LV Support for Raspberry Pi?

[AndyVessey]

Just wondering if NI LabVIEW Embedded Module for ARM Microcontrollers supports the new Raspberry Pi board?

The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer board that plugs into a TV and a keyboard. It’s a miniature ARM-based PC which can be used for many of the things that a desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays High-Definition video.

Further info here and here

[gt3000]

Hello Andy,

I have been following the Raspberry Pi project for some time out of personal interest, as it is an interesting product for computing hobbyists. 

One thing I have noticed about the project is that parts and specification have changed throughout their development.  Just as recently as the release date two day ago, the RAM size was changed.  Once all the specifications become set in stone, and the backlog of orders get shipped, I am sure there will be a few LabVIEW users after these.

Although I don't speak for R&D at NI, I imagine that, just like the rest of world, a Raspberry Pi has not been available to them for testing. Regarding compatibility with the LabVIEW Embedded Module, the supported architectures are ARM7, ARM9, and Cortex-M3 microcontrollers.  I look forward to seeing what is included on the Raspberry Pi in the coming months, and how the LabVIEW community will support it.

Regards,

[AndyVessey]

Hello George,

Thanks for the reply and your views - interesting.

I notice that the device is ARM11 so does this mean that LV Embeded Module doesn't yet support this? I note you said support is for: ARM7, ARM9, and Cortex-M3

SoC:[6]	Broadcom BCM2835 (CPU, GPU, DSP, and SDRAM)[3]
CPU:	700 MHz ARM1176JZF-S core (ARM11 family)[3]

Regards

Andy

[gt3000]

Hello Andy,

Correct, the ARM11 is not officially supported.  My understanding is that ARM11 has a 32-bit instruction set, and specifically in the case of Raspberry Pi, it is marked as SoC, meaning it's already integrated as System on Chip. 

The ARM9 has a 32-bit bus, however uses a 16-bit instruction set. 

A very good discussion on support platforms is found below:

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Embedded/Can-LabVIEW-Embedded-for-ARM-work-with-any-board-or-just-wi...

However, I look forward to what the future brings for this device and LabVIEW users.

Regards,

[Taylor.Kendall]

What about just installing LVRTOS on it?  I am not to familular with SOC systems.  

[Peter_B]

Hi George,

What do you think about the idea of using LV for linux on a Raspberry PI or other similar SBC ?  See my question here.

[QFang]

Any news on this?  It really would be neat to run LV on a Raspberry Pi!
From their FAQ: 

Will it run <insert name of program here>?
In general, you need to look to see whether the program you want can be compiled for the ARMv6 architecture. In most cases the answer will be yes. Specific programs are discussed on our forum, so you might want to look there for an answer.

So from the list above, it seems the answer is no, however, maybe that list has changed since 2012?

[gt3000]

Hello QFang,

Raspberry Pi has not become a target platform for LabVIEW.  Architecturally, the existing LabVIEW run-time engine for Linux (the main open-source Operating System used by hobbyists) is compiled for x86 architectures.  This means that Raspberry Pi is not a deployment target out of the box.

A development that occured earlier this year is a DAQ driver for low-cost hardware, like the USB-6008/6009.  It was developed by an ethusiastic engineer here in the UK office and released under the NI Labs license agreement.  This means that it is a community supported effort for any user who wishes to download it.

Low Cost USB DAQ Driver for use with Raspberry Pi®

This product allows you to run a Raspbian Wheezy, the standard distro of Linux, and read data values from the USB-6008/6009 hardware.  Afterwards, the data can be published via whatever web method you prefer for visualizing on screen.

[Boyan_B]

Hi George,

Even if RPi one day becomes a possible deployment target as a Linux box wrapper I think the interest of the community is a native support; meaning no Linux but binary produced by LV and nativelly running on the ARM box with no underlying engine, etc

Is that even in the works at NI?

~B