RCP Toolkit 2013
These release notes describe the new features and changes introduced in RCP Toolkit 2013. They are divided into the sections enumerated below.
New Software Compatibility
RCP Toolkit 2013 has introduced compatibility with the following third-party software. Software compatibility requires the release version of third-party software. Compatibility with beta versions is not supported.
Compatibility with LabVIEW 2013 has been added.
Compatibility with LabVIEW 2013 SP1 has been added.
New Targets
RCP Toolkit 2013 now supports the following new targets.
Compatibility with the Microsoft 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 8 operating systems has been added.
RCP now includes support for the NI PXIe-1071 chassis running Windows 7. It does not currently support PharLap. There is also a new PXI card equivalent to the QPIDe PCIe card called the QPID-PXI (see New Cards Supported below).
Compatibility with NI CompactRIO 9074 target has been added (see NI CompactRIO 9074).
Compatibility with NI myRIO enclosed version NI myRIO-1900 has been added (see NI myRIO-1900).
New Features
The new features introduced in RCP Toolkit 2013 are mentioned below.
The Pause key is now supported as an emergency stop. Pressing the Pause key will stop any VI that is currently running. VIs running on the cRIO and connected to the host PC will also be stopped.
RCP now provides project templates for creating preconfigured cRIO LabVIEW projects.
There is now a tray icon called the RCP Notification Centre that periodically checks for the latest updates to the RCP Toolkit as well as providing support for the Pause key (see above).
Improved Features
Some of the features improved in RCP Toolkit 2013 are enumerated below. There a great many miscellaneous improvements that have not been listed. Only some of the highlights are listed below.
Numerous documentation improvements have been made. In particular, polymorphic VIs are presented in a much cleaner format that is easier to navigate. Also, input terminals are now categorized based on which inputs are required, recommended or optional.
The HIL Initialize VI has been enhanced to display a picture of the selected card.
New Cards Supported
The full list of all the data acquisition cards supported by RCP Toolkit 2013 is given by the RCP Data Acquisition Card Support page. RCP Toolkit 2013 may now also interface to the cards listed below.
The Quanser QPID-PXI card is the PXI equivalent to the Quanser QPIDe card. It provides 8 16-bit differential analog inputs, 8 analog outputs, 8 full-quadrature encoders with hardware velocity measurements, 8 PWM outputs, 56 digital I/O and SPI.
The NI PXI-6251 card is the PXI equivalent to the NI PCI-6251 card. It provides 16 16-bit analog inputs, 2 analog outputs, 2 full-quadrature encoders, 2 PWM outputs and 24 digital I/O.
The NI PXI-6255 card is the PXI equivalent to the NI PCI-6255 card. It provides 80 16-bit analog inputs, 2 analog outputs, 2 full-quadrature encoders, 2 PWM outputs and 24 digital I/O.
The NI PXI-6259 card is the PXI equivalent to the NI PCI-6259 card. It provides 32 16-bit analog inputs, 4 analog outputs, 2 full-quadrature encoders, 2 PWM outputs and 48 digital I/O.
The NI PXI-6722 card is the PXI equivalent to the NI PCI-6722 card. It provides 8 analog outputs, 2 full-quadrature encoders, 2 PWM outputs and 8 digital I/O. It does not support analog inputs.
The NI PXI-6723 card is the PXI equivalent to the NI PCI-6723 card. It provides 32 analog outputs, 2 full-quadrature encoders, 2 PWM outputs and 8 digital I/O. It does not support analog inputs.
New Devices Supported
RCP Toolkit 2013 may now interface to the devices listed below.
Interfacing to the 3DSystems (SensAble) Phantom Omni haptic robot is now supported via the CL Phantom VI.
The CL Phantom block may be found under the Quanser Rapid Control Prototyping Toolkit/Devices palette.
Quanser QUBE-SERVO-myRIO is designed specifically for NI myRIO platform, and now it can be interfaced via HIL Initialize VI by selecting QUBE-SERVO-myRIO MXP Connector A, QUBE-SERVO-myRIO MXP Connector B, QUBE-SERVO-myRIO MSP Connector C, QUBE-SERVO-myRIO onBoard board types.
The Quanser QUBE-SERVO-USB is an integrated DC-servo motor experiment. It is designed to help teach fundamental control concepts and theories on an easy-to-use and intuitive platform.
New Examples
The examples added in RCP Toolkit 2013 are listed below.
The RCP CL Bias Removal Example illustrates the functionality of the CL Bias Removal VI, which corrects for offsets in the input signal.
The RCP CL Computation Time Example demonstrates the ability to measure the computation time of the CD&Sim loop using the CL Computation Time VI.
The RCP CL Phantom Example illustrates how to use the CL Phantom VI to interface with the 3DSystems (SensAble) Phantom Omni haptic device.
The RCP CL Enabled Moving Average Example highlights the filtering provided by the CL Enabled Moving Average VI, which computes a moving average of its input whenever the VI is enabled.
The RCP CL HIL Read Timebase Example demonstrates the use of a hardware timebase. It employs the CL HIL Read Timebase VI.
The RCP CL Watchdog Example illustrates the use of a hardware watchdog to reset the outputs of a data acquisition card when timing constraints are not met. It employs both the CL HIL Watchdog and CL HIL Watchdog Clear VIs.
The RCP CL Stall Monitor Example demonstrates how to prevent potential hardware damage from stall situation. It employs CL Stall Monitor VI.
Improved Examples
Numerous improvements have been made to the examples. Specific improvements in RCP Toolkit 2013 are listed below.
The communications examples were updated to use strict Enum typedefs instead of Menu Ring controls and indicators so that they are more user-friendly. The byte order was also changed to little endian to make it easier to interface with standalone applications.
The advanced communications examples were updated to improve their operation. For example, the blocking examples now maintain a persistent connection. Also added the example VIs to the cRIO portion of the project.
The RCP Inverse Modulus example was updated to reflect the changes in the Inverse Modulus VI.
New VIs
New VIs have been added to the Quanser Rapid Control Prototyping palette in RCP Toolkit 2013. The new VIs are listed below.
Discrete VIs
The CL Bias Removal VI removes constant biases from input signals and is useful for eliminating offsets from sensor inputs.
The CL Enabled Moving Average VI computes a moving average of its input signal when its enabled input is true.
The CL Stall Monitor VI detects when a device is stalled. It is generally used to protect devices from overheating or other fault conditions.
HIL VIs
The CL HIL Read Timebase VI allows a hardware timebase to be used to time the CD&Sim loop. This VI requires LabVIEW 2013 or above and only works on the Windows (PC and PXI) targets. Sample times faster than 1 kHz are possible using a hardware timebase. This VI is not supported on the cRIO target.
The CL HIL Watchdog VI may be used to activate a hardware watchdog timer on the selected data acquisition card. The watchdog timer is automatically reloaded by the VI each sampling instant. If it expires because the sampling rate is not met or an error occurs then the outputs of the card are reset according to the watchdog settings in the HIL Initialize VI.
The CL HIL Watchdog Clear VI clears the watchdog state that is entered when the watchdog timer expires. This VI may be used to recover from the watchdog expiring by clearing the watchdog state and re-enabling the outputs of the data acquisition card.
Source VIs
The CL Computation Time VI measures the computation time of the CD&Sim loop. This VI is useful for knowing how much of the sample time is being consumed by computation and how much CPU time is still available. This VI requires LabVIEW 2013 or above.
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