Instron 4400 driver?

[Jed_Davidow]

I have been asked by a client to interface an Instron 4400 over GPIB.  Before I re-invent the wheel, does anyone know of an existing LV driver for this?  Apparently, VI-Tech has/had a product called VI Strength, but they have been bought out and the new sales guys don't know what it is (They are checking for me).

[Hassan_Atassi]

Hi Jed Davidow,

Have you checked out the Instrument Driver Network? 

[Jed_Davidow]

Yes, I did.

[Process_Systems]

You might want to ask Instron if they have a 488 command reference for this machine. I have found in the past that they had one for several of their machines, specifically the 1100 series. I would venture a guess that their commands would be similar.

Good luck

[davidtphillips]

Jed,

Are you interfacing the machine in order to take data to the PC or are you planning to control the machine from the PC?

[Paulo972]

Hi, I'm trying to control the machine from a PC.

Does somebody have the machine driver?

Thanks

[Jed_Davidow]

Sorry David- I missed your last post.  The plan is to be able fully control the system.  A the moment, I seem to have documentation for the API, but no idea how much work there is in actually writing code to control it.

Thanks

[davidtphillips]

Jed,

The reason I asked about control was only to offer a warning about safety.  If you are controlling a machine from your own software then you could also be responsible for the safety of the machine and more importantly any operator. 

If you are in Europe there are new machinery safety directives, and I not sure if you could become responsible if the machine became unstable due to software bug etc.

I would suggest looking into that aspect carefully.

Best regards,

David Phillips.

[Jed_Davidow]

Thank you.  I am in the states, and my contracts specifically state that my customer is responsible for all safety mechanisms and interlocks (especially because I am just coding what they tell me to do).

Also, for anyone else looking for the Vi Strength package from VI Technology, it appears the company that purchased them is no longer selling or supporting it.  In fact, it looks as though the source code is AWOL.

Anyone up for a group effort to code an Instron 4400 driver?  🙂

[JaviHH]

Hi Jed,

I have the Instron Series 4400 IEEE-488 Computer interface programming guide. I have made some applications using this manual, but with VB6 instead LabView. I think that with this document you can develop easily some kind of driver or application for the machine. Tell me something....