BuildingProgrammableAutomationControllerswithLabVIEWFPGAOverviewProgrammableAutomationControllers(PACs)aregainingacceptancewithintheindustrialcontrolmarketastheidealsolutionforapplicationsthatrequirehighlyintegratedanaloganddigitalI/O,floating-pointprocessing,andseamlessconnectivitytomultipleprocessingnodes.NationalInstrumentsoffersavarietyofPACsolutionspoweredbyonecommonsoftwaredevelopmentenvironment,NILabVIEW.WithLabVIEW,youcanbuildcustomI/Ointerfacesforindustrialapplicationsusingadd-onsoftware,suchastheNILabVIEWFPGAModule.WiththeLabVIEWFPGAModuleandreconfigurableI/O(RIO)hardware,NationalInstrumentsdeliversanintuitive,accessiblesolutionforincorporatingtheflexibilityandcustomizabilityofFPGAtechnologyintoindustrialPACsystems.YoucandefinethelogicembeddedinFPGAchipsacrossthefamilyofRIOhardwaretargetswithoutknowinglow-levelhardwaredescriptionlanguages(HDLs)orboard-levelhardwaredesigndetails,aswellasquicklydefinehardwareforultrahigh-speedcontrol,customizedtimingandsynchronization,low-levelsignalprocessing,andcustomI/Owithanalog,digital,andcounterswithinasingledevice.YoualsocanintegrateyourcustomNIRIOhardwarewithimageacquisitionandanalysis,motioncontrol,andindustrialprotocols,suchasCANandRS232,torapidlyprototypeandimplementacompletePACsystem.TableofContents1.Introduction2.NIRIOHardwareforPACs3.BuildingPACswithLabVIEWandtheLabVIEWFPGAModule4.FPGADevelopmentFlow5.UsingNISoftMotiontoCreateCustomMotionControllers6.Applications7.ConclusionIntroductionYoucanusegraphicalprogramminginLabVIEWandtheLabVIEWFPGAModuletoconfiguretheFPGA(field-programmablegatearray)onNIRIOdevices.RIOtechnology,themergingofLabVIEWgraphicalprogrammingwithFPGAsonNIRIOhardware,providesaflexibleplatformforcreatingsophisticatedmeasurementandcontrolsystemsthatyoucouldpreviouslycreateonlywithcustom-designedhardware.AnFPGAisachipthatconsistsofmanyunconfiguredlogicgates.Unlikethefixed,vendor-definedfunctionalityofanASIC(application-specificintegratedcircuit)chip,youcanconfigureandreconfigurethelogiconFPGAsforyourspecificapplication.FPGAsareusedinapplicationswhereeitherthecostofdevelopingandfabricatinganASICisprohibitive,orthehardwaremustbereconfiguredafterbeingplacedintoservice.Theflexible,software-programmablearchitectureofFPGAsofferbenefitssuchashigh-performanceexecutionofcustomalgorithms,precisetimingandsynchronization,rapiddecisionmaking,andsimultaneousexecutionofparalleltasks.Today,FPGAsappearinsuchdevicesasinstruments,consumerelectronics,automobiles,aircraft,copymachines,andapplication-specificcomputerhardware.WhileFPGAsareoftenusedinindustrialcontrolproducts,FPGAfunctionalityhasnotpreviouslybeenmadeaccessibletoindustrialcontrolengineers.DefiningFPGAshashistoricallyrequiredexpertiseusingHDLprogrammingorcomplexdesigntoolsusedmorebyhardwaredesignengineersthanbycontrolengineers.WiththeLabVIEWFPGAModuleandNIRIOhardware,younowcanuseLabVIEW,ahigh-levelgraphicaldevelopmentenvironmentdesignedspecificallyformeasurementandcontrolapplications,tocreatePACsthathavethecustomization,flexibility,andhigh-performanceofFPGAs.BecausetheLabVIEWFPGAModuleconfigurescustomcircuitryinhardware,yoursystemcanprocessandgeneratesynchronizedanaloganddigitalsignalsrapidlyanddeterministically.Figure1illustratesmanyoftheNIRIOdevicesthatyoucanconfigureusingtheLabVIEWFPGAModule.Figure1.LabVIEWFPGAVIBlockDiagramandRIOHardwarePlatformsNIRIOHardwareforPACsHistorically,programmingFPGAshasbeenlimitedtoengineerswhohavein-depthknowledgeofVHDLorotherlow-leveldesigntools,whichrequireovercomingaverysteeplearningcurve.WiththeLabVIEWFPGAModule,NIhasopenedFPGAtechnologytoabroadersetofengineerswhocannowdefineFPGAlogicusingLabVIEWgraphicaldevelopment.Measurementandcontrolengineerscanfocusprimarilyontheirtestandcontrolapplication,wheretheirexpertiselies,ratherthanthelow-levelsemanticsoftransferringlogicintothecellsofthechip.TheLabVIEWFPGAModulemodelworksbecauseofthetightintegrationbetweentheLabVIEWFPGAModuleandthecommercialoff-the-shelf(COTS)hardwarearchitectureoftheFPGAandsurroundingI/Ocomponents.NationalInstrumentsPACsprovidemodular,off-the-shelfplatformsforyourindustrialcontrolapplications.WiththeimplementationofRIOtechnologyonPCI,PXI,andCompactVisionSystemplatformsandtheintroductionofRIO-basedCompactRIO,engineersnowhavethebenefitsofaCOTSplatformwiththehigh-performance,flexibility,andcustomizationbenefitsofFPGAsattheirdisposaltobuildPACs.NationalInstrumentsPCIandPXIRSeriesplug-indevicesprovideanaloganddigitaldataacquisitionandcontrolforhigh-performance,user-configurabletimingandsynchronization,aswellasonboarddecisionmakingonasingledevice.Usingtheseoff-the-shelfdevices,youcanextendyourNIPXIorPCIindustrialcontrolsystemtoincludehigh-speeddiscreteandanalogcontrol,customsensorinterfaces,andprecisetimingandcontrol.NICompactRIO,aplatformcenteredonRIOtechnology,providesasmall,industriallyrugged,modularPACplatformthatgivesyouhigh-performanceI/Oandunprecedentedflexibilityinsystemtiming.YoucanuseNICompactRIOtobuildanembeddedsystemforapplicationssuchasin-vehicledataacquisition,mobileNVHtesting,andembeddedm