ir camera + labview

[kunal227]

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hi

i am using a really old IR camera with a gpib interface (mikron 6t62 thermotracer). i was able to connect the camera through the TN2004 pci-gpib card and configure the card. But the query given by MAX i.e. *IDN? is not recognized by the instrument. i guess its because the instrument is too old. i was able to read temperature, emissivity using the commands in the manual of the instrument but i am not able to write anything for e.g if i want to change the emissivity (it is changeable).

this is what i want to do i want to use labview VIs for gpib interfacing and read the temperature value in labview and control it through labview. say if i want to change the emissivity.

but i am really confused how to do this with such an old instrument and i also don't know how to use the GPIB vi in labview for that.

is there any tutorial which can help me getting started with the GPIB programming in labview.

has anyone done any temp measurement with such old IR camera systems then please let me know. i will appreciate the help.

i can post the pictures to remove any confusion.

[smercurio_fc]

It's not unusual for old instruments to not respond to "*IDN?" so there's nothing to worry about there, especially since you said you can read certain parameters. It's odd that you're not able to write, but that could be due to a number of reasons. Does the manual say that you have to explicitly end the GPIB messages with something?

As for a tutorial, you should start here.

[kunal227]

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what is the latest version of the intrument I/O assistant driver?  i am labview 7.1. is it fine to use that for gpib?

[smercurio_fc]

The Instrument I/O Assistant is part of LabVIEW, so each version of LabVIEW has its own.

LabVIEW has supported instrument communication for a *long* time, so 7.1 is perfectly fine.

[kunal227]

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if i don't have it then from where can i download the the I/O assistant driver for labview 7.1?

[smercurio_fc]

It should be on the Device Driver CD, which is the CD that came with the hardware. Do you have this? Otherwise, you can get it here.

You can find drivers and whatnot from the Drivers and Updates page. From here, select:

Product Line ->LabVIEW
Software -> Instrument I/O Assistant
Software Version -> (latest one available in list)
Operating System -> (select as required)

[kunal227]

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i checked the camera documentation. the interface conforms to IEEE 488 standard of 1975/78.

[smercurio_fc]

I'm not sure if you're asking anything with that? If you're asking about the date, the GPIB spec is quite old. That date sounds about right. This should not cause a problem with communicating with the device. Besides, you've already said that you can get information from it, so right now you just need to know how to do it LabVIEW, right? Well, in LabVIEW (but not just LabVIEW) VISA can be used. VISA is a programming layer that basically sits on top of GPIB. VISA allows you to write code for devices without having to write separate code for talking to it via serial or GPIB. You only change the initialization of the device and then the read/write actions are handled as needed. These function will call the appropriate driver-level API, be it serial or GPIB, based on what was specified during initialization.

The best thing to do right now is to go through some of the tutorials or take one of the courses that NI offers.

[kunal227]

hi,

    This is what i want to do.

the IR camera scans the surface from left to right and top to bottom and it stores the temperature in the form of colored pixels(256 horizontal and 207 vertical). i can freeze the image to read the temperature but i want to read the complete temperature distribution i.e. for all pixels if possible or at locations of interest on the surface of the plate.  i.e. i wanna move the cursor and read the temperature at every location on my plate surface and store the value in some quantitative manner and if possible also show the image for qualitative representation.

[kunal227]

i don't see anything like the instrument driver project wizard in the tools>instrumentation     of labview 7.1