Best circuit board for LabView

[Ricardo de Abreu]

Hi guys. This semester I'm starting a course system development for control and automation engineering, witch will be based on LabView. Therefore, my University doesn't have a NI hardware, even a MyRIO for us to test our VI and the teacher said that we should test our projects with our own Arduino...

So, I have a little experience in Arduino and I know the basics for LabView. Now I'm in a point that I know that with Arduino I'll not take the best from LabView. I cannot even deploy a code to it.

So, there is where my question comes in...
I'm looking for a new board better then Arduino to use in the classes. I would buy a MyRIO card if I had the money but in Brazil this board is too expensive for me
 Witch one should I get that is closest to myRIO and less expensive than that? I would like to try de deployment of a VI and FPGA..... Is this possible?

Thanks a lot for the help!
Regards

[ShaunR]

  On 2/19/2020 at 11:24 AM, Ricardo de Abreu said:

Hi guys. This semester I'm starting a course system development for control and automation engineering, witch will be based on LabView. Therefore, my University doesn't have a NI hardware, even a MyRIO for us to test our VI and the teacher said that we should test our projects with our own Arduino...

So, I have a little experience in Arduino and I know the basics for LabView. Now I'm in a point that I know that with Arduino I'll not take the best from LabView. I cannot even deploy a code to it.

So, there is where my question comes in...
I'm looking for a new board better then Arduino to use in the classes. I would buy a MyRIO card if I had the money but in Brazil this board is too expensive for me
 Witch one should I get that is closest to myRIO and less expensive than that? I would like to try de deployment of a VI and FPGA..... Is this possible?

Thanks a lot for the help!
Regards

Expand  

There is a LabVIEW RIO Evaluation Kit which is a fraction of the cost (has FPGA on board). Alternatively you could use the Arduino with Websockets or HTTP and use LabVIEW to communicate with it. There is also an Arduino toolkit, IIRC.

Edited February 19, 2020 by ShaunR

[Ricardo de Abreu]

  On 2/19/2020 at 1:43 PM, ShaunR said:

There is a LabVIEW RIO Evaluation Kit which is a fraction of the cost (has FPGA on board). Alternatively you could use the Arduino with Websockets or HTTP and use LabVIEW to communicate with it. There is also an Arduino toolkit, IIRC.

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I did see the single board RIO, but that IS too much for me. My budget is 10% of the price... 100 USD at most.

I would like not to use Arduino because I can't deploy the VI too it, and let it run for sometime collecting data stand alone.

I was thinking of the BeagleBone black or BeagleBone AI or even raspberry pi

Is there any better option?

Regards

Edited February 19, 2020 by Ricardo de Abreu
Wrong spelling

[ShaunR]

  On 2/19/2020 at 9:27 PM, Ricardo de Abreu said:

I would like not to use Arduino because I can't deploy the VI too it,

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How about the Arduino™ Compatible Compiler for LabVIEW

[Ricardo de Abreu]

It sounds good! Really good!!!!!!!!!

Can I still use a PC with a VI as a supervisor for the Arduino running the code?

[ShaunR]

  On 2/20/2020 at 2:21 AM, Ricardo de Abreu said:

It sounds good! Really good!!!!!!!!!

Can I still use a PC with a VI as a supervisor for the Arduino running the code?

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I've never used the toolkit; I'm just aware of it. I don't know of the limitations or capabilities outside of that page. I would suggest sending them an email explaining what you plan to do and they should be able to tell you.

[mcduff]

I saw a seminar by the person who created the program. It basically converts LabVIEW code to an Arduino script such that the Arduino can run without being attached to a computer/LabVIEW etc. I believe you can still communicate with a PC if desired.

 

mcduff

[Ricardo de Abreu]

  On 2/20/2020 at 9:03 PM, mcduff said:

I saw a seminar by the person who created the program. It basically converts LabVIEW code to an Arduino script such that the Arduino can run without being attached to a computer/LabVIEW etc. I believe you can still communicate with a PC if desired.

 

mcduff

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I saw it on a YouTube video.... Just to convert to Arduino code is not the point...

 

I was searching about the linx 3.0 and a BeagleBone Black board... That is probably the closest i can get for my needs...

But as it is an "old" project maybe there is something newer and better boards that are also compatible....

With this project I saw she can deploy a VI directly to the board and communicate, just like myRIO does...

Does anyone knows anything newer or better boards (with low budget, please)

[hooovahh]

So the Pi3 can be deployed to with Linx 3.0 as you may have found.  This is an official toolkit from NI that adds the target in the project and you deploy to it like any other device, and is free.  There is no front panel or UI when running on the Pi so keep that in mind.  But the code can be deployed and set to run on startup so that it runs headless.  There is some licensing to be aware of, specifically it can't be used on any commercial applications.  NI has said that in collaboration with the LabVIEW Community Edition (free as in beer expected release in May) that the Linx toolkit is to also have some kind of new release.  The same people that make the Arduino Compiler also make a Pi Compiler which can be used for commercial applications and has the front panel running on the Pi so you can plug in a monitor and see it.

Other than the Pi, the MyRIO is really the intended platform for students.  NI has partnered with Universities to offer a discount bringing the price of one I believe to $500.  I'm not a student so I can't see it.  But used ones on ebay pop up all the time from students who bought one for a class and no longer need it.  I picked one up for under $200.  The price of a raw Pi ($30-60) compared to the MyRIO ($500 retail) is a huge jump.  But NI justifies the price with all the stuff you get.  I mean the raw Pi doesn't even come with a case.  But the MyRIO has a real-time embedded Linus OS, an FPGA, built in Wifi, USB network, USB host, a bunch of IO, and the support of NI.  If your project needs an FPGA, and you want to program it in LabVIEW it is by far the cheapest option.  If you don't need an FPGA then it can be seen as over priced.  I'd start with the Pi3 and Linx and see what is possible.  There are lots of online videos and tutorials and the upfront cost is pretty low.

[Ricardo de Abreu]

  On 2/21/2020 at 1:39 PM, hooovahh said:

So the Pi3 can be deployed to with Linx 3.0 as you may have found.  This is an official toolkit from NI that adds the target in the project and you deploy to it like any other device, and is free.  There is no front panel or UI when running on the Pi so keep that in mind.  But the code can be deployed and set to run on startup so that it runs headless.  There is some licensing to be aware of, specifically it can't be used on any commercial applications.  NI has said that in collaboration with the LabVIEW Community Edition (free as in beer expected release in May) that the Linx toolkit is to also have some kind of new release.  The same people that make the Arduino Compiler also make a Pi Compiler which can be used for commercial applications and has the front panel running on the Pi so you can plug in a monitor and see it.

Other than the Pi, the MyRIO is really the intended platform for students.  NI has partnered with Universities to offer a discount bringing the price of one I believe to $500.  I'm not a student so I can't see it.  But used ones on ebay pop up all the time from students who bought one for a class and no longer need it.  I picked one up for under $200.  The price of a raw Pi ($30-60) compared to the MyRIO ($500 retail) is a huge jump.  But NI justifies the price with all the stuff you get.  I mean the raw Pi doesn't even come with a case.  But the MyRIO has a real-time embedded Linus OS, an FPGA, built in Wifi, USB network, USB host, a bunch of IO, and the support of NI.  If your project needs an FPGA, and you want to program it in LabVIEW it is by far the cheapest option.  If you don't need an FPGA then it can be seen as over priced.  I'd start with the Pi3 and Linx and see what is possible.  There are lots of online videos and tutorials and the upfront cost is pretty low.

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I saw about myRIO S2....

But I can't afford one $200 USD is more then R$ 800 BRL while a BeagleBone Black is around R$ 300 BRL much more affordable for me....

Untill now my choose will be a BeagleBone Black or Green... Because the number of IO pins they have and because there is no need of a SD card to boot the system.

But the lack of FPGA and the speed of it when compared to RPi that brings me down...

I would like to see more options and solutions in this way but I don't know if they exist....

[Ricardo de Abreu]

Guys what about the PYNQ™ Z2 board?

It is developed by a NI company... Is it compatible in anyway with LabView?

 

it has a affordable price for me...

[Tim_S]

Looks like all the PYNQ boards are programmable in Python. There was a question on NI Community about this.

[Ricardo de Abreu]

What about raspberry pi 4 board?

Now I don't know witch one to buy

Raspberry Pi4 vs BeagleBone Black Vs arduino.....

 

[JKSH]

  On 2/25/2020 at 6:34 PM, Ricardo de Abreu said:

Raspberry Pi4 vs BeagleBone Black Vs arduino.....

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Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone are full-fledged Linux computers. Arduino is a microcontroller.

Compare their specifications and I/O to see which one meets your requirements.

See also https://forums.ni.com/t5/NI-Blog/LabVIEW-Community-Edition/ba-p/3970512, especially the part about "Hobbyist Hardware".

[hooovahh]

Just an FYI Pi4 isn't officially supported by LINX yet, but several people performed some manual steps to get it working.

[Ricardo de Abreu]

  On 2/26/2020 at 9:49 PM, hooovahh said:

Just an FYI Pi4 isn't officially supported by LINX yet, but several people performed some manual steps to get it working.

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I saw this guide! I was completely decided about BeagleBone but when I saw this guide, and some comparations on speed, and memory, the raspberry is much better....

On the other hand BeagleBone has much more IO and no need a SD card to boot

For me BeagleBone is more indicated because of the interaction with the sensors and IOs

But raspberry is more powerful...

I don't know what to do...

 

[Bryan]

You could add additional I/O to the Pi by connecting Arduinos to it.  If you install LINX on the Arduino(s), your deployed LabVIEW application can control I/O on the Pi AND on the Arduino(s) using the LINX toolkit.

I haven't done this personally (I'm using another home-grown method), so I don't have a "How To" for it.  However, I know that I've stumbled on the above idea in one of my recent Google searches.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Bryan

[Thang Nguyen]

There is nothing perfectly fit for everything. Pick the one closet to what you want and go with it instead just wondering about it. Use your brain to learn how to program LabVIEW first.