RE: Newport Piezo USB Controllers

[Mark Rivers <rivers@cars.uchicago.edu>]

Hi Andrew,

 

I’ve made a little progress on this.  I installed the “Agilis User Tool” software.  With that application software I can control my device using the “virtual” handheld controller on Windows.

 

By installing this driver that came with it:

 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Newport\AgilisUserTool\USB driver\ftdiport.inf

 

I get a Windows COM port being created each time the Agilis controller is connected to the USB port.  On my Windows 7 64-bit machine it was COM3, and on my XP 32-bit machine it was COM15.

 

Their documentation says that their software works by just sending commands over that COM port.

 

Using a simple EPICS IOC I can send characters to that COM port with no errors.  However, even for what should be valid commands (“VE”, “TE”) I get no response.

 

I have also tried sending the same strings with Hyperterminal on XP and HyperSerialPort (freeware) on Windows 7, and I also get no reply from the device with those.

 

I am contacting Newport for advice.  I am not sure if baud rate, stop bits, etc. need to be set when using a USB serial device.

 

Mark

 

 

From: Mark Rivers
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2013 10:03 AM
To: Andrew Gomella; tech-talk@aps.anl.gov
Subject: RE: Newport Piezo USB Controllers

 

Hi Andrew,

 

This has been on my to-do list for some time now.  I have an Agilis controller and actuator that Newport sent me because they would like to have an EPICS driver.

 

I believe that by installing the "Agilis User Tool" software on Windows then one can send the ASCII commands over a COM port.  The drvAsynSerialPort driver on Windows should then be able to communicate.

 

If you don't have that software you can get it here:

 

ftp://download.newport.com/MotionControl/Current/MotionControllers/Agilis/Software/

 

I have not tried connecting it to a Linux system to see if a device like /dev/ttyUSB0 appears, but if it does then one should be able to use it on Linux as well.

 

I will try to play with it this week.

 

Mark

 

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From: tech-talk-bounces@aps.anl.gov [tech-talk-bounces@aps.anl.gov] on behalf of Andrew Gomella [andrew.gomella@nih.gov]
Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2013 10:46 AM
To: tech-talk@aps.anl.gov
Subject: Newport Piezo USB Controllers

Has anyone had any luck using Newport Agilis Controllers (USB) with EPICS?

 

http://www.newport.com/Agilis-Motion-Controllers/848283/1033/info.aspx

 

Newport only included LabView and Windows DLL's, but I'm really hoping to control them directly through our EPICS system. They run off of ASCII commands which are detailed in the user manual. 

 

I guess using CA Lab is an option, but was hoping to remove LabView entirely from the setup.

 

Thanks,

Andrew