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2 LabVIEW for FRC Doug Norman National Instruments January 6, 2012
3 Overview Introduction to LabVIEW FRC edition of LabVIEW What’s new for FRC LabVIEW 2012
4 Part 1 - What is LabVIEW? Speak G Graphical programming language Go with the flow Dataflow programming Easy writing Easy to learn Powerful debugging tools
5 Each VI has 2 Windows Front Panel User Interface (UI) –Controls = Inputs –Indicators = Outputs Block Diagram Graphical Code –Data travels on wires from controls through functions to indicators –Blocks execute by Dataflow LabVIEW Programs Are Called Virtual Instruments (VIs) 5
6 Block diagram execution –Dependent on the flow of data –Block diagram does NOT execute left to right Node executes when data is available to ALL input terminals Nodes supply data to all output terminals when done Dataflow Programming 6
7 Controls Palette (Controls & Indicators) 7 Indicator: Numeric Slide Control: Numeric Customize Palette View
8 Functions (and Structures) Palette 8 (Place items on the Block Diagram Window) Structure: While Loop
9 LabVIEW Nodes While loop For loop Boolean logic PID Control Arrays Signal processing Mathematics Timing
10 Floating point Integer Boolean String Array – note wire thickness Cluster LabVIEW Types
11 LabVIEW Tasks Multiple tasks in parallel Data flow still applies Loops 1, 2, and 3 will run Loop 4 runs after 3 stops
12 Debugging Techniques Finding Errors Execution Highlighting Probes Click on broken Run button. Window showing error appears. Click on Execution Highlighting button; data flow is animated using bubbles. Values are displayed on wires. Right-click on wire to display probe and it shows data as it flows through wire segment. You can also select Probe tool from Tools palette and click on wire. 12
13 Context Help Window Help»Show Context Help or press Hover cursor over object to update window 13 Additional Help –Right-Click on the VI icon and choose Help, or –Choose “Detailed Help.” on the context help window
14 Part 2 - FRC Version of LabVIEW CompactRIO with custom FPGA image Vision and Robotics palettes Custom Getting Started Window Wizards to create robot and dashboard code FRC specific examples FRC specific tutorials
15 CompactRIO with Custom FPGA Custom FPGA image for specific I/O modules Analog, digital, and solenoid modules Read sensors, control motors and actuators (note wrong module order)
16 FRC Vision and Robotics Palettes Vision – manage and analyze images WPI Robotics – Robot Drive, Sensors, Actuators, I/O, Driver Station, Camera, Communications, Utilities. This contains most of what you will use to program your robot.
17 Custom Getting Started Window
18 FRC Wizards for Robot and Dashboard
19 FRC Specific Examples
20 Part 3 - What’s new for FRC LabVIEW 2012 Thumb Drive Installer Based on LabVIEW 2011 Supports NI cRIO-FRC II Faster RT deployment Driver Station VIs Camera VIs Compressor VIs Getting Started Window cRIO Imaging Tool Axis Camera Setup Tool Driver Station Dashboard Examples Tutorials
21 NI Software on a Thumb Drive NI LabVIEW for FRC installs from a thumb drive Extra 3.5 GB partition for team use
22 New Palette VIs Get Robot Battery Voltage Report Robot Code State Kinect VIs Camera Loop VIs Compressor Loop VI
23 Getting Started Window – Utilities Page
24 cRIO Imaging Tool Works for both: NI cRIO-FRC NI cRIO-FRC II Same image for both Shows installed modules cRIO switches: Read NI cRIO-FRC Read/Write NI cRIO-FRC II
25 Axis Camera Setup Tool Connection choice Directions Troubleshooting
26 Driver Station Charts tab – performance and logging Log Viewer – C:\Program Files\FRC Driver Station Driver Station Log File Viewer.exe Kinect Status Space bar = E-Stop
27 Dashboard Kinect Skeleton Tab – displays skeleton image Camera Image Tab – now uses mjpeg file type
28 New Examples EZ1 MB1010 Sonar – Analog EZ1 MB1010 Sonar – Digital CAN Motor CAN Speed Control CAN Tank Drive CAN Position Control CAN Current Control
29 Tutorials Set up cRIO Set up Axis Camera Set up Robot Radio Develop Robot Project Editing Team Code Custom Dashboard Integrating Examples Integrating Vision CAN Jaguar
30 Conclusion LabVIEW is easy to learn yet very powerful Many custom VIs, examples and tools for FRC New and improved features for FRC 2012 To learn more, visit ni.com/first Questions?