topic Re: USB GPS Control in LabVIEW

USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 14:58:36 GMT

I was wondering if anyone out there has examples of controlling their GPS units via Labview. That is displaying various information on the front panel and saving data to the hard drive. I'm using Labview 7 Express and trying to use a relatively new Garmin product, the USB GPS 18. I seem to have found various posts dealing with serial port connections, but I'm not sure how this would translate into USB. I'm still pretty new at Labview. I was hoping maybe someone had some examples to share or something I could go on.

Thanks...

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 21:15:33 GMT

Here is the vi I found that I had made reference to earlier. It is for a Garmin GPS 45 unit controlled via the serial port. I was wondering if anyone had tried this vi before and/or modified to fit their needs or come up with something similar. Basically I'd like to have something like this, except run my GPS through the USB port, which I'm not sure how to do in Labview. I did find a SDK file from Garmin, which has commands for C++, etc. But again, I'm not skilled in that language.

Any help or insights anyone could provide, would be most appreciated.

Thanks...

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 21:49:41 GMT

Unfortunately communicating over serial and USB are fundamentally different, so the serial information you found really isn't valid anymore. You do have two possibilities for communicating with your USB GPS device.

1) I'm guessing the C++ SDK you found simply makes calls to a DLL. The easiest method for communicating with your device would be to use a Call Library Node in LabVIEW to make calls to that DLL.

2) The other possibility which I don't really recommend is to use NI-VISA to create a driver for your GPS device, and communicate with it directly. I don't recommend this because it would require you to know exactly how data is sent/received from your device, and I'm guessing Garmin does not publish this information.

Shawn B.
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 19:03:17 GMT

Hi Shawn, thanks for replying.

I had a feeling that the vi I found was a bit outdated. I wasn't able to get my other serial GPS working with it.

As far as the C++ SDK and the like, I have no experience with that language or any other to be honest. I have looked over the SDK and do not quite understand how it would work in setting up a Call Library Node. I do not have any experience with that function either and it seems a bit complex to tackle. I have only been working with LV a few months and was hoping to find some type of working example to go and modify to fit my needs. I'm not sure if yourself or someone out there could do this for me if I passed along the SDK.

As far as the VISA, again this is something I thought would work as well after looking through my options with LV, but I would not have any clue as to how to set it up.

I was looking over the site and found the Read GPS Time, Position, Velocity, and Course Heading vi for LV 7.1. This would look like something I could use if it was for the USB port (plugged directly into my computer, no type of special cards) and for LV 7.0 Express. I'm not sure if this is an option, but if someone could come up with something like that for the USB port and for LV 7.0 I think I'd be find hopefully.

In the worse case scenario I just plan on running my Garmin software separately from the vi. I'd just like to work both into one nice vi.

Thanks for your response and input, I appreciate your time.

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:37:37 GMT

Actually if the GPS vi located at this link is able to be run in LV 7.0 I'd like to try it out with my serial GPS. I just need someone to save it in version 7.0 for me.

Here's the link:

http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/niepd_web_display.display_epd4?p_guid=DB0882E37369122DE034080020E74861&p_node=DZ52363&p_source=external

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks...

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:30:07 GMT

I have saved a copy of the example you found for LabVIEW 7.0, but I can't guarantee that it will work because I didn't test it.

I think the best option for communicating with your USB Device is to use the SDK you found and Call Library Nodes in LabVIEW. Since you are new to LabVIEW/Programming you may want to read the Using External Code In LabVIEW manual.

Shawn B.
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:50:44 GMT

Thanks Shawn. Is the "ConsumeBefore.vi" a LV 7.1 vi only? Can you post somewhere where I can find this at? That seems to be the only thing that is stopping me from trying to run it.

I'll have a look at that manual and see if it's something I can do.

Thanks for your help.

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 19:25:25 GMT

ConsumeBefore.vi is installed with the Instrument I/O Assistant. You can install the Instrument I/O assistant from the Drivers CD that came with LabVIEW.

Shawn B
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:41:42 GMT

Is this available on the May 2003 version of the Device Driver disk? That is the disk that came with my LV 7 Express when I originally purchased LV. To my knowledge I installed everything on that disk I could on the computer where I am currently working at. I do not recall seeing the vi. Perhaps I am overlooking something?

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:30:56 GMT

I figure it would be on that CD, but if it is not it can be downloaded here.

Shawn B.
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 19:38:48 GMT

I was able to find the VI I needed already on my computer, it just wasn't where it was listed in the VI provided. I have managed to find a software tool from Garmin that will convert (switch modes) from the Garmin output to the NMEA output. One I run this I think I can run the VI then. However, what do I need to do to get LV to recognize the GPS unit? I'm not familiar with the VISA function and will have to do anything special or is it a plug and go situation?

Thanks again for your help.

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 19:07:43 GMT

Are you using this with your serial GPS device, or your USB GPS device? If this is your serial GPS device the only thing you need to tell VISA which serial port your GPS device is connected to. To do this you will specify "ASRL1::INSTR" as the VISA Resource Name. This assumes your device is connected to COM1, if it is connected to a different port you only need to change the number (ASRL2::INSTR).

Shawn B.
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

MAH2681 — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 19:25:14 GMT

It would be with the USB GPS device. I wasn't sur eif it would still work, or if there would be a way to still use that VI with the USB device. I thought I read that the USB device would be read as a virtual serial device and thus could be used as a normal serial device. But like I said, I'm not too familiar with any of that, and I seem to finding a lot of information form various sources so I'm trying to get a straight answer.

Thanks...

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:33:11 GMT

It is possible that your device shows up as a virtual serial port. You could check this by plugging in your device, and checking for new serial ports in the Windows Device Manager. If your USB device does show up as a serial port in the Windows device manager, then you would just treat it like I described previously.

If you device does not show up as a serial port then you would have to develop your own USB driver for your device. This would not be easy, and may not be possible at all depending on how much you know about your device. This tutorial explains how to communicate with a USB device in VISA.

Shawn B.
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

saykhoon — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 01:24:42 GMT

Hi I'm trying to use the consumebefore.vi for my program.Do you know where can I find it on my PC? Or could u post it on this forum?

Thanks alot

From Donny

Re: USB GPS Control

Shawn B. — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:57:47 GMT

It should be located inside IIOA.llb, which is installed with the Instrument I/O Assistant. If you do not have this installed you can install it from the Drivers CD that came with LabVIEW or download it from the link I posted earlier.

Shawn B.
National Instruments

Re: USB GPS Control

ferry1979 — Tue, 31 May 2005 21:44:44 GMT

Hello,

I am also a newby to Labview. I have a Garmin Etrex Legend C with a USB interface to which I would like to communicate.
Ia have made a *.inf file for the device, and it is added to my Max device list.(manufacturer=0X091E
-How could I use the original driver?
-How can I test the communication now?
I have found the following document about the interface specification, from Garmin, but I can`t extract any useful information for my project from it. "http://www.garmin.com/support/commProtocol.html"
-Am I wrong about that?
Until now I have made a VI as in the attachement (LV7.0) Here I get a time-out error when reading from the device.
Has anybody a clue for me?

Help from enthusiasts wanted..

Regards,
Ferry

Re: USB GPS Control - ConsumeBefore still yet to be found.. even after installing IIOA

Larry C — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 22:56:15 GMT

Hi Everyone,

So, I dont know if I am the only one, but I am still having problems with ConsumeBefore.VI. I have installed the IIOA 1.0.1 version from the link indicated. However, after installing, I cannot find IIOA.lib on my hard drive. Nor is ConsumeBefore anywhere to be found. Help Anyone?

Larry C

Re: USB GPS Control - ConsumeBefore still yet to be found.. even after installing IIOA

MichaelChaney — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:34:41 GMT

Hi Larry,

If you installed the Instrument I/O Assistant from here, then IIOA.lib can be found in C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 7.x\vi.lib\InstrIOAsst\IIOA.lib (Replace 7.x with your version of LabVIEW). ConsumeBefore.vi is located in this library file. Even if all components appear to have been installed, running the installer will install these examples. I hope this helps.

Good luck,

Re: USB GPS Control - ConsumeBefore still yet to be found.. even after installing IIOA

ram101 — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 07:54:03 GMT

Hi all,

applologies for bumping an old topic but i seem to be having the same issue with not being able to find the consumebefore.vi after installing the Instrument I/O Assistant and i dont have the following folder..

C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 7.x\vi.lib\InstrIOAsst\IIOA.lib

i do have C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 7.1\vi.lib\instr

i scanned my HD for consumebefore.vi but no luck finding anything..

anybody come across this issue?...can anyone host the missing consumebefore.vi file for me to grab?

cheers