DAQ modules with Beaglebone Black

[barney99]

Just a general question about deployment of VI to Beaglebone Black.  Is it possible to connect NI DAQ modules to the BBB and interface with VI running on BBB?  I am talking about USB and ethernet type connections between the BBB and DAQ modules like MyDAQ, NI-6009 etc.

Thanks

[ZYOng]

Technically possible but it is not ported to the latest LabVIEW community edition. You might need to use nidaqmxbase with C programming.

Some articles to read:

USB DAQ Devices Support For Linux

nidaqmxbase on ARMv7 (Beaglebone black) 

Low Cost USB DAQ Driver for use with Raspberry Pi®

Using a USB-6008 / 6009 / 6501 in MAX, and Switching Firmware Between NI-DAQmx and NI-DAQmx Base

[barney99]

We have LabView 2015.  Will that work?  If so, we would consider upgrading to new version.

I asked a similar question not long ago about DAQmx drivers on BBB, but was told NI currently did not have any.  Has this changed or is there some new driver that works with the paid version of LabView?

[ZYOng]

It is possible to use Digilent LINX (Control Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone and more) Toolkit for LabVIEW 2015 with NI-DAQmx base 15.5. It is technically possible but I haven't seen anyone doing that. You should expect some challenges without many people able to help you out.

[barney99]

This does not seem well thought out here...

NI is promoting the ability to run VIs on Beaglebone black using LabView and LINX

https://learn.ni.com/learn/article/getting-started-with-beaglebone-black-and-labview-community-editi...

The link to LINX you provided was last updated in 2016.  Unless the reference to LINX in the above NI link is different than Digilent LINX. 

I think this is a great idea if NI could add the ability to run LabView VI and/or LabWindows on Beaglebone Black and other similar devices...

[rolfk]

It's correct. The Linx Toolkit needed to be used with LabVIEW versions until LabVIEW 2019. Since LabVIEW 2020 you have the Hobbyist Toolkit instead. It is similar to the Linx Toolkit but it is important to install the Hobbyist Toolkit in LabVIEW 2020 and later or you will normally not be able to deploy compiled programs to a BBB or Raspberry Pi.

If you use the LabVIEW Community Edition you should not install either Toolkit as it already comes with the Hobbyist Toolkit preinstalled.

As to DAQmx on either Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black: It's a nice dream but only that, there is no support for DAQmx on these systems.

[barney99]

OK.  Just to clarify, if I upgrade to the current version of LabView (not community version) I can install the Hobbyist Toolkit and I will be able to create VIs that can use DAQ devices like compact DAQ running on a BBB?

Our application is commercial, so we cannot use the community edition.

[rolfk]

DAQmx, which would be needed to work with cDAQ devices has not been ported to the BeagleBone Black or Raspberry Pi targets. There used to be some DAQmx Base supported library that worked for some of the USB devices from NI for use with the Raspberry Pi but that was from 2012 and has never been updated. And it will almost certainly never work for cDAQ devices.