Preferred PC system for a Labview development suit

[hochikiuser]

A question for users with experience in using labview in developing applications for test systems. What

[Mike Ashe]

There is no one best system configuration since *best* is probably dictated more by what you are using the sytem for than for LabVIEW itself. Is it used on a factory floor for optically grading fruit? In a dentists office for imaging of teeth? In a clean control room for operating a professional telescope observatory? A hospital IT room for running bed management,.....?

I have seen/been involved in all the above and every one needed a different PC System and setup. If you just mean a system to write LabVIEW code on, which will be run somewhere else, then the answer is probably whatever system is easy/available for you. You probaby do not need the latest and greatest. When upgrading systems I usually go for 1-2 generations behind the latest bleeding-edge system. That seems to usually be the "knee" in the price-performance curve.

YMMV

[Jack Kelledes]

As far as system cases go I've had pretty good luck with Dells and Gateways. They are usually big enough to have plenty of room inside and have extra USB and Firewire ports on the front for playing around.

I'm sure there are many other manufacturers that are like that though.

The biggest reason I use those is budgets. They both have really good deals on factory refurbished boxes. We have plenty of keyboards and mice around so you can get a good system for $300 or so.

Like Michael, I usually try to go for a few generations old to get the best price for something that will still work a few years from now and may be used on a new setup.

As always - the more memory the better......

[Mike Ashe]

Hmmm, I would have to second the Dell vote, not that I want to endorse a particular mfr, but they seem to have good bang for the buck and their systems are easy to work on.

I also personnally prefer using 2 monitors, so I bought an older Matrox G450 dualhead 32 meg video card on ebay and a couple of HP A4033A 20 inch monitors. Very few bucks and it gives me a lot of real estate to work diagrams on.

I also bumped the RAM memory up to 1 gig, again, cheap these days.

NOTE: I do not, as a rule, write huge diagrams, rather, I use the space to have more diagrams and front panels open. I still try to keep each diagram to 1024x768 and only scroll horizontally no more than 2x the size visible. This is good code management. Bigger diagrams than that mean I should probably break it into more subVIs. (This is a strong guideline, not a rule).

[hochikiuser]

Thanks guys, gives me an idea, probably Dell, would like dual screen but maybe an issue with space, will order system / software this week, then the real work (and posts) start

cheers.

[Mike Ashe]

Good luck on your system. If you don't mind my (our) asking, what type of testing / development are you going to be using the system for? Could you describe a bit and the environment? Might give us a further thought or two that might help.

[hochikiuser]

Good luck on your system.  If you don't mind my (our) asking, what type of testing / development are you going to be using the system for?  Could you describe a bit and the environment? Might give us a further thought or two that might help.

5017[/snapback]

The system will be used for developing test equipment to test electronic fire detection products. Our systems use a communication protocol similar to RS232 or RS485 (2 wire comms over long distance) we call ours ESP. A Labview ESP VI driver is currently under development at our subcontractors (software & hardware). We will use this with some labview code to control and take measurements from our products. Addtional hardware / code will be added depending on the actual product. Initially we will let the subcontractor take the strain - as we become experienced we will carry out more work ourselves.

Our current testing is written in 'C' with various hardware / software - all different including code! - depending on design engineer / even country! Our goal in production has been to standardise our test equipment, this is hopefully a step in that direction.

[Mike Ashe]

The system will be used for developing test equipment to test electronic fire detection products.  ...  this is hopefully a step in that direction.

5025[/snapback]

Sounds good. Will the testing be laboratory testing for development and offline sampling, or are you also planning to do online testing of each unit on the assembly line? For the former, Dell would be a good choice. For the later, unless the factory floor is exceptionally clean you might want to look into an industrial PC or even a PXI chassis if your pockets are deep enough.

[hochikiuser]

Sounds good.  Will the testing be laboratory testing for development and offline sampling, or are you also planning to do online testing of each unit on the assembly line?  For the former, Dell would be a good choice. For the later, unless the factory floor is exceptionally clean you might want to look into an industrial PC or even a PXI chassis if your pockets are deep enough.

5027[/snapback]

The development pc will be in more of a 'lab' environment - a dell has been ordered.

The spinoff esp vi's with hardware may be in many places - it will be a piece of test equipment in its own right, may be portable, could be taken on site to an installation for example, test house etc. PC's for this will depend on the application.

Tests will also be carried out on a production line and yes I agree with the PXI, in fact our subby will be using / supplying that system for a particular project.