Comment by automatik on August 19, 2008 at 12:33am

I guess this post finally got me out of the lurking mode. I am contemplating my first (hobby) drone and am thinking of using LabVIEW for some stuff. In my day job I deal with robotics automaton, just not the flying kind, and have been using LabVIEW since mid nineties.
I wish meet in San Diego had webcast or at least be video taped...

Comment by simonl on August 19, 2008 at 1:05pm

Must be catching - this is my first post too!

@Chris: Using LabVIEW seems to fly in the face (pun intended!) of what DIYDrones stands for - that software would set me back 799GBP!

BTW: Been lurking here for several months; I keep comin' back - it's a great site; well done :-)

Comment by tychoc on August 19, 2008 at 1:57pm

That sounds like a great idea. I've been lurking around and would like to get more into the UAV aspect of model airplanes. Right now I'm trying out FPV flying. I already have some ideas on how to use LabVIEW myself for implementing a tracking antenna using LabVIEW FPGA. Of course, it helps that I have access inside information and equipment as a developer on the LabVIEW team....

-tychoc

-tychoc

Comment by Chris Anderson on August 19, 2008 at 6:54pm

Many people are confused by LabView pricing. Here are the three main ways to use it.

1) We'll be distributing executables, which only require the free LabView runtime engine. Most people will choose this option, which costs nothing.
2) If you want to modify the code (which we'll also distribute), you just need the $100 LabView student edition to generate code you can run on your own machines.
3) The only reason you'd need the full pro version is if you want to modify the code and distribute executables or DLLs, which we don't expect many people to need. For anyone who does need that, we'll be happy to create the executables for them ourselves, for free.

Comment by simonl on August 20, 2008 at 11:48am

Hey, thanks for the details Chris. I guess option 1 is a good start!

I can't see anything on the LabVIEW site (which is really sloooow) that says I can get a student edition though - best I can find is an academic version, but that can only be bought by an educational establishment...

Comment by Chris Anderson on August 20, 2008 at 5:27pm

Just google it and you'll see tons of retailers, including Amazon, selling it. Here it's available for $79.

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