Can't use TEC Controller & TIM101 in combination

[mathias157]

Hi! 

I'm trying to implement both a Thorlabs TEC Controller TTC001 and a PZMotor Controller TIM101 in one LabView script. I'm fairly certain the drivers are working, since the APT User software can recognize and control the two interfaces easily, at the same time:

..and since i'm also able to use the interfaces seperately, in a LabView script - the problem occurs only when i want to initialize both of them in one script (Which is exactly what i need). Here i try to intialize the PZ Motor first - the PZ Motor is initalized succesfully but the TEC Controller fails to connect:

Here i initialize the TEC Controller first, which initializes succesfully, but results in the following error from the PZ Motor initialization:

I'm using a USB-hub for all of my devices, if that's of any significance.

I hope it's just my rookie LabView-coding abilities that makes me miss something - can you help me?

Best regards, 

Mathias Rosendal

[ssegal · Accepted solution]

Disclaimer: I'm a Thorlabs employee, but I don't work in the office that makes this particular product line. That said, I am familiar with programming for it.

I THINK I know what your problem is. The TTC001 is compatible with the old APT drivers and the newer Kinesis drivers. I believe you've mixed the two up. The ActiveX object for the TTC001 in APT is called "APTTECControl". However, your block diagram shows a reference to "TCubeTECControl". I'm guessing that this is the Kinesis .NET control for the TTC001. If I'm right then you're getting crashes because you've configured the APT driver, but you haven't configured Kinesis. Sorry that I can't be certain-- I myself have limited experience with Kinesis.

You've got two options:

1. Change your LabVIEW code so that you're pointing correctly to "APTTECControl". In this scenario you'll be using the older APT drivers.

2. Use the Kinesis configuration tools to configure communication with your TTC001. After you do this, you should study the Kinesis programming guide and set up your LabVIEW code accordingly.

Option 1 is easier, but option 2 has more "future-proofing"... I don't know how much longer my colleagues will be continuing to support APT.

Hope this helps!

[mathias157]

Absolutely amazing - option 1 worked, thank you very much!

Due to time limitations i'm not sure if i'll be able to test option 2 out, but since you were right about the APT drivers i'd imagine replacing everything to kinesis drivers would work as well. Thank you!

[ssegal]

Glad it worked. Can you please mark my response as the solution?

[mathias157]

Yes! Sorry i'm new to these forums, there you go! 🙂