Using LabView in commercial products

[RayPh]

Does anyone have any experience with using LabView in commercial products like CNC machines or printers (i.e. medium volume machines that you sell)? How does this compare with using C programming instead?

[Cult of Nurse's]

What on earth are you talking about? Do you distribute C code and expect
the client to compile?

RayPh wrote:
> Does anyone have any experience with using LabView in commercial
> products like CNC machines or printers (i.e. medium volume machines
> that you sell)? How does this compare with using C programming
> instead?

[John Rich]

What on earth are you talking about? Undoubtedly RayPh is talking about distributing compiled code. I expect that LabView may work very well for RayPh's problem, although I don't have specific experience in this area. The primary obstacle to LabView may be within the corporate structure where C code may already be well ingrained.

[RayPh]

Yes of course I am talking about compiled code.

[RayPh]

We are talking about compiled code.

[Ben]

Hi Cult....,

I do not like to see strong contributers to this exchange getting hammered like this! Do not let this get you down!

RayPh,

I have developed a number of applications that my customers have packaged with their hardware and re-sell. I have not heard of anyone asking "What environment was used to devlop the software?".

Is this what you wanted to know?

Ben

[RayPh]

We have always used C code in systems that we sell. I am considering designing a system (commercial product) using LabView.We are looking for first hand feedback from developers that have taken the LabView route. Any issues that are different from the traditional (i.e. c code for us) development and support cycle. What type of systems have your customers shipped with LabView applications?

[rahulk]

ABMSoft - an NI alliance member in Eastern Europe has developed a very powerful G-code interpretor for LabVIEW. Their ABMS-NC toolkit for LabVIEW also includes an offline simulation tool. They have successfully deployed many machines using this toolkit. Its available directly from ABMSoft for $995. You can contact ABMSoft directly.

More info on ABMSoft (Contact info and product details)
http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/niaa.com_view?p_all_id=7974

Documentation on ABMSoft's website
http://www.abmsoft.com/NI-NC.pdf

Thanks,
Rahul

Rahul Kulkarni
National Instruments

[rolfk]

One thing you may have to watch out with this is licensing. While the Application Builder gives you a license to distribute as many LabVIEW executables as you like, this changes very fast as soon as you use additional Toolkits or drivers. Some of the Toolkits (a non-exhaustive list would be LabVIEW DSC, LabVIEW IMAQ, LabVIEW Database Toolkit) require a runtime license for each installed machine. Also if your application uses VISA to talk to GPIB, serial, USB, VXI, PXI, etc. NI only grants you the right to create 10 or so executables per Application Builder license without having to buy VISA runtime licenses.

Other software like NI-DAQ, NI-488, etc. is covered by the purchase of the NI hardware if you buy the entire kit and not just the OEM hardware version only.

Rolf Kalbermatter