Controlling a Sorenson P/S

[philmo1]

I am totally new to LabView. I was just handed a task to create a simple program to control a Sorenson DCS80-13E.

The power supply needs to ramp upto to 50V in 5V increments, dwell for 5 minutes at each step. Once it is upto 50V, dwell for an hour. Then it needs to ramp down in 5 volt/5 minute increments. During this time I need to monitor the current, to ensure that the UUT is not in shutdown mode.

If the current is below 1.0A, there is a faliure and we need to hold the test sequence. At that point a message that the unit has failed. Maybe send a message that after each itteration [ramp up/up to 0V]. This is a long term, 2 week test I need to run, and start by Friday.

Thanks,

Phil

[Albert.Geven]

Hi

Easy to do but you probably did not make it before friday without help.
I hope you found a driver on device net otherwise it is almost impossible to get this up and running in a few days without experience.
The problem is not the task but to implement all situations that can go wrong.

If you need help or constructive comment you can post again.
good luck

[philmo1]

Well, I have madea few attempts. I have not programmed anything in years.

Can you make suggestion on this program?

-P

[Chris G in AE]

Howdy philmo1,

After some extensive searching, I managed to find an online auction entry of a Sorenson DCS80-13E power supply. The information contained in the auction listing is pretty much all the information I have on the device itself. From the entry, I gather that communication to the power supply is done through either RS-232 or GPIB 488.2. What you will need to do is develop a LabVIEW application that communicates via one of these two protocols.

If you choose RS-232, then you can just use a COM port on the back of your PC to connect to your power supply. If you prefer GPIB, then you will need an actual GPIB device connected to your PC that also connects to your power supply. Once you install drivers for your hardware--NI-Serial or NI-488.2 (depending on which hardware you prefer) and NI-VISA--various examples will install into LabVIEW. These examples, accessible through the NI Example Finder within LabVIEW by going to Help»Find Examples, should be enough to get you started. With the Example Finder open, just search for "GPIB" or "Serial" to find the examples. You want to consult the Sorenson DCS80-13E to see exactly what commands it needs to accomplish the things you want to do.

Alternatively, I'm not sure what sort of resources are available to you, but you might consider contacting an Alliance Partner to develop an application for you. More information on the NI Partner Program can be found at https://www.ni.com/en/partners.html.

I hope this helps! Here are some additional links that should be useful:

Serial Instrument Control Tutorial

GPIB Instrument Control Tutorial

NI-VISA Overview

[smercurio_fc]

Rather than staring off with the instrument itself, I would suggest working on the overall architecture of your program. It sounds like you should look into using a state machine. Head over the NI Knowledgebase and you'll find articles on state machines. Searching the LabVIEW will also turn up several useful threads. Generating the ramp is trivial, as there's a function to generate an array of values for you. The key is that you to separate the tasks here: instrument control and application design. You can do the application design by creating stub VIs for the power supply control and UUT current reading. This will allow you to make sure you have an operational flow before you actually start messing around with setting power supplies. After all, you want to make sure you don't create a run-away condition that will blow up your UUT.

[philmo1]

Thanks for the input. I have worked on this over the wekend. Using the examples is very helpful. The issue I am having is understanding how the state machine works in the examples.

Yoou are correct on the overall archtecture of the program. i am stil struggling, but gaining momentum. I havea manual control version in place. Now I need to be able to monitor the current and stop when it reached a user selected threshold.

Also, aorking on a state mahcine the can ramp up and ramp down the voltage, and havea loop count.

Thanks for the help, more is definately needed... Anyone know how to create a state machine that can set the voltage and have timed steps??? This is tougher than I thought. Like all new things.

[smercurio_fc]

There are many ways to implement a state machine, depending on the level of your needs. The most common uses an enumeration to define the states. A queue can also be used. Attached is a simple example using an enumeration. The states are defined by a typedef, which is the attached "Control1.ctl".

[terpguru]

there is a DHP Sorensen example here -

http://www.glue.umd.edu/%7Epban/VI.htm

Hope it helps...
thanks,

[smercurio_fc]

Based on the web page, for someone who claims to have been writing LabVIEW code for 7 years, that's a poorly written program:

• It's using sequence frames for no good reason
• No error cluster wiring
• Use of global variables for no good reason
• Use of old-style GPIB functions instead of VISA. (Given that it's written in LabVIEW 7, this is even more of a mystery.)
• Writing back the value of the boolean control to itself!
• Multiply the step value by 1 and then not doing anything. Hmmm... let's see... multiplying by one gives you the original value back, and then we're not going to do anything with it...
  

[rjRF]

Hi:

I currently use a

Sorenson DCS60-18E power supply

I'm following this guide:

http://www.programmablepower.com/products/DCS/downloads/DCS-E-Series_M9_Option_Programming_Manual_M3...

I'm trying to connect to the RS-232 interface on this power supply to remotely control it. Would you be able to tell me

+ What model of RJ-11 to DB9 connector to use

+ Currently I have part #940-0144A that is plugged to the RS-232 interface on the DC power and DB9 is connected to PC

+ Settings on terminal is

Baud: 19200

Data bits: 8

Stop bits: 1

Parity: none

Flow control : none

I type in ID? -> and I don’t see any response as the document indicates:

id?

id? -> this is the response I get

Can you provide some suggestions.

Thanks.