NOTE: The workshop will be held at CERN and remote participation is not possible, because of the hardware involved.

Description

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 software 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. These are just a few examples, there are many others, more than 35000 companies use LabVIEW. Also at CERN, the LHC collimator control system and the AD/LEIR kicker control for instance.