NI MyRIO, cheap cRIO alternative?

[joecloud]

Are there any teams out there that have invested in/messed with a MyRio?
What are it's limitations for robotics? I'm thinking of getting one to build my own little robot at home, considering that it is a lot cheaper than getting the regular competition FPGA, along with the fact it is programmable through labview- would it be capable of running the code used to drive the jaguars and other competition appropriate motor controllers? How much work would it take to get the MyRio to run somewhat like the cRIO in terms of interfacing with joysticks and the use of cameras?

I do have a Raspberry Pi and Arduino, but being a labview programmer for the team, I think the MyRio could be a cheap, yet very effective tool for working on/teacher labview code.
If anyone could help me gain a better understanding of the possibilities/limitations of the MyRio I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks,

[EricH]

I suggest waiting one more season. Then you'll know all you really wanted to know about the MyRIO... at least the FRC version. IIRC, that's the base for the 2015 and following control system. (And from the alpha hardware I've seen... it's about the size of the IFI control system, which is a HUGE bonus!)

[Joe Ross]

The 2015 control system will be based on the NI roboRIO (https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-30419), which has a similar architecture to the myRIO. I'm not sure what the level of support would be for running roboRIO programs and FPGA on the myRIO.

If the myRIO is not compatible with the FRC FPGA image, then I would expect it to be a lot of work to write a semi-compatible FPGA image.

[joecloud]

Thanks! I don't recall seeing this, but has NI released a price for the roborio? Is it going to be priced similarly to the cRio or more like the MyRio.

[Joe Ross]

The only info I've seen was at the Q/A session at NI Week.


Targeting low $400s in price, and expecting for it to eventually lower in the future. Expect a more firm answer at the 2014 Championship.

1 RoboRIO will be available per team at a reduced rate once per year, additional units will be at the academic price.