Quote:
Originally Posted by cbpetrovic
So, one thought that we (T166) had regarding the use of Arduino-based coprocessors is to use them to provide sensor input to the cRIO either via the I2C bus or via the RS-232 comm port. The intent is to offload the cRIO, have sensor inputs processed by the Arduino and made available to the cRIO upon request.
It's not driving any motors directly, will be obtaining power from the +5V PD.
Thoughts?
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Compared to the processing power of the cRIO+FPGA, an Arduino is pretty wimpy. Offloading sensor inputs to an Arduino won't really free up any meaningful resources that would make an additional layer of system complexity (and potential problems) worth it, especially since a lot of the heavy lifting in regards to I/O is handled via the FPGA. (Imagine all the interrupts from multiple 39,000 count-per-second encoders that the FPGA prevents!)
The only reasons to use a co-processor are for computationally intensive tasks (like video processing) or if you need additional sensor input ports beyond what the cRIO can provide.