Software Overview
- Updated2023-02-17
- 3 minute(s) read
Software Overview
The NI ELVIS III offers a variety of software options for accessing and controlling the hardware.
- The instruments can be accessed interactively with Soft Front Panels (SFPs), which you can launch from the Measurements Live application in your browser.
- The instrumentation I/O and control I/O can both be programmatically accessed from a LabVIEW RT application running on the embedded processor.
- The control I/O can also be programmatically accessed from a LabVIEW FPGA application running on the embedded FPGA, offering very low-level access to the I/O.
Most application boards are shipped with additional software, commonly in the form of LabVIEW VIs or turnkey applications. You can also exchange data with other applications, such as Multisim Live.
The NI ELVIS III Software Bundle includes the main software you need to access and control the hardware, including the SFPs, the LabVIEW ELVIS III Toolkit, Multisim Live, and Multisim. The software bundle also includes the LabVIEW FPGA Module, which provides the FPGA VIs and functions that you use to create custom FPGA applications.
Soft Front Panels
Use the Soft Front Panels (SFPs) to quickly access and control the instruments on the NI ELVIS III without programming. You can use the following SFPs with the NI ELVIS III:
- Oscilloscope
- Function and Arbitrary Waveform Generator (FGen/Arb)
- Digital Multimeter (DMM)
- Variable Power Supply (VPS)
- Logic Analyzer and Pattern Generator (Logic)
- Current-Voltage Analyzer (IV Analyzer)
- Bode Analyzer
Use the following SFPs to access and control the RIO instruments built with the Control I/O:
- Data Logger
- Data Generator (Data Gen)
- Digital I/O
Use the LabVIEW ELVIS III Toolkit to create and deploy applications on the NI ELVIS III. The LabVIEW ELVIS III Toolkit provides NI ELVIS III-specific support for LabVIEW RT and LabVIEW FPGA applications. Most applications can be implemented using the LabVIEW Real-Time Module and the LabVIEW ELVIS III Toolkit. Advanced applications that require low-level access to the control I/O can use the LabVIEW FPGA Module to create custom I/O peripherals, handle high-performance inline processing, and more. The LabVIEW ELVIS III Toolkit contains the following components:
Multisim Live
Multisim Live provides a web-based schematic capture and simulation experience. You can complete the following tasks with Multisim Live:
- Test the behavior of a circuit.
- Demonstrate the application of a design.
- Illustrate concepts.
- Perform and share interactive simulations in web browsers on your computer or mobile device.
- Embed simulatable Multisim Live designs directly into courseware pages.
Multisim
This is the desktop version of Multisim, which provides a full schematic capture and simulation experience. You can complete the following tasks with Multisim:
- Test the behavior of a circuit.
- Demonstrate the application of a design.
- Illustrate concepts.
- Export designs to Ultiboard to layout circuit boards for rapid prototyping.
Data Import and Export
You can share data between the above platforms by using the NI ELVIS III data import and export features. Refer to Data Import and Export for more information about the data file formats that these platforms support.
C and Python Programming Examples
NI ELVIS III provides C and Python programming examples on GitHub.
- Python Support—Program the NI ELVIS III for project-based learning with Python.
- C Support—Configure the Eclipse development environment and debug or run C example projects on the NI ELVIS III with Eclipse.