I've gotten a number of emails from FIRST teams asking for more tutorials on how to get started with NI LabVIEW. We are developing some customized content to help you succeed in the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition.

In the meantime, check out these engineering resources:

LabVIEW Guided Tour

Introduction to Graphical Programming

Tutorial: Get Started with LabVIEW

Tutorial:Customizing a Virtual Instrument

LabVIEW Online Trial

Additionally, check out this tutorial from WPI, which contains some information on how to program CompactRIO using C/C++

Apple just released this case study titled, "Building A Robotic Beckham: LabVIEW and Apple Technology at Virginia Tech."

This document shows how students at RoMeLa, the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech, use Macintosh systems and National Instruments LabVIEW to turn out robotic creations that think and move by themselves.

Specifically, Apple showcaes DARwIn, the Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence. He is humanoid, autonomous, and made of precision-machined aluminum. DARWin is only three years old, but moves and thinks independently. He comes in two versions, 16 and 24 inches tall, and is currently training to be a soccer player. He competed in the 2007 RoboCup competitions at Atlanta, Georgia, where teams from around the world put autonomous soccer-playing robots through their paces.

You can also see DARwin in action in this YouTube video.

Hello, FIRST Teams!

My name is Deirdre Walsh and I'm the Community Manager at National Instruments. I hope you find the NI FIRST Community to be a useful resource for technical tutorials, application videos, example code exchange, and most of all having fun! Please let me know what you think of the new site.

Good luck all future future competitions and see you in the pit!