How to control 8 current sources in the same time with labview?

[nico31dcu]

Hi,

I'm a French student who have to create a program which is able to control 8 current sources in the same time.the aim is to plug the currents sources in the input of a laser.

If someone has an idea, it would be very nice to inform me !!!

Thanks in advance.

Nico31dcu

[Dennis_Knutson]

How are the current sources connected to the computer? Is it GPIB, serial, something else? What are the makes and models of the sources.  Are they all to be configured the same or do you need to set them to different levels?

[nico31dcu]

Hi, thanks for answer,

The current sources are conned by GPIB. The device is an TEKTRONIK PROFILE PRO800 with 3 slots (one can also control de temperature) and I need to set them to different levels in order to form a fonction (like exponential for example)

[nico31dcu]

Do you have just an idea about how to build the program which can control 8 different current sources?Because I don't know how to start. I will see after how can I connect the divices into my computer with labview.

Thanks,

Nico

[Dennis_Knutson]

Is it really Tektronik or is it Tektronix. Tektronix is a major test equipment manufacturer. I can't find any reference to that model number on their site, though.

There are several resources for learning instrument control. One good place to start is http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4357.

Assuming that you have a NI GPIB controller for the pc, you will be using the Instrument I/O Assistant or the VISA commands to send/recieve data from the current sources. Without having access to the programming manual, I can't give specifics on what commands you need to send. Your topic mentions controlling them at the same time. Truly simultaneous control is possible in only a few situations. If you have a couple current sources in the same mainframe, you may be able to send a single command to set them all. It will really depend on the commands that the vendor has implemented. With separate mainframes, you will send commands first to one, and then another, etc. Again, depending on what the vendor has implemented, it may be possible to sequentially program all sources to a ready state and then trigger all simultaneously.

[nico31dcu]

Thanks,

I'm sorry I did a mistake it's Tektronix and I have had a lot of difficulties to find this device on Internet as well.It's was bought in the company LASER2000 and on the website you can see a similar device with more slots (profile 8000)(http://www.laser2000.fr/produits/telecom/instrumentation_de_laboratoire/controleur_pour_diode_laser....

or http://www.techrecovery.com/commerce/catalog/productmisc.jsp;jsessionid=94A0803ED19ED96FF5ECCF91B818...

[Dennis_Knutson]

I have long forgotten all of the French I ever learned from my Grandmother. Hopefully, you will have a programming manual for this. I could not find a driver already written for it. That would have made your life much easier.

With the manual and after looking through the tutorials, you can open MAX (Measurement & Automation Explorer). Part of the process of installing the GPIB controller in your system is to scan for instruments on the bus. Once this is done, you can click on your instrument and select 'Communicate with Instrument'. The window that pops up will allow you to do writes, reads, and queries. A query is an automatic read after a write. You can experiment with the commands and get an understanding of the remote control. Once you've done that, you can trasfter that knowledge to the Instrument I/I Assistant or writing your own driver.

If you have an electonic version of the programming manual, you could post that so that people could provide more detailed help.