Changing from Arduino to LINX??

[andreaspi]

Hello there,

A quick question:

Last year I developed this sketch to control the conditions of my ovens to dry fruits using an Arduino Mega, 3 sensors for Humidity and Temperature and 3 servos to control the opening on top of the oven..

Took me ages as I am not a programmer.

Now I see that the new way of programming is using LINX. (No LIFA anymore....)

What it would be the advantage of developing a new sketch in LINX to do the same as in my old sketch ?

The reason for this is that now I would like to change the Servo with Stepper Motor (more power to lift the hatch).

.... and I am having problems in Uploading the LIFA on my new Arduino Mega...............

Thanks for all your help and Time

Andrea

[Sam_Sharp]

The LINX toolkit basically takes over the Arduino - it compiles a pre-written sketch onto the Arduino which gives you access to the peripherals (e.g. analogue/digital I/O) from LabVIEW and has a serial communications protocol to communicate between the Arduino and LabVIEW. It is, however, possible to customise the sketch to add in custom commands.

If your sketch has some custom functionality that isn't available in LINX (e.g. it implements some sort of control or talks to some shields etc.), then you might want to stick to your sketch. If your just reading some inputs/writing some outputs and want to do that from LabVIEW - then LINX is a simple way of doing that. Note as well that LINX requires your arduino to be constantly connected to the computer to work.

It's also worth pointing out that there is a LabVIEW compiler for Arduino - http://www.tsxperts.com/arduino-compatible-compiler-for-labview/

[andreaspi]

Thanks Sam, very informative. In this case I will have just to upload on the Arduino Mega a LINX code that replace the LIFA. And my old Sketch should work ...... Is it so? My Sketch is very basic and I used only what was available on the Library. Thanks again for your time . Best regards Andrea

[Sam_Sharp]

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@andreaspi wrote:
And my old Sketch should work ...... Is it so? My Sketch is very basic and I used only what was available on the Library. 

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Do you mean your Arduino sketch? If so, the answer is no - the LINX sketch overwrites whatever is on the Arduino. If you mean your LabVIEW code - you'll just need to replace the LIFA functions you were using with the appropriate LINX ones - you should be able to do basic I/O etc.

[andreaspi]

Hi Sam, Sorry, I will try to be more technically precise......

In my old system I had to upload on my Arduino a LIFA_Base using the Arduino IDE in order to use the Arduino Mega with LabView.

I suppose that with LINX I will have to use the same basic "sketch" to communicate between Arduino and LabView.

Is it so?

I am watching the

Getting Started with LINX

videos, they are talking about a:

Compiler for LabVIEW

That on my Labview 2012 is not present.......... Is this what I need to still use my old VI on the new Arduino Mega I am building as backup?

.Thanks for your quick responds

Andrea

[Dennis_Knutson]

If you are going to talk about a video, you need to provide a link.

You can't use your old VI when you replace LIFA with LINX. The LINX functions operate in a similar manner but they have different names. The communication between the pc and the arduino is still serial, though.

[Sam_Sharp]

LINX has it's own sketch you have to upload on your Arduino - but it's the same principle as the LIFA toolkit.

If you read the link I posted above - there is an Arduino Compiler for LabVIEW, but it is a 3rd party toolkit which you have to pay for.

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It's also worth pointing out that there is a LabVIEW compiler for Arduino - http://www.tsxperts.com/arduino-compatible-compiler-for-labview/

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[andreaspi]

Hi Dennis,

here is the link I didn't metion in my previous post:

http://www.tsxperts.com/arduino-compatible-compiler-for-labview/

ok, I will study a bit more before coming back with obvious questions.

Thanks for all and regared

Andrea

[andreaspi]

Thanks Sam,

I will download the third party app and try again.

I will be back after some testing..............

Thanks for all

Andrea

[iCan'tBerrPuns]

I think a very helpful discussion is going on here in the forums, but I think that the LabVIEW MakerHub could be more useful for this specific forum post. For example, there are specific areas in the MakerHub forums dedicated to posts on LINX. Post your questions there and see if any other users can give you good feedback. Below I have included a link to the LabVIEW MakerHub.

LabVIEW MakerHub

https://www.labviewmakerhub.com/forums/

Good luck!