National Instruments LabVIEW vs. TurboCAD

Most of the time, I am using LabVIEW to develop automated controls for lab-scale and pilot-scale systems. LabVIEW is great for its graphical programming interface, which is easy to learn and understand. The program also has a lot of built-in VIs to perform different complicated I/O, data processing, controls, and graphing tasks which are extremely useful and convenient to use. My only problem with LabVIEW is how hard it is to clean up and debug the program, due to its being a graphical interface. It is hard to search for specific variables when debugging, and some of the online debugging features don't function well in real-time.

Incentivized

It is fully capable of all the design work you can give it. I have even designed houses with it. Turbo CAD Pro Platinum is all I have used for going on 3 years now. I don't know if other versions can do or can't do. If you are a graphic designer, you would need to port the files to a higher end program to manipulate the colors and renderings. For engineering and in-house work it is perfect.

Incentivized

• real-time data visualization
• implementation of modern control strategies
• integration of languages such as python and c++, for various applications
• data acquisition through microcontroller cards

Incentivized

• Good scale tools
• Easy to pick up
• The exporter

Incentivized

• Barrier to entry is large
• Install times are crazy
• Just in time help needs to be more apparent (most students do not know about the examples section)

• Shortcut keys more in line with AutoCAD.
• 3D rendering could be simpler.
• Updated interface.

Incentivized

TurboCAD does all of the things we need it to do and some. The wide variety of options to create specificity in each of our projects is a large plus. The reason it was given a 9 is because the learning curve can be a little steep and sometimes certain processes are not as intuitive as they could be

Incentivized

We have used MatLab's data acquisition toolbox in the past which was not too bad either, especially if you prefer the text-based programming format. The only problem with that was that the library of compatible data acquisition hardware was somewhat limited and if your hardware is not from one of the more popular brands like NI there is a good possibility that you won't be able to use it with your MatLab script. LAstly, the amount of supporting material (tutorials, etc.) is very limited as it is not a very popular tool

Incentivized

TurboCAD is a well-priced solution for a small business, it comes standard with 3D modeling compared to DraftSight which does not. The user interface could be updated along with industry-standard shortcut keys but for the number of drawings we do, this package fills the gap. The DXF / DWG feature could be worked on too, as above, trying to get in line with other packages like AutoCAD & DraftSight would make the whole package better. All in all, I believe that TurboCAD has a valid foothold in the CAD industry.

Incentivized

• We are able to save money by writing our own programs instead of outsourcing.
• We recently bought a new force test stand and we are able to use LabVIEW to write a program that fits our needs exactly instead of making due with what came with the stand.
• When our customers ask us to do data acquisition, we know that we can always make a solution.

Incentivized

• Our maps stand above other business in our same field
• The quality and clarity of the maps allow for more precise budgeting
• Once it the process and program was understood it would take a good hour off of our projects

Incentivized