crio - which communication to use?

[Ghis]

dear user,

I have cRIO9040 and 9045 in my laboratory.
Until now, I work as follows:
- Initialization of sensors and actuators ==> Daqmx
- Data backup ==> TDMS file with writes every 250 ms. After end of tests: transfer to a network folder
- Display: 15" screen with usbC to HDMI converter
- Control: via touch screen or use of the webserver via IE (Internet Explorer)

So far, I've taken the easy way out with the webserver and Daqmx. I see the end of IE as well as a very demanding use in terms of processor and RAM of the cRIO by DAQmx+webserver use on my cRIOs.

Could you tell me the standard/efficient uses of cRIO?

I have the impression that it is better to use the FPGA for everything that is I/O sensors actuators. On the other hand, how to control the application remotely without a webserver? Which do you think is the most effective? Modbus slave? MQTT? other ?

Could you enlighten me on your uses and your tests for these configurations? Which is the most manageable, scalable and efficient?

Thank you for your answers.

[jacobson]

I don't think it's always better to use the FPGA over DAQmx. I think the FPGA can be very useful if you need to do some sort of inline processing/scaling, some custom triggering scheme, or if you want to do some closed loop control completely outside of the CPU, but if you're just going to be constantly streaming data to file (basically a headless data logger) then DAQmx would be my choice. One way of looking at it is if your FPGA code is just going to be a passthrough then you probably should just be using DAQmx.

For the communication scheme, we would need to know more about how you're going to be interacting with the cRIO. That said, I would probably avoid having the cRIO act as a Modbus slave unless your host application is the master for other Modbus slave devices and you want to treat the cRIO the same as your other slave devices.

[Ghis]

Thank you for your reply.

I have to use closed loop processes. Below is a typical example of use:

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Ghis