An Interview with Ryan Brown - Effortless Equipment Extensibility

The Amp Hour · 27 Mar 2013 · 1h 14m · Episode 138

What this episode covers

Ryan Brown of National Instruments discusses the FlexRIO platform, which combines LabVIEW FPGA with modular hardware to allow startups and engineers to bypass low-level interface challenges and focus on application-specific DSP or radio algorithms. He details the engineering trade-offs in abstracting FPGA logic for LabVIEW users, the rigorous design review culture at NI, and the company's history from GPIB cards to modern software-defined radio. Brown also highlights the vibrant Austin hardware ecosystem, including the local maker community, Tech Shop, and the Austin Hardware Startup Meetup he co-organized.

Mentioned

Companies
National Instruments, Xilinx, SparkFun, Waterloo Labs
Products
FlexRIO, Arduino, Twine, Board Forge
Tools
LabVIEW, Vivado
Also
Tech Shop, GPIB

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