How to communicate with USB devices?

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Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:03 am

Hi All,

I would like to communicate via Igor with a spectrometer and a powermeter (from Newport) that have USB connections.
The devices appear in the device manager in the USB bus controller section.
I asked the manufacturer and they cannot be programmed with the VISA protocol.
The former versions of these devices enabled a serial communication with a RS232 port.
So my question is: Is there an XOP like VDT or VDT2 which permits the communication with a USB device?

Thanks
Restedumonde
Looking over the spectrometers from newport I saw that some of them have

Quote:

Microsoft™ Active X control allows you to build your own specific application using Visual Basic, Visual C++, MatLab, Labview, or other Microsoft application compatible with Active X technology


Yours too?
This would mean you can write an XOP which bridges from Igor to the newport active X control.
For writing an XOP it is necessary to be fluent in C or C++.

October 24, 2014 at 05:30 am - Permalink

Quote:
Is there an XOP like VDT or VDT2 which permits the communication with a USB device?


The VISA XOP is the XOP that permits communication with a USB device. But the device must support the USBTMC protocol.

If it does not, as is the case with the Newport spectrometer, then you need an XOP written to use the driver provided by the manufacturer. Perhaps you can cajole Newport to write it.

October 24, 2014 at 06:15 am - Permalink

Hi all,

Thanks for your answers.

By the way, the instruments I want to communicate with are:
- the MS260i spectrometer,
- the 1918-R powermeter.

I asked Newport and they were kind enough to send me C++ files (see attached files).

I am a newbie in writing XOPs, so I have some questions:
- Are theses files sufficient to write an XOP?
- How do I write the XOP from these files?

Thanks,
Restedumonde.
unitMain.cpp_.txt unitMain.h.txt USB_Interface.cpp_.txt

October 30, 2014 at 08:33 am - Permalink

You need to be at least an intermediate-level C/C++ programmer. If you are not, you will need to find a programmer to do the job. Here are some consultants.

You will need the Igor XOP Toolkit.

October 30, 2014 at 10:01 am - Permalink