ANNOUNCE: Scilab + RTAI + Comedi: RTAI-Lab Tutorial

[tne...@gmail.com]

A new RTAI-Lab tutorial is available for download
PDF only [2.5MB]: https://www.rtai.org/RTAILAB/RTAI-Lab-tutorial.pdf
PDF + files [2.3MB]: https://www.rtai.org/RTAILAB/RTAI-Lab-tutorial.tgz
then "tar zxvf RTAI-Lab-tutorial.tgz"

Title
RTAI-Lab tutorial: Scilab, Comedi, and real-time control
by Roberto Bucher, Simone Mannori, and Thomas Netter
50 pages

Summary
RTAI-Lab is a tool chain for real-time software and control system
development. The tutorial shows how to install the various components:
the RTAI real-time Linux kernel, the Comedi interface for control and
measurement hardware, the Scilab/Scicos GUI-based CACSD modeling
software and associated RTAI-Lab blocks, and the xrtailab interactive
oscilloscope. RTAI-Lab's Scicos blocks are detailed and examples show
how to develop elementary block diagrams, automatically generate
real-time executables, and add custom elements.

Thomas Netter tnetter at ifi.unizh.ch
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
University of Zurich, Switzerland

[gurso...@iyte.edu.tr]

I exactly followed the installation procedure as described in the
following tutorial.

Results: For scilab-4.0, I get the palettes working, but the RTAI
pulldown menu doesn't show up at the scicos window.
I repeated the same for scilab-4.0-b4-20060710. This time the palette
doesn't work and neither the RTAI pulldown menu.

I don't have an attached DAQ card on this computer, but I thought it
should work for serial programming as well. Am I missing something?

Gursoy Turan

[Roberto Bucher]

Scilab-4.0: You should have a directry ".Scilab/scilab-4.0" with a file
".scilab". The ".scilab" file should contains the lines:

load('SCI/macros/RTAI/lib')
%scicos_menu($+1)=['RTAI','RTAI CodeGen','Set Target']
scicos_pal($+1,:)=['RTAI-Lib','SCI/macros/RTAI/RTAI-Lib.cosf']

which add the RTAI files to the Scicos menu.

In the SVN version there is at present a problem with the scilab.star
file. You have to modify it iby adding the "//Define Scicos data
tables" as in the following lines:

/ Configure Environment Variables for Ms Visual C ====================
if MSDOS then
configure_msvc()
clear configure_msvc setmsvc71 setmsvc70 setmsvc60 setmsvc50
clear setmsvc80std setmsvc80pro setmsvc80express
end

// Define Scicos data tables
===========================================
[scicos_pal,%scicos_menu,%scicos_short,%scicos_help,..

%scicos_display_mode,modelica_libs,scicos_pal_libs]=initial_scicos_table
s()

// calling user initialization
=========================================
// Home dir startup (if any)
if sciargs()<>'-nouserstartup' then
if MSDOS then
startup_path=SCIHOME+'\'
else
startup_path=SCIHOME+'/'
end

Roberto

[GT]

Thanks, it works.
Gürsoy