LabVIEW main program for FRC robot

LabVIEW robot

Back in my youth, I was known for my study of programming languages. I’ve lost count, but I’m sure I knew a few dozen different languages from ADA to Z++. I learned LISP to support AI grad students and to program my own Emacs functions. I learned SNOBOL before there was Perl. APL was probably the strangest. Writing a cross compiler to develop parallel processing code on a Sun workstation was the most challenging.

Now I’m learning LabVIEW, a graphic programming language built to process data flows. The “code” executes from left to right with program structure and “visual instrument” modules wired together. Input wires are on the left of objects; output wires are on the right. Code such as a while loop does not execute until all of the input data is available, and does not exit until all of the output has been sent.

I haven’t been productive yet, but the clock is ticking. I have to mentor my high school robotics team on how to design and write code asap. Our robot ships on Feb. 23rd. Yes, FedEx shows up to transport the robot (still needs a name!) to a holding facility until our regional competition on March 11th. Everyone has the same length build season, regardless of when their regional event is held.