What is my cheapest option for a real time target?

[David99999]

I'm just looking for something I can use at home to learn and practice on. Is my only option to buy a used compactrio off ebay? Or is there something cheaper from NI. Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks

[crossrulz · Accepted solution]

If you are out to learn LabVIEW RT (and possibly also LabVIEW FPGA), then I would probably look at a myRIO.  It was released as a student device, but you can still get it without a student discount for ~$1k.  The cheapest cRIO I am seeing is the cRIO-9053 for almost $1.6k.

What is myRIO?

[aeastet]

If you are doing this at home the Raspberry PI is the cheapest option. Use the community version of LabVIEW and the LINX library.

[rolfk]

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@aeastet wrote:

If you are doing this at home the Raspberry PI is the cheapest option. Use the community version of LabVIEW and the LINX library.

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It gives you a similar experience as LabVIEW Real-Time but it's not the same by a far stretch.

Pros:

+ hardware cost is ~$30

+ can be used with LabVIEW Community Edition

+ your LabVIEW VIs execute on the Raspberry Pi similar to how they would on a RIO device

Cons:

- not realtime in any way

- no FPGA hardware for time critical tasks

- the LabVIEW environment runs inside its own jailed Debian OS through chroot, access to hardware on the PI as well as to native drivers on the Raspbian host OS is at best complicated and at worst won't work

- limited support of Rasperry Pi IO systems through the Linx software, which is an API of its own and not compatible with any other NI IO drivers

Note that the myRIO kit used to come with the full LabVIEW development software with Real-Time and FPGA development although I believe with a 90 day initial trial limitiation.

[BertMcMahan]

There used to be an sbRIO dev kit thing for like $600. They subsidized it to get people familiar with the platform. It worked well but that was several years ago- I don't know if they still offer it, or there may be a newer version. I believe you had to contact NI Sales to get it though, as they would only sell a few to each person/company. They weren't intended for product development. I'd contact Sales and see if they have something similar today.

The one I'm remembering had a little display, a few buttons, a knob, that kind of thing. It was meant for someone like you who just wanted to prototype some stuff and learn before moving to a full product.

[David99999]

Looks like that could be the ticket. Used on ebay they are going for about $350.

Is FPGA and RT programming on the myRIO identical to how it is on the compactRIO's?

[rolfk]

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@David99999 wrote:

Is FPGA and RT programming on the myRIO identical to how it is on the compactRIO's?

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Well aside from the normal differences that you get between the different cRIO and sbRIO because of different internal hardware and FPGA, it is indeed pretty much the same.

The overall development process is definitely very much the same.

But in order to use Real-Time and FPGA you will need the according licenses. I doubt they will be included in $350 offers on ebay. 😁

[David99999]

Hahaha yes very true! I already have the RT module. Maybe I'll be able to convince my company to purchase the FPGA one 😎

[Bob_Schor]

I've recently been using a myRIO and am amazed how versatile (and powerful) it is.  Plus it is tiny, has multiple A/D channels, several D/A channels, multiple digital I/O channels, etc.  There are a series of excellent tutorials on the Web by Prof. Ed Doering.  If you are serious in learning Real-Time processing, the myRIO provides an interesting choice for a hardware platform.

Bob Schor