This is not a tutorial on how to program in Labview.
This is tutorial on how to make the most of the Labview Hobbyist Toolkit.
I am not associated with the Hobbyist Toolkit. I am just a user who struggled to learn
Labview and found some shortcuts and ways to speed up the learning process.
What is National Instruments Labview ?
Not to be cliche , but if you have to ask this question then likely you can't afford it or don't
need it for work like I do. Labview is a graphical programming software interface for instrumentation and data acquisition. The reason I say that you probably can't afford it is
that the hardware modules and equipment they sell is the industry standard and to say it
is expensive would be an understatement. A single H/W interface module can cost more than
$1000USD. In fact, the name "Labview Hobbyist Toolkit" is almost an OXYMORON, because
unless you have a free student version or a free trial (which is only free for 7 days), you are
probably using a version of Labview that you purchased for over $500 or a much more expensive commercial version at your work. Suffice it to say, not many hobbysists can afford that.
Typically the reason someone uses labview or wants to learn it is because the company they work for uses it and it is a prerequisite to work there. I had to purchase the 2024 Labview Base Edition
for $528 from Newark Electronics to learn Labview from home.
How does Labview differ from other programming systems ?
That question is not really within the scope of this. If you don't know what Labview is you don't need this tutorial.
So where does the Arduino come into play ?
Many years ago someone decided it would be a good idea to use Labview to program microcontrollers like Arduino, Beaglebone, Raspberry Pi, etc. I don't know the history of it an
since it's history and not current, it isn't relative to this post, but after several iterations of different
kinds of software, it has evolved to the current iteration.
If you already have Labview and installed the 64-bit version because you have a 64-bit system
then if you want to use the Hobbyist Toolkit you need to remove the 64-bit version using the Package Manager, (which any Labview users is already familiar with).
You can find the Hobbyist Toolkit here:
LABVIEW HOBBYIST TOOLKIT DOWNLOAD
What is the Hobbyist Toolkit ?
As stated, Labview is a graphical programming environment, so there are no lines of code.
The program consists of functions and controls represented as ICONS that are found in their respective Palettes. These icons will be important later in this post.
These are connected with virtual 'wires' in the program. The Hobbyist Toolkit is an add on
palette for interfacing with microcontrollers like arduino. You use the toolkit icons to create
a program that talks to the arduino through the serial USB port. (I haven't used the Raspberry Pi interface in the toolkit so I won't discuss it.) The Labview Hobbyist Toolkit was introduced in
2021 I think and is the current recommended interface for arduino. There have been several
versions that came before and this one is intended to be an improvement over the previous
interfaces like LIFA and LINX. (don't know anything about either one)
You use the Functions/Hobbyist icons (and any other built-in functions to create your program.
Then use Tools/Hobbyist/Firmware Wizard to load your code. Select your Arduino model, click Next, select your serial port and click Next . Use the default Firmware Upload Type (Pre-Built Firmware) and click Next. When the progress bar finishes click Finish and then you can RUN your program but if you STOP it then you will have to reupload your code. (very annoying).
You can then open your program and run it but you will have to recompile (go through all the steps above) every time after you clip STOP . Clicking the RUN button after clicking STOP will not work.
If you are a hobbyist, and don't have a lot of Labview experience you will likely turn to YOUTUBE
to learn how to use it. That's when you will need the Labview ICON Glossary.
Why ? Well as I said there is no code you can copy by watching the Youtube video. Everything is
graphical icons and at least half of the video posters are non-english speaking and there is no audio so all you have are icons on the screen. Each icon is a graphical representation of some builtin function that has an actual name associated with it. In a perfect world, the poster would
hover the mouse cursor over an icon to make the name label pop up so the view can read it and
pause for a second to give you time to jot it down, but in reality, that's almost never going to happen. Probably half of the YOUTUBE videos begin with the labview program already created,
which means that you can't see the icon function names because those only pop up when you're
creating the program when the mouse cursor hovers over the icon.
So HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH FUNCTION the youtube poster is using in his program ?
Well there is a way. Each icon is unique and each icon has a name. If you use Full-Screen mode
and can see the icon well enough to recognize it if you saw it again then you can pause the video
and look up the icon in the ICON GLOSSARY.
ICON GLOSSARY:
ALL BUILTIN LABVIEW FUNCTION ICONS
This glossary will allow you to locate a specific function and look up function name listed next to
the icon in the glossary and find it in your labview using Quickdrop.
All you have to do is type the name into the Labview View/Quickdrop box and it will come right up. I tested that with "In Range and Coerce" and it worked. If you think of the glossary as Columns and Rows, you can assign an alpha-numeric location to it for future reference, like the following:
EXAMPLE ICON LIST.txt (85 Bytes)
At least half of all the Youtube videos don't show the process of selecting the icons. The ones that do are mostly too fast so in order to read the icon label you have to change the Playback speed to 0.25 using the Youtube Settings menu. For the ones that don't show the icon label, use the glossary to look up the function name and search for it with the View/Quickdrop menu.
Using the Youtube videos results in pausing the video to perform the action shown in the video and then resume and repeat.
Using the above method I was able to successfully recreate the Youtube video code for at least half a dozen different video tutorials.
Example of Labview program created using the Hobbyist Toolkit from a Youtube video.
(I can't upload the actual program because a .vi file is not an allowed file type)
**LINK to YOUTUBE VIDEO PROJECT **
ELECTIVE PROJECT
SEMI-IMPORTANT NOTE
Don't forget to check the date the YOUTUBE POST was uploaded.
Why is this important ?
The oldest are 10 years ago and used LIFA (Labview Interface For Arduino/(obsolete). Then there are some between 5 years and 9 years ago that also used obsolete deprecated software.
Why does this matter ? Well, if you spend your time trying to recreate a program from some Youtube video and get a "broken depency error [LINX]" it means that the icon you chose was
from the deprecated LINX Toolkit and no longer exists or works in the current Hobbyist Toolkit.
An example is the Loop Frequency function. This means after all the time you spent , the program
won't work because it requires a no longer supported function or icon. The current version became the recommended version in 2021.
On the following NI link it says:
" Note: Starting with LabVIEW 2021, the LabVIEW Hobbyist Toolkit became the recommended option to communicate with hobbyist hardware like Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and BeagleBone Black. The LINX by Digilent Toolkit is the deprecated alternative option for LabVIEW 2011 up to LabVIEW 2020. For more details, consult the Using Raspberry Pi or Arduino with LabVIEW article.
Latest software for Labview with Arduino
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The Hobbyist Toolkit ONLY works with 32-bit LABVIEW so if you installed the 64-bit version because you have a 64-bit system you have to REMOVE the 64-bit version with the PACKAGE MANAGER. That's what I had to do to get the Hobbyist Toolkit to work.
There are other features that ONLY work in 32-bit so once you switch to 32-bit you will get more than just the Hobbyist Toolkit. (most of the other add ons have to be downloaded as well)
Also-If you're serious about learning labview and can't afford LABVIEW modules, you can get an
NI ELVIS II+ (Engineering Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite )
from Valuetronics. The ELVIS II+ is training console designed by National Instruments for use
in colleges and trade schools. It contains about a dozen different virtual instruments.
For example, you can use the Function Generator Virtual Instument to generate a sinewave
and use your program to read and display that. In addition, you can use the virtual Oscilloscope
to display signals you are reading or writing or both.
Here's the Datasheet
Here's the ELVIS II+ DATASHEET:
NI ELVIS II+ DESCRIPTION
Here is the link to where I purchased my ELVIS II+.
Valuetronics.
I wouldn't buy one from Ebay because I don't know if the serial number might have already been
registered on NI by the previous owner. NI says that all you need is the S/N located on the sticker on the bottom of the unit. However, if you purchase one from Ebay, it's possible that
the previous owner registered the product already on their NI account whereas with Valuetronics, they're a licensed vendor and the units they sell have not been previously registered. I didn't have any problem registering the product on NI. VALUETRONICS has a few of them for $330 dollars.
If you purchase one you need to download the Software Suite:
NI ELVIS II+ SOFTWARE SUITE DOWNLOAD