Control of TMCM-140-42-SE module stepper motor with Labview 2018

[Gopikishore]

Hello,

I am a beginner in LabView.

I have successfully controlled TMCM 140 42 SE (PD-3-140-42-SE stepper motors) module with TMCL software. But now we are trying to automize the entire project with LabView and I want to control this module with LabView 2018.

I am not asking for a step-by-step solution. But I am looking for a source or a way where I can figure out the necessary additional hardware, drivers, and TMCL wrapper DLL or any relative information.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Best regards,

Vayalthota Gopikishore

[GerdW]

Hi Vayalthota,

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@Gopikishore wrote:

I have successfully controlled TMCM 140 42 SE (PD-3-140-42-SE stepper motors) module with TMCL software. But now we are trying to automize the entire project with LabView and I want to control this module with LabView 2018.

I am not asking for a step-by-step solution. But I am looking for a source or a way where I can figure out the necessary additional hardware, drivers, and TMCL wrapper DLL or any relative information.

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I guess you got manuals with yur motor driver, as I couldn't find them easily here.

That website mentions an USB interface, and I guess this is implemented as a virtual COM port: all you need is to use the VISA functions in that case!

[rolfk]

I found the manual here. Under "4.4.1 Power and serial communication connector" it describes the serial pins that offer different options of operation depending on the ordered option.. Under 4.4.4 USB connector it describes a USB connector but doesn't state what operation it supports (host/device) and or the supported USB device profile if it is a device interface (USB COMM or some other proprietary interface mode). Also the manual states nowhere if the RS-232 option is using standard RS-232 voltage signals (+-12V) or rather 5V or 3.3V logical signals, so you would need to be careful about connecting them to a normal RS-232 connector. 

The TCML Firmware manual describes in more detail how you can communicate with the module. From this it seems that the USB port most likely supports the USB COMM profile (but this still is an assumption that can be however easily checked by connecting this port to your computer and see if a serial COM port appears in your Windows device manager) and then can be used through NI-VISA just like if you connect the RS-232 interface pins to a serial port on your computer. The Firmware supports both a binary and ASCII protocol. The binary protocol would be my prefered way to implement a LabVIEW instrument driver as you need to implement the initial command to switch to ASCII mode anyhow as binary protocol.