How to make CompactRIO truly standalone?

[GoodManBing]

Hi,

I am new to cRIO and I am using it for motion control. What do we need to do to make cRIO run as a standalone system? That is, my motion control system can run with just the cRIO (or perhaps together with an extra external control panel for monitoring) connected. This is because I find that I need the the computer to run the host vi to control my system; how do I program my fpga vi or host vi to achieve such a function?

I am quite lost in this part, so many thanks in advance.

*attached is a sample host vi.

[Richard P.]

Hi GoodManBing,

You are correct, many users have a  host  VI running on their PC that communicates via TCP to the Real-Time VI on the Controller. Also, it is possible to run the VI from LabVIEW by changing your Execution Target. This introduces jitter to your code in addition to requiring a connection to a non-portable machine.

There are many solutions to this, the way to begin is to create an executable called Startup.exe for your RT controller. This executable would for example communicate to the FPGA using the Host Interface Pallette VI's. The Startup.exe, when placed on the target's drive at ni-rt\STARTUP, will automatically run when the target is powered on.

You could then use potentiometers that are read as analog in, for example, to control the rest of the software. Then your User Force would be controlled via the potentiometer.

Richard

[GoodManBing]

Thanks Richard,

Your previous post has been very useful. However, I still have some problems building my standalone application. I just need some hints to get started. 

For example:

a.) Under the "Tools>>Build Application or Shared Library>>Source Files" , do I use my HOST VIs(as top level VI) or FPGA VIs(as dynamic VI)?

b.) Do I need to make any modifications to my program which uses the PC to run the host VI before it is downloaded to my cRIO-9101?

c.) Are there any example codes or application on building standalone applications available? I have searched NI.com but could not find relevant ones. 

I am currently using LabVIEW 7.1 with FPGA module 1.1, NI-RIO and Real-Time Module (ETS) installed. I have cRIO-9125, 9263 and 9411. attached are some programs i experimented with - programs speaks a thousand words.

Thank you

Bing

u0204620@nus.edu.sg

Message Edited by GoodManBing on 01-13-2006 12:13 PM

Message Edited by GoodManBing on 01-13-2006 12:15 PM

Message Edited by GoodManBing on 01-13-2006 12:18 PM