SoftMotion at PXIe-8861

[volleymar]

Hello,

in the past, I had a PXIe-8840RT and I worked with LabVIEW 2020 and SoftMotion.

For a new project I have a PXIe-8861 now. In this project I also need to work with SoftMotion, but I am not able to install at the system.

I tried:

1. To install a RT image, but SoftMotion is not selectable

2. To do a customized installation (worked with cRIO systems), but this option is not available vor the PXIe-8861RT

Has anyone experiences with SoftMotion and PXIe systems?

Is it possible to install SoftMotion at a PXIe-8861, maybe by installing Phar Lap instead of Linux?

Thanks

[Bob_Schor]

You mentioned a PXIe-8840RT that ran Soft Motion and a (new) PXIe-8861 that cannot run Soft Motion.  Some questions and comments:

• Am I correct that the PXIe-8840RT boots up in LabVIEW Real-Time Linux?
• Am I correct that the PXIe-8861 boots up in Windows 10?
• Are you aware that LabVIEW 2020 is the (final) version of LabVIEW that supports Soft Motion?

From the Web, it does appear that LabVIEW 2020 on Windows will support Soft Motion 2020, as described here.  I believe there are also some LabVIEW-compatible Motion-control products that are possible replacements for Soft Motion.  I recall mention of this somewhere on the LabVIEW Forums about 6 months ago (I'm guessing).

Bob Schor

[volleymar]

The PXIe-8840RT boots up in Phar Lap

The PXIe-8861RT boots up in Linux RT

I know that SoftMotion is discontinued, but for my new project it is required.

[ZYOng]

There are two ways to install software on NI Linux RT target: legacy CDF-based and IPK-based Linux RT System Image. Most of the files are installed at different paths for these two options.

Only cRIOs support both options. PXI Linux RT only supports the latter.

To my knowledge, many obsoleted drivers never get ported to the new System Image installation. And thus Softmotion is unlikely to work on PXI Linux RT.

At the same time, PXIe-8861 does not have a BIOS that supports Pharlap. You should consider switching to other PXIe controllers that support Pharlap.

[RIObotics]

Hi Volleymar:

Check out this KB, this says that you need to be running Pharlap for PXI RT for SoftMotion:

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA03q000000YMvHCAW&l=en-US

Looks like a tricky process.  Also, since NI SoftMotion is discontinued, are you sure you want to be continuing on this path?

My company has a replacement motion control solution for LabVIEW RT targets: https://geco-lv.com/emotion.html.  You can have a look, I'd be happy to send you more information.

BR

John

Add motion to LabVIEW in 30min or less - TENET EMotion
Finding it hard to source NI hardware? Try NI Trading Post

[Bob_Schor]

Ah, I'm a little late!  I recall hearing about a company called Tenet Technologies that seemed to have a product that might be something like a "successor to LabVIEW Soft Motion".  It looked pretty interesting, to me, but our needs were much simpler (essentially "control a single stepper to make 1 degree-of-freedom movement of a small target" that was easily solved with USB DAQ Counter-Timers and an inexpensive Driver Chip.  But I've alerted other colleagues who used Soft Motion about Tenet.

I'm sure the Forum would be interested in your impression of whether this is a "path forward" for LabVIEW + Motion Control.

Bob Schor