Looking for hardware programmable with labview

[Trinity32244]

We are pretty new to labview.  We plan on switching to labview for many of our control systems we develope and will utilize panel PC's. We still have many applications that we use a traditional plc and these do not require a GUI of any sort.  We would still like to find a solution to switch completely over to labview but I am having a hard time finding a low cost hardware solution to run a labview program.  Does anyone have any good ideas?  Thanks in advance

[AdnanZ]

I think it would be best to call the local field sales engineer of NI in your area and ask him/her to visit and advice for the best possible system. You can find the engineer by calling the NI office. If you want help from developers on this forum, then it would be a good idea to let us know what sort of signals you are working with, what sort of application you want built etc.

[Trinity32244]

I appreciate the response.  I was leaning away from contacting NI about the hardware because I figured that they were going to push me to their hardware which is way to expensive for the low end projects I am talking about.  In all reality I think it is a long shot to find any hardware that labview can run on to replace a $80 plc but figured I would ask in the forum.  As for the I/O needed it varies for each job so I would most likely have to find a remote I/O solution that is customizable to connect to the controller.  We are proficient in ladder logic as well but it would just be nice for us to all be able to program with one language instead of both labview and ladder.  Thanks for any suggestions

[Dennis_Knutson]

Why are you unhappy with your existing hardware and why do you want to replace it? LabVIEW is perfectly capable of communicating to PLCs.

[Ray.R]

I just underwent that... transfered a system from PLC to a PC with an IO board.

Then translating the ladder logic to LabVIEW.

One advice:  Do not underestimate the effort. 

Although any "cheap" board may do the trick, you may end up spending more time with driver support.

It's an expensive lesson to learn that "cheap" does not always mean saving $$.

[PhillipBrooks]

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@Trinity32244 wrote:

...  In all reality I think it is a long shot to find any hardware that labview can run on to replace a $80 plc but figured I would ask in the forum. As for the I/O needed it varies for each job so I would most likely have to find a remote I/O solution that is customizable to connect to the controller.  We are proficient in ladder logic as well but it would just be nice for us to all be able to program with one language instead of both labview and ladder.  Thanks for any suggestions

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I don't think you will find a hardware device that you can target LabVIEW with for $80, but maybe you should think about Arduino. There is a LabVIEW library for interfacing, and there are various 'shields' that you can customize for your I/O...

https://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/labview-interface-for-arduino

[Trinity32244]

Thanks to all who have replied.  I am not sure I was clear on what I am looking for.  I am not looking to talk to a plc but rather looking for a stand alone product that can run a labview executable I create.  Everything is pointing to something like a SBC which will work for some of my products (I think at least) but for the low end projects I am not sure if there is any hardware out there that is low cost and can run a labview executable.  The Arduino was very interesting but more of integrating with labview not running a labview exe.  Thanks again

[Ray.R]

You are looking for an IO board that can be used with LabVIEW, right?  That's what I understood.

Although there are many, and there is a range of costs, you need to make sure that the API or LabVIEW drivers are well supported, otherwise, you will be spending a lot of time just getting the IO board to work properly.

Afterwards is tha task to translate the PLC code into LabVIEW.

Did I understand correctly?

[aeastet]

What is your though on low cost? There are many different touch screen PC, Industrial computers, rack mount systems that could all run a LabVIEW application with no problem.

Other things that you need to consider is if you go to cheap will the PC run your code without performance loss. We need more info to help guide you on your search.

If you want cheap look for Chinese computers. I would say you can find some really cheap systems out there but my experience has been that you get what you pay for here!!!!

[Ray.R]

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@aeastet wrote:

If you want cheap look for Chinese computers. I would say you can find some really cheap systems out there but my experience has been that you get what you pay for here!!!!

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Very true..

"Cheap" is a very relative term.  Cheap one end but costly the other.

It all evens out.