Using cRIO/Fieldpoint without RT

[Matthew_Kelton]

I have an older project I am trying to upgrade to cRIO.  I have never used the platform.  Currently, I have a LabVIEW program that controls the system via a PCI DAQ card.  The system is comprised of 3  testers.  The idea is to make each tester independent with the thought of removing the need of the PC completely.

The problem I am having is the customer is a bit nervous for the devlopment costs for the new revision of the tester.  I am trying to setup a series of milestones, each requiring a small investment, giving the customer an out if necessary.  The first step would be adding the cRIO hardware and make minimal SW effort to display basic functionality of the tester.

I do not have a license of LV RT yet, as this would be part of the investment.  I am curious if I can use the cRIO platform without any RT programming.  I have used Fieldpoitn expansion chassis in the past, and they will simply show up in MAX, and LabVIEW can directly access the channels.  I have another customer who has a RT Fieldpoint chassis and he showed me the same MAX setup as I see with the ethernet expansion module, but I don't know if the RT program he had on the unit was necessary for that to work.

Does cRIO offer this functionality?  Eventually, I would want to move to RT, but I would like to take this baby step for the customer first.  I am specifically considering the cRIO-9075.  Would I need to invest in a cDAQ-9174 for initial development then replace with the cRIO-9075?

Assuming, I am reading it correctly, it appears that the Fieldpoint controller, cFP-2200, will work in MAX or in RT.

I appreciate your help,

Matthew

[Jesse_D]

Hi Matthew, 

You need real time to run a cRIO. You could just get a cdaq and your modules and upgrade to the cRIO and Real Time later if you don't want to make this jump all at once. I would just use the advisor to set up your cdaq system, any modules you get should be compatable with cRIO (note that the other way around isn't always true). You will, however, have an unused cdaq at the end of the day. 

I think your customer may also have had real time running on his controller. The modules show up in max, but the controller actually has real time already loaded on it to discover the modules.