NI rs232 to usb converter cable; FTDI or PL2303?

[hyberjan]

Hi,

I am trying to control a pump with a RS232 to USB converter cable by NI (USB-232; 188345C/02) connected to a USB host shield attached to an Arduino UNO. Pump control with the same NI converter cable worked fine with LabView. Could it be I have to use a specific driver, such as FTDI or PL2303 with the Arduino? Does anyone know which chip is on NI's converter cable?

Thanks

[dmsilev]

Rather than going Arduino->shield->USB->RS232, wouldn't it be easier to just use the Uno's UART and an RS232 driver chip to directly talk to the pump?

[hyberjan]

Problem is that the UNO's UART does not offer flow control via DTR/DSR. The pump requires hardware handshake. RS232 to USB signal conversion should work, but would require correct driver for the converter chip be installed on the UNO, e.g. FTDI or PL2303. Was looking for documentation and examples for this type of setup (still searching....). Any suggestions?

[Dennis_Knutson]

I don't understand why you are posting here. You are not using any NI hardware or software. Your connection to the pump with the arduino doesn't make any sense either if you require handshaking and of its true that the arduino doesn't have it. If the handshake lines don't exist, no software will magically make them appear.

[hyberjan]

Dear Dennis,

thank you for your comments. The RS232 to USB converter cable by NI that we are using (USB-232; 188345C/02) effectively converts the RS232 signals to USB signals, including those that are necessary for the handshaking. We got this working on our LabView system, but want to try a simple non-PC solution. My original question was regarding this NI converter cable, as to which chip is installed? And secondly, whether anyone has some useful comments regarding its use with a non-PC system, such as an Arduino UNO. I appreciate all comments from this notable community.

Thanks 

[Dennis_Knutson]

The chip it uses is irrelevant. The driver is NI-Serial and you can't use that for the arduino. You use whatever driver comes with it. The NI converter is totally out of the picture.