't have space for a touchscreen.
   • A mini PC for the Windows part + a separate RT cRIO to drive the motor, but I'm not sure about the mini PC's ruggedness.
   • A cDAQ controller for the Windows part + a separate RT cRIO to drive the motor. This is possible, but wastes lots of C-series slots.
   • A cDAQ controller to do everything, but I'm not sure if Windows can handle fine-grained motor control.

Any ideas will be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[crossrulz · Accepted solution]

All of the current cRIOs use RT Linux.

You should probably have a look at the CVS-1458.  It is an Embedded Vision System with GigE built in.  There is a Windows Embedded 7 version.

You might also want to consider a NI 9147 for the motor control.  It is officially called an Ethernet Expansion Chassis, but Windows can directly communicate with it using something a lot like shared variables.  This chassis is just an FPGA (no RT).