Assembly On The cRIo

[Greg McKaskle]

So in theory I can, with the use of Vertigo or some other HDL, make the cRio "multi core". The FPGA can be split into seperate "modules" that can be used to do some pseudo parallel processing.

Pretty much any task the FPGA performs is true parallelism, not pseudo. In the FIRST usage, it generates PWMs, counts encoder transitions, accumulates gyro deltas, and performs all of its duties in parallel and independent of the PPC. Can you generate a core to have an additional full-fledged CPU? Yes, but that takes lots of gates, and this wouldn't be a cost-effective way to build a PS3.

Might seem redundent since a small micro controller like the CMUs can handle images fine, the Cell Processor might be an over kill.

Image processing on a small micro is impressive when it works, but image processing has the ability to absorb as much processing as you can throw at it. For a good example, the PR2 from Willow Garage has numerous cameras in its head and others in its arms. It has 2 quad-core Xeon processors in each server, and two servers on the robot, each with 24GB of memory. With all that , you can see some pretty cool algorithms that enable it to do what a four or five year old child can do. I'm not knocking it, but just pointing out that image processing is in its infancy, and today, will easily consume as much CPU as you can throw at it.

If you decide to program a PS3, write fully auto for the robot, or any other project, I encourage you to focus on the follow through. Starting projects is fun, easy, and exposes you to new things, but finishing them shows true character.

Greg McKaskle

[taichichuan]

If you're really interested in assembly on the cRIO, then any of the PPC "green" books on the 603e instruction sets would work. Even though the architecture has been expanding, the basics (including the instruction set) are the same. The WRS tools include gas (the GNU assembler) that can be used to assemble files into machine code.

Of course, if you open the host shell in Workbench (the button that looks like an "i" with an arrow pointing to it) you'll be able to interact with the cRIO in assembly. The commands "s, so, l, and b" all work at the assembly level. And, the GNU debugger is capable of showing mixed C/C++ and assembly. It can be really interesting to look at the C/C++ source and the assembly that was produced by the compiler.

However, I'd suggest that the GNU inline capability is likely all you'll need (if you even need that). The better investment of your time would be to look at the underlying O/S and its capabilities. VxWorks is a powerful O/S that's been used for hard real-time systems for over 20 years. You can do a lot to speed up your robots by taking advantage of the services that VxWorks provides.

HTH,

Mike

[davidthefat]

Thank you all of you.

I found what I need all online I LOVE MIT and Stanford for their lectures for free on iTunes. Who would have thought, a class on multicore programming with the PS3, and a Machine learning course in Stanford and a programming Paradigm course. Now I just need like extra 78 hours of my life just dedicated to watching those lectures and taking notes... Which I do not have.