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Get Started- TestStand IEEE and IVI v01 of 20

Starting TestStand, IVI and IEEEfor the Genesys Power Supply

1. Introduction

This is a step-by-step guide to writing a program to remotely control theGenesys power supply using NI TestStand, the IEEE-488 bus and theLambda IVI-C drivers. This tutorial begins with instructions for installingthe IVI drivers and configuring them in the NI MAX program.

2. Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................1

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................1

3. ABSTRACT.........................................................................2

4. REQUIREMENTS .................................................................3

5. ADDITIONAL HELP..............................................................4

6. VERIFY THE IEEE HARDWARE ..............................................5

7. CONFIGURE THE IVI DRIVER ...............................................7

8. YOUR FIRST TESTSTAND IEEE PROGRAM ............................ 14



3. AbstractIf you have experience using TestStand, IEEE-488 and the IVI-C steps, thenhere are the highlight issues for using the LaGen IVI drivers.

These issues are more fully described in bold red text in the sections below.

A. This document was written using TestStand 4.0, NI MAX 4.4, andLambdaGenPS IVI drivers 3.0.1. Results for earlier versions cannot beguaranteed.

B. TestStand 4.2 and earlier does not recognize the IVI logical name. TSonly uses the IVI session name as the instrument identifier.

C. The default IVI Power Supply channel name is “CHANNEL1”. This mustmanually be changed to “Output1”.

D. The TestStand channel name supports the Physical Name (“Output1”).An error is returned if you use the repeated capability name(“Output”).

E. On the Output tab, change the Output Range Mode to “Use VoltageRange”. The default value, “Automatic”, will return an error.

F. On the Limits tab, you must check the OVP Enabled box. The nearestway to disable the OVP in a Genesys supply is to enter the maximumOVP setting into the OVP Limit text box (the max OVP is typically110% of the supply’s voltage rating).

G. Trigger capability, hardware or software, is not supported by theGenesys supply.



4. RequirementsFor more specific software requirements, see the “Readme.txt” file that is onthe Start menu under “Programs Lambda LambdaGenPS”.

A. Windows XP or VISTA: This tutorial is written using Windows XPwith .NET version 2.0. Prior to Microsoft Vista, .NET is freely availableas a download. Dot NET version 1.x is not sufficient.

64-bit versions of the operating systems are not supported.

B. TestStand 4.0: The examples use the National InstrumentsTestStand 4.0 development environment. Results are not guaranteedfor earlier versions of TestStand.

C. Prior Experience with TestStand: This tutorial assumes priorexperience with TestStand. You should know how to create steps, runand debug your application.

D. IVI Drivers rev 3.0.1: After TestStand and related driver software isinstalled, download and install the Lambda Genesys IVI driverpackage. It is available from:

http://www.lambda-hp.com/product_html/genesys1u.htm

Click on the “Documentation Download Drivers” link to register.

Install the file “LambdaGenPS.3.0.1.msi” on your computer.

E. VISA Drivers rev 4.3: The IVI technology is built upon a layer ofhardware drivers called VISA (for “Virtual Instrument SoftwareArchitecture”). These drivers are installed with TestStand. Otherversions are untested.

F. IVI Shared Components 2.0.0.0: The LambdaGenPS IVI installermay report:

Download thesedrivers from:

http://www.ivifoundation.org/shared_components/Default.aspx

G. Electrical Interface: to use the IEEE-488 port, you will need to usea Genesys power supply with the “IEMD” option and you will need aGPIB controller card in your computer or laptop.



5. Additional HelpIn addition to this document, a “Getting Started” and language reference isinstalled with the Lambda Genesys IVI driver package. This help file maybe opened through the Start menu as shown below:

Below is a sample of the Help file’s contents:

Additional help and tutorials may be found at the IVI Foundation website:

http://www.ivifoundation.org/



6. Verify the IEEE HardwareBefore configuring the IVI drivers, it is recommended to verify theIEEE-488 hardware and VISA drivers are all working properly.

A. Open the NI MAX program. It is installed withTestStand. It has utilities to communicate toinstruments and to configure the IVI drivers.MAX version 4.4 is shown.

B. On the left panel, open the “Devices and Interfaces” branch.See your GPIB interface listed.Right-click the GPIB item. See floating menu.Left-click “Scan for Instruments”.



C. See the Genesys power supply is detected as a connected instrument.

Note that an alias name “GEN_IEEE_Alias” has been created for thisinstrument.

D. At this point, you may try sending commands to the supply.Click the “Communicate with Instruments” button.

This step is not required. You do not need to learn the SCPI commandsto use the IVI drivers. This is a diagnostic step only.

In the TDK-Lambda User Manual for Optional IEMD Interface, see theProgramming Commands section. You may send commands (click“Write”) or read data (click “Query”).

E. Close the Communicator window.Proceede to the next section to install the IVI drivers.



7. Configure the IVI DriverAs part of the TestStand installation, the “IVI Driver Toolset” disk will add theIVI configuration feature to the MAX utility.

When the LambdaGenPS IVI drivers are installed, the MAX program willregister the “LaGen” drivers.

A. Expand the Instrument Driver Software Module branch and verify thethe “LaGen” IVI drivers are registered.



B. Create a driver session for the Genesys power supply which wasdetected in section 6.

Right-click on “Driver Sessions” and click “Create New…”

C. See the NewDriverSession panel appear.Select “LaGen” for the Software Module.



D. See the “NewDriverSession” appears.

Type in a name. In this example, we used “GEN_IEEE6_DS” todescribe the Genesys on the IEEE-488 bus at address 6.

E. See the configuration panel for the “GEN_IEEE6_DS” driver sessionappears.

Previous registered instruments will be listed.



F. If your GEN IEEE hardware asset is not already listed, then it has to bemanually added.

Click the “Add” button in the bottom-right of the “Hardware” panel.

G. See a prompt box for a new hardware asset name. In this example, weused “GEN_IEEE6_HA”



H. Double-click under “Resource Descriptor”. See a list box of knownresources. In this example, we see the power supply’s VISA alias listed(as created in section 6).

If you do not want to assign aliases, then you can also type the VISAname directly. This is shown on the “Devices and Interfaces” panel insection 6.

You may double-click under the Description column and add adescription for this hardware asset.

I. For the selected driver session (“GEN_IEEE6_DS”), select a checkboxto assign the hardware asset (“GEN_IEEE_HA”).



J. On the driver session “Software” tab, link this session to the “LaGen”drivers:

K. At this point, save your IVI settings. Click “Save IVI Configuration”.

L. The IVI configuration is complete. You may close the NI MAX program.



There are a number of Driver Session features whichmay be set on other tabbed panels. For this example,all settings are kept at the default settings.

If you are using TestStand 4.2 or earlier,TestStand does not support the use of logicalnames.

This means that creating logical names is not shown here.It also means the IVI “Interchangeablility” feature, whichallows swapping instruments without changing yourTestStand program, is not supported.



8. Your First TestStand IEEE Program

A. Launch TestStand

For this example TS version 4.0 is used.

B. Add IVI Power Supply Step

From the Insertion Pallet, drag an “IVI-C Power Supply” step into yourprogram.

C. Configure the Step

Right-click on the IVI step. See a menu open.

Left click on “Edit IVI Power Supply…”

See the “Edit IVI Power Supply Step” window appear.



On the edit window, select the Driver Session name which was created insection 7.

Although the TS panel shows the heading “Logical Name”,TS 4.2 and earlier only supports the driver session name.

On the “Channels” tab, click the “Add” button. See “CHANNEL1” is added.

For the Channel Name, you mustmanually type in “Output1”.

The double quotes are required.

For a single-channel instrument like theGenesys, the channel name may be leftblank.

For Output Range Mode, youmay not use “Automatic”.

You must select “Use Voltage Range” or “UseCurrent Range”. Since the Genesys supplydoes not support ranges, either setting isaccepted and the Range text boxes may bekept at “0”.



The final Edit Channels Output window will look like:



Click the Channels Limits tab.

On the “Limits” tab, verify the “OV PEnabled”box is checked.An error will be returned if it is not checked.

The OVP value must also be entered for theratings of the power supply.

For the Genesys, the OVP cannot be disabled but it can be setto it’s highest value, which typically is 110% of the supplyvoltage rating.

To find the maximum OVP setting, see the Technical Manual for your powersupply, in the SPECIFICATIONS table section for PROTECTIVE FUNCTIONS.In this example using a GEN30-25, the maximum OVP value is 35 volts.

Click the “OK” button to close the “Edit IVI Power Supply Step” window.



D. Run the Program

You are now ready to run the TestStand program (Ctrl-F5).

Using this example, when the program completes, the power supply will beset to 1.00 volts, 0.50 amps, and output ON. Also, the foldback is disabledand the under-voltage setting is unchanged.

E. Add a Measurement Step

You can create another TS step to measure the power supply outputvoltage or current.

For this new step, open the “Edit IVI Power Supply Step” window.

Open the Extensions tab and click the checkbox to enable the power supplymeasuring capability.

On the “Extensions” tab, do notselect “Trigger”.This feature is not supported and an errorwill be returned if Trigger is checked.



Click on the “Operation” listbox. Change the operation to “Measure”.

The final measurement step will be:

The measured voltage destination will be a string.



F. Add Timing Consideration

The previous TestStand instructions only describe two test steps: Configureand Measure.

When this TS program is run, the measurement will return an unexpectedvalue because, after the configuration is made, the power supply needssome time to go to the new setting. For this reason, add a “Wait” step.

The final TS program will look like:

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