Installation Contents
This package contains National Instruments LabVIEW™ 2011 source code to support ASI’s TG-1000 “Tiger” controller over the Serial Port interface, in the form of an instrument driver.
Even though ASI’s drivers are not part of National Instrument’s “Instrument Driver Network” they have been designed to act the same way, so these instructions are similar to those found at http://www.ni.com/devzone/idnet/inetinst.htm.
1. Exit LabView if it is running
2. Locate the instrument driver folder at instr.lib folder, where is the install directory. The install directory can be found in LabView by going to Tools >> Options, then under Paths and Default Directory. An example location of the is C:Program Files (x86)National InstrumentsLabVIEW 2011instr.lib.
3. Unzip the driver archive in the instr.lib folder. The contents of instr.libASI TG-1000 should be:
- Examples [example high-level VIs]
- Private [VIs that should not be called directly]
- Public [low-level and mid-level VIs for end use]
- ASI TG-1000 Readme.html
- ASI TG-1000.aliases
- ASI TG-1000.lvlib
- ASI TG-1000.lvproj
4. Launch LabView
5. Open any block diagram and open the functions palette. The ASI TG-1000 VIs should be found under Instrument I/O >> Instr Drivers >> ASI TG-1000.
Driver Contents
Much like any other instrument or data acquisition, the VIs pass through an instrument handle and error wires to enforce execution order.
Feel free to look into the VIs to see how they operate. They are found in the Public folder within instr.lib, though the easiest way to access them is the functions palette under Instrument I/O and then Instr Drivers.
Please contact ASI if you find bugs or would like to see other features added!
Basic VIs
- Initialize.vi – creates the instrument handle and opens the serial port
- Close.vi – closes the instrument handle and disconnects from the serial port
Action VIs
- Halt all Commands.vi – Sends the controller a halt command.
- Move Axes to Position.vi – Moves a single axis to the specified positions. Uses internal axis units
- Move Axes to Positions.vi – Moves multiple axes to the specified positions. Uses internal axis units.
- Move Axes To Zero.vi – Moves the specified axes to zero, analogous to the home button but only for those axes.
- Move to Position from File.vi – Opens a file created by Save Current Position to File.vi and moves to that location. Ignores axes not specified.
Status VIs
- Get Current Position.vi – Gets the current position of an axis. Uses internal axis units.
- Get Current Positions.vi – Gets the current positions of multiple axes. Uses internal axis units.
- Get Axes Status.vi – Gets the status byte for the axis. Use Status Byte to Code.vi to convert that to a user-readable string.
- Save Current Position to File.v – Creates a file storing the current position of specified axes, for later use by Move to Position from File.vi
Utility VIs
- Send Serial Command.vi – Sends an arbritrary serial command to the controller and optionally gets the response.
- Parse Serial Response.vi – Parses a controller response according to the expected type (e.g. string or number) and command syntax.
- Status Byte to Code.vi – Converts the status byte retrieved by Get Axes Status.vi into a user-readable string.
- Axis Enum to String.vi – Converts the enum representation of the axis name (preferred within LabView) to the corresponding string.
- Axis String to Enum.vi – Converts a string representation of the axis name to the preferred enum representation.
- Get Comm Version.vi – Returns the version of the comm card.
Example High-Level VIs (Not in the Functions Palette)
- Monitor Positions + Console.vi – Uses most or all of the above VIs to perform the following functions:
- continuously query and display axis positions
- move any axis to a new position
- save and recall positions to/from files
- send arbitrary serial command and view the response
Assistance
For assistance with this software, feel free to call (541) 461-8181 ext. 118. In the United States and Canada you may call (800) 706-2284.