New solution for OS X

[Scott Hannahs]

Just to publicize a little known solution that lets one use the best development 
environment with NI hardware.

One can use a cheap PC as the host for all the hardware running the PharLap RT/OS as 
the target machine.  This gets around the extreme cost of a PXI crate and embedded 
hardware.
 
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/2B20D544723C8F2D86256E8C0071C201

With LabVIEW 7.1 the "host PC" can be an Apple MacIntosh running OS X!  The realtime 
target can be any cheap PC, though NI lists some systems as recommended it seems that 
the RT/OS will boot and run on most hardware.

Mac OS X and LV 7.1 now support cross compiling for the RT/OS.  This can be simply 
linked to the host thru ethernet.  For a good solution one should probably throw a 
second cheap ethernet interface in the host to keep network problems isolated from 
data transfer and control.

This will allow development in a clean, reliable and efficient environment with 
compatibility to all of NIs hardware.  The only real drawback is supporting the 
hardware of a cheap wintel box and the time labor associated with that.  However the 
Pharlap OS has a reputation of being fairly clean and robust to avoid the normal 
problems associated with more common desktop OSs.

I hope to get this info added soon to the OSX - Labview info page 


-Scott

RE: New solution for OS X

[Norman Kirchner]

What would be a true milestone for the computer based RT world would be
a RT PCI card. A card that would not be a slave to the system that it is
connected to but rather running in parallel, simply using the PCI bus as
means to power it and to facilitate comms on a need basis. Then to top
it all off, give it a MXI interface to access a PXI chassis. 

Or maybe it's all just a pipe dream

~,~ The Captain was here

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott Hannahs
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 9:00 AM
To: Info LabVIEW
Subject: New solution for OS X


Just to publicize a little known solution that lets one use the best
development environment with NI hardware.

One can use a cheap PC as the host for all the hardware running the
PharLap RT/OS as the target machine.  This gets around the extreme cost
of a PXI crate and embedded hardware.
 
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/2B20D544723C8F2D86256E8C
0071C201

With LabVIEW 7.1 the "host PC" can be an Apple MacIntosh running OS X!
The realtime target can be any cheap PC, though NI lists some systems as
recommended it seems that the RT/OS will boot and run on most hardware.

Mac OS X and LV 7.1 now support cross compiling for the RT/OS.  This can
be simply linked to the host thru ethernet.  For a good solution one
should probably throw a second cheap ethernet interface in the host to
keep network problems isolated from data transfer and control.

This will allow development in a clean, reliable and efficient
environment with compatibility to all of NIs hardware.  The only real
drawback is supporting the hardware of a cheap wintel box and the time
labor associated with that.  However the Pharlap OS has a reputation of
being fairly clean and robust to avoid the normal problems associated
with more common desktop OSs.

I hope to get this info added soon to the OSX - Labview info page
<http://sthmac.magnet.fsu.edu/labview/LVonMacOSX.html>

-Scott

RE: New solution for OS X

[Urs Lauterburg]

Norman,

Isn't this the way RT was first implemented on Windoze hosts. Just a RT PCI
DAQ board and nothing else. These boards kept running even without the
booted OS on the host machine. Obviously the line power was essential
though.

I think as time passes NI's concept of actually downloading the code and
have it run on all kinds of different RT targets is the way things will
develop in the future. Within this framework a PXI chassis with a PharLap
RT controller  which is accessible through a network connection by any host
is a good form factor. It might be an expensive solution at first sight but
the possibility to target a stand alone array of a suitable mixture of PXI
DAQ boards in a PXI chassis equipped with a controller can be a very good,
robust and reliable solution for many industrial and such tasks. After all
the PXI is a well known form factor to NI and this in contrast to the
numerous constructs of office machines which dominate the common PC market.
The idea to develop and debug the application on ones favorite PC platform
(Win, Mac, Linux, Sun) and deploy it on robust devices capable to act in a
deterministic RT-way is a good concept and NI has made it real already. No
need for dreaming really, but of course like all dreams they have their
prize.

As I am getting more and more acquainted with the RT topology  it makes
more and more sense to me. To be able to disconnect from a given RT-target
while the VIs keep running deterministically right at the locations where
the measurements are taken to later hook again into the self made
instrument through the same or other links is a fine way to do DAQ.

I personally prefer a real RT controller over a gray PC box. However this
of course could be a viable option too, a bit bulky maybe. Will the PharLap
OS control any DAQ boards in the PC box the same way it does it on a PXI
form factor chassis.

Thanks Jeff for putting the thoughts and the creativity ahead of us.
LabVIEW everywhere, even way down on small intelligent sensors is a very
intriguing and far sighted roadmap.

Regards and happy RT-wireworking

Urs

Urs Lauterburg
Physics demonstrator
Physics Institute
University of Bern
Switzerland


>What would be a true milestone for the computer based RT world would be
>a RT PCI card. A card that would not be a slave to the system that it is
>connected to but rather running in parallel, simply using the PCI bus as
>means to power it and to facilitate comms on a need basis. Then to top
>it all off, give it a MXI interface to access a PXI chassis.
>
>Or maybe it's all just a pipe dream
>
>~,~ The Captain was here
>
>-Original Message-
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott Hannahs
>Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 9:00 AM
>To: Info LabVIEW
>Subject: New solution for OS X
>
>
>Just to publicize a little known solution that lets one use the best
>development environment with NI hardware.
>
>One can use a cheap PC as the host for all the hardware running the
>PharLap RT/OS as the target machine.  This gets around the extreme cost
>of a PXI crate and embedded hardware.
>
>http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/2B20D544723C8F2D86256E8C
>0071C201
>
>With LabVIEW 7.1 the "host PC" can be an Apple MacIntosh running OS X!
>The realtime target can be any cheap PC, though NI lists some systems as
>recommended it seems that the RT/OS will boot and run on most hardware.
>
>Mac OS X and LV 7.1 now support cross compiling for the RT/OS.  This can
>be simply linked to the host thru ethernet.  For a good solution one
>should probably throw a second cheap ethernet interface in the host to
>keep network problems isolated from data transfer and control.
>
>This will allow development in a clean, reliable and efficient
>environment with compatibility to all of NIs hardware.  The only real
>drawback is supporting the hardware of a cheap wintel box and the time
>labor associated with that.  However the Pharlap OS has a reputation of
>being fairly clean and robust to avoid the normal problems associated
>with more common desktop OSs.
>
>I hope to get this info added soon to the OSX - Labview info page
><http://sthmac.magnet.fsu.edu/labview/LVonMacOSX.html>
>
>-Scott

RE: New solution for OS X

[Uwe Frenz]

Urs,
you wrote on June 11:
I personally prefer a real RT controller over a gray PC box. However this
of course could be a viable option too, a bit bulky maybe. Will the PharLap
OS control any DAQ boards in the PC box the same way it does it on a PXI
form factor chassis.
I had this opinion too when I had to decide what to buy as the base for an 
industrial test system.
I took a PXI-1010 combo chassis and a MXI-3 data link to a PC. Sounds good 
and has a good technical base, but is horribel to work side-by-side. Not 
really like a starting chessna airplane, but really disturbingly loud. It 
is designed to work in a rack housing. And thats what might be the only 
possibel solution in the long run (but can't be achieved in my case).
Anyway, a good PC (or Mac or whatever) is much more convinient to work aside.
AND, in my opinion, a modern (desktop) PC is even less bulky than the PXI-1010.

Just my € 0.02!
Greetings from Germany!
--
Uwe Frenz
~
Dr. Uwe Frenz
Entwicklung
getemed Medizin- und Informationtechnik AG
Oderstr. 59
D-14513 Teltow
Tel.  +49 3328 39 42 0
Fax   +49 3328 39 42 99
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW.Getemed.de

Was: New solution for OS X, Now: RT-FIFO?

[Urs Lauterburg]

Uwe et al.
You are right, the small PXI-1002 Chassis I got was so awfully load
that I had to modify it with a new temperature regulated silent
ventilator. Now it is almost as silent as my nifty i-Mac which hums
so silently that I can barely tell its is on at all. I program my PXI
from an i-Mac and that's fun.
I am actually right now waiting for the LV 7.1 RT-Modules for MacOS-X
because I found some misbehavior with the RT-FIFO VIs. Has anybody
else had difficulties with RT-FIFOs under MacOS-X? That was with the
LV7 Modules and hopefully things will clear up with the LV7.1 ones.
Cheers
Urs
Urs Lauterburg
Physics demonstrator
LabVIEW wireworker
Physics Institute
University of Bern
Switzerland

Urs,
you wrote on June 11:
 I personally prefer a real RT controller over a gray PC box. However this
 of course could be a viable option too, a bit bulky maybe. Will the PharLap
 OS control any DAQ boards in the PC box the same way it does it on a PXI
 form factor chassis.
I had this opinion too when I had to decide what to buy as the base
for an industrial test system.
I took a PXI-1010 combo chassis and a MXI-3 data link to a PC.
Sounds good and has a good technical base, but is horribel to work
side-by-side. Not really like a starting chessna airplane, but
really disturbingly loud. It is designed to work in a rack housing.
And thats what might be the only possibel solution in the long run
(but can't be achieved in my case).
Anyway, a good PC (or Mac or whatever) is much more convinient to work aside.
AND, in my opinion, a modern (desktop) PC is even less bulky than
the PXI-1010.
Just my ¤ 0.02!
Greetings from Germany!
--
Uwe Frenz
~
Dr. Uwe Frenz
Entwicklung
getemed Medizin- und Informationtechnik AG
Oderstr. 59
D-14513 Teltow
Tel.  +49 3328 39 42 0
Fax   +49 3328 39 42 99
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW.Getemed.de