Adding custom RT code to be deployed along with VeriStand

[Kovelil]

Hi All,

            I'm new to VeriStand. Just had a basic training on VeriStand. I had worked with LabVIEW RT. I already have an RT code which consists of a producer consumer architecture using Queues. It performs some sequence of algorithms on inputs received from either Hardware / software.

I wanted to know the following things

1) How can I add the custom code (the custom code is not related to any Hardware Device Driver) to VeriStand's System Configuration so that the code also will get deployed?

2) If the custom code can be deployed along with VeriStand's System Configuration then ,how can the custom code get access to the VeriStands hardware channels, User Channels, Calcualted Channels, Models etc?

3) Does the VeriStand API work in RT?

If anyone has tried the same and has any working solution please do share with me.

Thanks in Advance

4)

[csparksfly]

Hi Kovelil,

It's not necessarily straightforward to deploy additional RT code with VeriStand. VeriStand is already an RT executable that is running on your target and should handle most of the communication you need. For an overview, I would read more about the NI VeriStand Engine Architecture: https://www.ni.com/docs/en-US/bundle/veristand/page/vs-engine.html.

As you'll see, the engine already takes care of acquiring data (in the primary control loop) and performing its own data transfer using FIFOs. Assuming that your producer consumer architecture acquires data in the producer loop and executes the algorithms in the consumer loop, VeriStand is going to replace your producer loop with its primary control loop. Which leaves you to implement your algorithms elsewhere in the engine.

I would recommend looking into creating LabVIEW models for use in VeriStand: http://www.ni.com/tutorial/12785/en/. This would allow you to convert the algorithms you've written for your consumer loop into a form that VeriStand can easily interpret. Those will be executed in the Model loop which will communicate back and forth via FIFOs with the PCL (see engine architecture).

For completely custom code, you can create VeriStand custom devices. This will require starting from a template an refactoring your code to fit a format that VeriStand can work with. It is not a simple process and development can take a week or more of effort to complete. For more information on creating custom devices, take a look at this help article: https://www.ni.com/docs/en-US/bundle/veristand/page/create-custom-device.html.

Hopefully that helps!