I tried posting this in "Additional NI Software Idea Exchange", but could not find the "Post New Idea" button.
I have just started using the LabVIEW Embedded for ARM evaluation kit and it looks like an interesting product for seasoned LabVIEW programmers. I've already extensively used LabVIEW, LabVIEW Real-Time and LabVIEW FPGA. Once I'm familiar with LabVIEW Microcontroller, I'll be able to target PCs, CompactRIO Real-Time Controllers, FPGAs and 32-bit microcontrollers. That's quiet a range of target platforms ranging from powerful to deterministic to low-cost.
One of the problems I see is that the number of microcontrollers that are available as part of an out-of-box experience is limited to two (OK, strictly speaking 3). Also, these processors (ARM7 and ARM Cortex M3) are not the most recent and powerful industry offerings. For example, the more recent ARM9 is 4 times more powerful and the ARM11 is 15 times more powerful!
My idea is to introduce an additional out-of-box microcontroller in the LabVIEW Microcontroller range. This should be at least an ARM9 and preferably ARM11. An appropriate high-featured evaluation board should be identified (analog in, analog out, several I2C, UARTS, SPI/SSP, USB, ethernet, display, etc). I think such a move will increase the popularity and usefulness of LabVIEW Microcontroller several fold.
