Hello
I have the AL5D arm kit I want to control the arm with Labview. It has the [highlight=#ffffff][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]SSC-32U microcontroller[/font][/highlight]
1 - Is it possible to interface the microcontroller with LabVIEW (without the LabVIEW robotics module)?
2 - If no then what is the next best way to go about it.
3 - Would Arduino with LIFA work?
The kit did come with a downloadable app. - The FlowArm PLTW RB-DSP- 11
I have the NI USB 6009 - would I need something higher/different?
Regards,
spatan
Hi spatan,
Here are answers to your questions:
Since you have the SSC-32U version of the AL5D kit, this should be quite simple. With the SSC-32U powered (6 V DC on VS1) and the board connect by USB to the computer, simply use LabVIEW to open a serial communication (COM port) to the device. You can read more about it on NI’s website, such as this tutorial. The SSC-32U can be controlled by sending ASCII commands to it. The protocol for these commands is described in the SSC-32U manual, pages 24-26.
See answer above.
We assume LIFA refers to the LabVIEW Interface for Arduino? If so, it may work. As mentioned above, as long as your method of control can send the required ASCII commands to the SSC-32U, the source of them does not really matter. The SSC-32U also has exposed UART TTL pins (TX/RX/GND) that you can use to connect a microcontroller board (such as an Arduino) directly. You can read more about this interface on page 21.
If you use the USB port (and its VCP, or Virtual COM Port) of the SSC-32U, you will not even need your NI interface. You certainly can use most NI devices to do a sort-of UART interface with it. Here is a discussion about this.
We hope this helps!
Sincerely,
