Mitutoyo MUX2, Digimatic Micrometer heads and Labview7

[Conseils]

In answer to your question

You have the kit for the job.. You don't need GaugeLink, this comment was mis-leading.

Now you need to follow the steps outlined.

If you want to progress I will lead you through the steps to where ever you want to go.

[Conseils]

I think you posted this twice

[m4nd4li4]

Hello,

Sorry about emailing twice. Quick fingers!!!

I would like to progress further and it is beginning to bug me why
there aren't any drivers for the MUX2. So, Conseils, where and how do
I start with this project? I have the Student edition (version 7) but
I can get hold of a full version of Labview (version 6.1). Are there
any reasons why I should not use the Student edition?

So, please help me figure this out. I really appreciate your kind
help.

Regards,

Bharesh


Conseils wrote in message news:<50650000000500000005840100-1079395200000@exchange.ni.com>...
> In answer to your question
>
> You have the kit for the job.. You don't need GaugeLink, this comment
> was mis-leading.
>
> Now you need to follow the s
teps outlined.
>
> If you want to progress I will lead you through the steps to where
> ever you want to go.

[Conseils]

Ok first go through the first list I posted here and work out what you are missing. Post a list of what you are missing. i.e do you have the manuals for the MUX2?

There is no reason that I am aware of that the student edition won't do. At the moment I have not fully transferred to 7.X so 6.1 would be good also.

Anyway the reson that there is no driver is mainly becuase people in production processes (where these things are used in volume) need validated statistical tools. No one has written a complete fully approved automotive statistics tool in Labview (I believe), hence no driver. As the approval process is expensive, long and tortous you start to understand why.

To get you going if you have all the cables you
should start with the Trerminal Emulator. (I assume Windows here). Set 9600bd 7 data bits, 1Stb, No Parity - no handshake. Press the instrument 'Data' button and the instrument should send a measurement to the Terminal program. You may need to 'tinker' (my first choice was refused by the msg bd) with the data rates and handshake to get the data onto the terminal program as the handshake could be affected by the wiring on the cable between the MUX and the host and the data rate could possibly have been changed on the MUX. You quickly find out that the number of combintations is awesome - Hence the requirement for the manual.


So go through the list I wrote and tell me what you have or not as the case may be.

[m4nd4li4]

Hi there,

I got the micrometer readings to displayed on the Hyperterminal
window. I am using Windows2000 (sp4). The manual for the MUX2 is ONLY
a piece of paper with MUX2 protocol, RS232 output spec and command
codes. The settings I used were.....

9600db
8 data bits (in the manual)
1Stb
No Parity
No handshake

Pressed DATA button on each micrometer and readings were displayed.
I'm glad this bit works. I suppose the next bit is continous readings
from the micrometers.


Regards,

Bharesh



Conseils wrote in message news:<50650000000500000056840100-1079395200000@exchange.ni.com>...
> Ok first go through the first list I posted here and work out what you
> are missing. Post a list of what you are missing. i.e do you have the
> manuals for the MUX2?
>
> There is no reason that I am aware of that the student edition won't
> do. At the moment I have not fully transferred to 7.X so 6.1 would be
> good also.
>
> Anyway the reson that there is no driver is mainly becuase people in
> production processes (where these things are used in volume) need
> validated statistical tools. No one has written a complete fully
> approved automotive statistics tool in Labview (I believe), hence no
> driver. As the approval process is expensive, long and tortous you
> start to understand why.
>
> To get you going if you have all the cables you should start with the
> Trerminal Emulator. (I assume Windows here). Set 9600bd 7 data bits,
> 1Stb, No Parity - no handshake. Press the instrument 'Data' button and
> the instrument should send a measurement to the Terminal program. You
> may need to 'tinker' (my first choice was refused by the msg bd) with
> the data rates and handshake to get the data onto the terminal program
> as the handshake could be affected by the wiring on the cable between
> the MUX and the host and the data rate could possibly have been
> changed on the MUX. You quickly find out that the number of
> combintations is awesome - Hence the requirement for the manual.
>
>
> So go through the list I wrote and tell me what you have or not as the
> case may be.

[Conseils]

That's excellent work.

Well this tests most of the cable connections, you PC and the COM port and the associated hardware and leaves only the trasmitted command.

This simple test that you have performed is one of the most basic but important. Because it gives you a baseline to work from. From now on you 'know what to expect'.

Look in the instructions and find the string that is used to request a reading it is probably somthing like S1 for channel 1 or similar (I can't find my sheet at the moment, I have moved since I last used it).

Type this string in to the terminal program.
If it mentions CR then that means Carrige Return and you do that by pressing the ENTER key.

If you could post the
instruction sheet it will save me looking for my copy, which I may never find.

After this it will be a simple matter to get the data into Labview.

You should now look into the examples with Labview and search for the parameter 'SERIAL'. This will lead you to an example 'Serial communication.VI' which is an example of how to send a command to a serial prot and aquire the results. It also has a timeout which means you don't end up waiting for ever if the remote device fails to respond (because it's disconnected or the battery is flat in the Digimatic device).

The default data rates match those of the MUX so there is almost no work to do!!

If your feeling brave type the command into the available control and set the VI running. It should return your data.

[m4nd4li4]

Hi Conseils,

Thanks again for your valuable help. The instruction sheet has a list
of command codes that can be sent to the MUX in ASCII format. If you
let me know email address I can post it to you. I'm looking forward to
some Labview "programming" now!!

Regards,

Bharesh

xrddiffraction@yahoo.co.uk

Conseils wrote in message news:<50650000000500000060850100-1079395200000@exchange.ni.com>...
> That's excellent work.
>
> Well this tests most of the cable connections, you PC and the COM port
> and the associated hardware and leaves only the trasmitted command.
>
> This simple test that you have performed is one of the most basic but
> important. Because it gives you a baseline to
work from. From now on
> you 'know what to expect'.
>
> Look in the instructions and find the string that is used to request a
> reading it is probably somthing like S1 for channel 1 or similar (I
> can't find my sheet at the moment, I have moved since I last used it).
>
> Type this string in to the terminal program.
> If it mentions CR then that means Carrige Return and you do that by
> pressing the ENTER key.
>
> If you could post the instruction sheet it will save me looking for my
> copy, which I may never find.
>
> After this it will be a simple matter to get the data into Labview.
>
> You should now look into the examples with Labview and search for the
> parameter 'SERIAL'. This will lead you to an example 'Serial
> communication.VI' which is an example of how to send a command to a
> serial prot and aquire the results. It also has a timeout which means
> you don't end up waiting for ever if the remote device fails to
> respond (because it's disconnected or the battery is
flat in the
> Digimatic device).
>
> The default data rates match those of the MUX so there is almost no
> work to do!!
>
> If your feeling brave type the command into the available control and
> set the VI running. It should return your data.