KPIB: Kenny-Purpose Interface Bus

A common interface for control of multiple scientific instruments with GPIB and serial connections.

Description

kpib.m contains code for GPIB and serial port communication for a number of scientific instruments, organized so that a single common command syntax can operate them all. For example, the command:
r = kpib(INSTRUMENT,GPIB,'read');
will return the voltage and current reading from a number of different power supplies. The goal is to be able to write matlab code that can accommodate changing instruments and experimental setups with minimum hassle. If INSTRUMENT and GPIB are defined as constants at the beginning of your code, then they can be changed to accommodate new equipment, and the rest of the code is unchanged. In addition, kpib can test whether an instrument exists at an address and read and write arbitrary strings to instruments for testing.

Supported instruments (v4.88):

  Temperature Controllers

'BlueOven' 2800 Controller for Thermotron S-1.2 Thermal Chamber
              (aka "Blue Oven")
'GreyOven' ICS 4809 Modbus interface to Watlow F4 Controller for
              TestEquity 1007S Thermal Chamber (aka "Grey Oven")
'AcuOven' Watlow 981 Temperature controller for Acutronic inertial
              test chamber. Also 'WAT_981'
'AO_800' Alpha Omega Instruments Series 800/850 Temperature
              Controller using Watlow Series 96 controller
              (Modbus serial comm.)
              (RS-232 device, specify 'COM1' for GPIB address)
'CV_TIC304' CryoVac TIC 304-MA Temperature Controller
'SI_9700' Scientific Instruments model 9700 Temperature Controller
'NP_3150' Newport Temperature Controller Model 3150

  Signal Analyzers

'HP_89410A' HP 89410A Vector Signal Analyzer
'HP_4195A' HP Network/Spectrum Analyzer
'HP_4395A' HP 4395A Network/Spectrum Analyzer
'HP_8753ES' HP 8753ES S-Parameter Network Analyzer
'AG_E5071B' Agilent E5070B/E5071B RF Network Analyzer
'HP_8560A' HP 8560A Spectrum Analyzer

  Oscilloscopes

'TEK_TDS' Tektronix TDS family Oscilloscopes
'HP_54600' Hewlett-Packard 54600-series Oscilloscopes (HP_54602B)
'HP_54800' Hewlett-Packard 548XX Infiniium Oscilloscopes (HP_54845A)

  Waveform/Function Generators

'HP_33120A' HP 33120A 15 MHz function generator
'AG_33250A' Agilent 33250A 80 MHz Function generator
'SRS_DS345' Stanford Research Systems DS345 30 MHz function generator
'FLK_290' Fluke 290 series (291, 292, 294) arbitrary waveform generators

  Multimeters

'HP_3478A' Hewlett-Packard 3478A multimeter
'HP_34401A' HP 34401A multimeter
'HP_34420A' HP 34420A 7.5 Digit Nanovoltmeter with RTD measurement

  Power Supplies

'HP_E3631A' HP E3631A triple output DC power supply
'HP_6614C' HP 6614C single-output 100V/0.5A DC power supply
'HP_E3632A' HP E3632A DC power supply 15/30 V
'HP_E3634A' HP E3634A DC power supply 25/50 V
'HP_E3641A' HP E3641A DC power supply
'HP_E3647A' HP E3647A dual output DC power supply
              (incl. TDS 340, TDS 540, TDS 744A)
'HP_E3633A' HP E3633A DC power supply 8/20 V

  Other Instruments

'HP_53132A' HP 53132A 225 MHz Universal Counter
'KTH_236' Keithley 236/237/238 Source Measure Unit
'KTH_2400' Keithley 2400 Source-Measure Unit (minimum functionality)
'HP_4284A' HP 4284A LCR Meter
'HP_3499B' Agilent 3499B Multiplexer
'VH_2701C' Valhalla 2701C voltage calibrator
'VH_2701B' Valhalla 2701B voltage calibrator (limited functionality)
'OH_EXP' Ohaus Explorer precision balances (incl. Pro models)
'ACT_3000' Acutronic 3000-series inertial test station controller

Documentation for each instrument is in the code. Use the "Find" command or use the Cell menu in the MATLAB Editor (the "%%" menu) to jump to the code for a specific instrument, or use "showdemo kpib" to open the code in the Help browser.

The device drivers are not complete; they are based on user needs. A code template is provided for adding other instruments or commands. See the comments ("showdemo kpib") for details. Note that the code assumes a single National Instruments PCI GPIB interface card, but this can be changed to other hardware supported by MATLAB, incl. USB, as well as serial port controllers (e.g. Prologix). See help for details. Feedback and contributions are welcome.
Includes sample programs.

• Acknowledgements: This submission has inspired the following:; res_meas
• Required Products: Instrument Control Toolbox
• MATLAB release: MATLAB 7.1.0 (R14SP3)
• Other requirements: GPIB interface hardware, see: http://www.mathworks.com/products/instrument/supportedio13769.html and/or serial port for RS-232 connections

[jaime casas]

This was I lookingfor...
now let me check it out

[Enrique Medina]

Thank you for submitting this helpful interface for GPIB. It will certainly save me a lot of time. I believe I may have found a bug. I am using a Tektronix TDS-744A oscilloscope, and when using the getdata command I was able to get the x data correctly, but the only way to obtain the y data instead of NaNs was to change the indices in lines 2218-2220 from 13,14,15 to 14,15,16. I have not tested this thoroughly, but it worked for one example.

[shanthakumar k]

can u give the documents also for this file.......

if so its very useful

[yad so]

hey can you help me i need to have conection with a source keithley 236 for my tesis proyect, but i don't know how to start

[M. A. Hopcroft]

Well, to get started you need to have some GPIB interface hardware to make the connection from the computer to the instrument. The list of MATLAB-supported devices is here:
http://www.mathworks.com/products/instrument/supportedio13769.html

[Suyash Jain]

 

[Damien Leduc]

Hello,
I use a generator hp33120a and "kpib.m"
I want to create with "kpib.m" a burst (sinusoidal) of 5 periods. Has anyone any idea ?
Thank you in advance for your answer.

[M. A. Hopcroft]

Burst support has been added for the HP_33120A and the AG_33250A.

[Harish]

This was extremely helpful in automating my measurements. Thank you so very much.

[Patricia]

I'm using the AO_800 and am able to set the temperature (but not get a confirmation from fread). I am able to check the Watlow screen to verify the tempereture set--which is correct. However, I am unable to read the temperature back. There's always a timeout and a warning that the data was not returned within the timeout period.

[M. A. Hopcroft]

The AO_800 serial communication is often tricky and temperamental. Contact me directly through the email on my author page and I will try to help.