Labview and the IFI hardware

[Danny Diaz]

Originally Posted by ajlapp

We used it to do camera work, but did anyone integrate it into an actual data collection system that provided useful feedback about the motors, the power system and the sensors on their bot?

We're interested in working with the system and getting students involved, but I'm concerned about cost and what the limitations of trying to implement such a system might be.

I could tell you how much it cost us, but then I'd have to kill you. No, seriously, we've actually spent this summer and a lot of money and worked with Worchester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to develop a round-1 LabVIEW-based robot analysis and simulation toolkit that allows you to directly talk with the IFI controller. Of course you need our USB-DAQ device for digital I/O and analog I/O, but for those interested in using this software we do plan on having an extended pilot program where those involved get the required hardware for free.

The key benefits of the system will be for bench-testing code on the IFI controller almost from day 1 of the competition. Model your robot with some simple blocks, add in some logic to further model the operational characteristics of the robot, and start developing/testing your C/EasyC code on the IFI controller, all without having a physical robot. What I want is to ultimately make it so that the programming is actually done before the robot is finished. Imagine that!

But alas, I am getting ahead of myself. Hopefully in the next month or so we'll make the details available.

-Danny