What is this for?
This 2 x 3h workshop focuses on the use of LabVIEW and FPGAs for scientific purposes. No prior knowledge is assumed. The workshop is aimed at scientists, engineers and students located at CERN.
What will you learn?
You will learn the basics of a graphical programming language called LabVIEW and how to use it to program an FPGA and ARM processor (Zynq chip) inside a myRIO (Reconfigurable Input Output) device. You will learn that FPGA programming is not that complicated and not that different from programming a standard CPU when using LabVIEW.
Why is it interesting?
LabVIEW allows rapid prototyping, rapid adaptation to new requirements and making robust systems in combination with industrial hardware. It avoids many of the difficulties to program an FPGA, for instance to define the parallelism and synchronisation, and the need to learn special languages, such as VHDL, Vivado and Verilog.
How is it different from e.g. Python or C?
LabVIEW is data driven (and not command driven), which enables parallel execution. This is of particular interest for FPGA programming. Objects (functions) are connected with wires (data) to define the algorithms, in analogy to a schematic diagram of an electronic circuit or a block diagram of a system.
Who uses it?
SpaceX for their launch pad for the Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft. Microsoft to test their Xbox controllers. Foxconn for their iPhone assembly lines in China. Duke Energy for monitoring their electrical networks in the US. There are many others, too, also at CERN, the LHC collimator control system, for instance.
Attendance
Each workshop is limited to 10 attendees. A laptop with all required software will be provided, together with a myRIO FPGA module. Like best things at CERN, it is free or charge.
The dates are as follows, and workshops are filled in the order of registrations:
Workshop: September 11 and 12 from 15.00-18.00
The workshops will be run by Adriaan Rijllart.
Dina Zimmermann and Adriaan Rijllart