LEGO recreations of National Instruments hardware.
This repository contains build instructions, parts lists, and LDraw models of a selection of NI hardware.
- cRIO-904x build instructions (single page PDF, printable booklet PDF, parts list)
- PXIe-1082 build instructions (single page PDF, parts list)
The booklet PDFs are to be printed on both sides of the page, then folded and stapled in the center to create a book. Consult your printer manual for duplexing instructions.
The easiest way to source all the bricks for a model is through an online market such as BrickOwl or BrickLink. That said when it comes to purchasing, the sites' algorithms for optimizing parts lists against store stock don't always give the cheapest option. See below for some tips on minimising cost. For larger models like the PXIe-1082, manually sourcing bricks from a combination of markets and LEGO's Pick-A-Brick service can be a more cost effective, albeit a more time consuming option.
As a price reference, the cost for the cRIO model comes out at a little over $40 from both BrickOwl and BrickLink.
Some stores list colors with their official LEGO name, some with their alternate name, and some with a mix of both. The most common differences are listed below. Items in bold are the color names used in the parts lists in this repository.
| LEGO Name | Alternate Name |
|---|---|
| Medium Stone Grey | Light Bluish Gray |
| Dark Stone Grey | Dark Bluish Gray |
| Earth Blue | Dark Blue |
| Cool Silver | Metallic Silver |
| Brick Yellow | Tan |
- After creating an account, go to the wishlist link, then hit the green
Buy Wishlistbutton. - Set the Store Location to your desired region and country.
- A list of stores with available parts will be shown. It's unlikely a store will have every part in the wishlist. Even if it does, it's worth checking prices from other stores - they can range dramatically.
- Click the checkbox next to a store. Those parts which the store has will be filtered out from your wishlist, and the remaining stores updated to show the outstanding part availability.
- Repeat until there are no missing parts from the wishlist. You should be able to get everything from 2 or 3 stores.
- If the price seems reasonable, go ahead and order. If it's too high, deselect everything, and start with a different store as your first selection.
Using the above steps, the cRIO model buy price came down from over $250 to just over $40.
- Create an account on BrickLink. Hover over the Want heart in the upper right, then click
Upload. - On the Upload page, select the
Upload BrickLink XML formattab. Change theAdd to:dropdown toCreate New Wanted Listand give it a name. - In another browser tab, navigate to the BrickLink Want list XML file in this repository. Download it or view it in raw format, and copy its contents to the clipboard.
- Back in BrickLink, paste the XML into the text box, then click
Proceed To Verify Items. - On the next page, scroll right down the bottom and click
Add to Wanted List. - At this stage there are two paths to buying the list - Easy Buy, or a more filtered Auto-select option.
- To view the Easy Buy option, navigate to see your list of Want Lists, and click the Easy Buy button next to the desired list. A list of stores which contain all the parts will be shown.
- If the price and store locations suit, go ahead and order. If not, try the Auto-select method.
- Navigate to see your list of Want Lists, click on the list name, then click on the green Buy All button.
- On the next page, set your location.
- Now click the Auto-select button. It does the same as the Easy Buy function, but is now better filtered on location.
- If all looks good, click Create Carts, then checkout from each of the stores.
- If not, you can manually select stores as per the BrickOwl store selection.
Again using these methods for the cRIO model, the price can come down from the hundreds of dollars to a bit over $40.
All works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.