CompactRIO to control robots
1 min read
FIRST, a US based organisation aiming to inspire young people to take up careers in science and technology, has selected National Instruments’ CompactRIO embedded control platform as the controller for its next generation FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).
With this platform, high school students will create advanced robots starting in the 2009 FIRST season. Students can program their robots based on CompactRIO in either NI LabVIEW graphical programming software or ANSI C.
NI is granting a multimillion dollar in kind donation over the next five years to provide the CompactRIO system to participating teams. Several key technology suppliers have collaborated with NI to provide in kind donations of components required to build the CompactRIO control system. These include Analog Devices, Boston Engineering, ChipX, Dove Electronics, Freescale, MSI, Texas Instruments, TTI, Westak, Wind River, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Xilinx.
“Our goal is to have a FIRST team in every high school and to change the culture in our communities to celebrate excellence in science and engineering the same way we celebrate sports,” said Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST and president of DEKA Research & Development. “It’s the support of partners like NI that is helping FIRST make that goal a reality.”
