Nuts and Volts - December 2016

wirelessly as a W-iFi router. This last feature allows the user to control the MyRIO with an Apple iPad running NI’s Data Dashboard which is available for free from the i Tunes store, as well as for Android tablets from the Google Play Store.

The MyRIO hardware is a block approximately 5-1/2 inches tall, 3-1/2 inches wide, and 1” deep (Figures 1 and 2). The unit’s brain is a Xilinx Zynq-7010 FPGA. Although programming FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) can be a daunting task, LabVIEW makes it quite simple to deal with, and the user generally does not need to be concerned with the details of how the FPGA operates. Advanced users can get more involved with the FPGA if they desire.

The unit has three expansion ports available: two MXP ports (MyRIO expansion port) called A and B; and one MSP port (mini system port) called C. The unit comes with a protoboard that can connect to ports A and B, and a screw terminal block that can be connected to port C. Each A and B port has 16 digital I/O lines and port C has eight for a total of 40

digital I/O lines.

Ports A and B have two analog outputs each and port C has two as well, for a total of six analog outputs.

Ports A and B have four analog inputs and port C has two, for a total of 10

analog inputs. Ports A and B each have a UART (universal asynchronous receiver transmitter) port for serial communications with such things as LCDs (liquid crystal displays), and can emulate several serial communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, and RS-232. It has audio in and audio out connections. It also features a user programmable pushbutton on the bottom and four user programmable LEDs, so programs can be run that require no external connections whatsoever (other than the DC power source). It has a DC power connector and comes with an AC adapter to 12 VDC. However, the unit can be powered