Instrument assistant

Hi I'm trying to run Instrument Assistant in LabView 8.2 and whenever I put it on the block diagram I get the error "Measurement & Automation Explorer or the Instrument I/O Assistant is not installed correctly. Please install these from the LabView Driver CD." I've installed the specific driver I need from the NI website but I am still getting this error. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi jlc5540,
What version of NI-VISA are you using? Also, what type of instrument are you trying to connect to, and what sort of interface are you using to communicate with it? Thanks!
Taylor G.
Product Support Engineer
National Instruments
www.ni.com/support

Similar Messages

I/O instrument assistant can't be used for GPIB device

I use LabVIEW and installed the newest driver of NI-DAQ7.4. Because the driver don't include GPIB488.2 driver,
so I installed GPIB488.2 driver to use GPIB-USB-B device. But I can't open I/O Instrument assistant in Labview. I can find the device and use it correctly in MAX.
what's the reasons? please tell me ,thank you!

Hi Kevin-
I do in fact use NI-DAQ 7.4, but it is unrelated to the Instrument I/O Assistant. The Instrument I/O Assistant is a component that is used either with GPIB (NI-488.2) or NI-VISA.
I was seeing the same problems with double-clicking the icon and being unable to open the configuration. I corrected it by using the method described in the KB I linked in my previous post.
Tom W
National Instruments

Instrument I/O assistant configuration dialog box does not appear

Hello,
In the function pallette both input and output subpallettes have instrument assistant express vi.But, when I put in the block diagram window Instr I/O assistant configuration dialog box doesnot appear.I double clicked instr assistant icon but it did not work. Labview version is 7.1.Does anyone has clue to overcome this problem?
Phylab
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hello phylab,
The Instrument I/O Assistant (IIOA) is used for easily communicating with GPIB instruments in Labview. For Labview version 7.1, the IIOA is available on the shipping reference driver CD. It should be automatically
installed when you're prompted to enter the driver CD, through setup.exe. Is this your first time using it or has it worked in the past? Do you also have the NI-VISA and NI-488.2 drivers? And you installed the LabVIEW cd before the driver cd, correct? The fix should be to uninstall and reinstall IIOA from the device driver CD.
Regards,
Deborah Y.
LabVIEW Real-Time Product Marketing Manager
Certified LabVIEW Architect
National Instruments

Instrument I/O Assistant not properly installed

Hi,
I recently purchased a student edition of Labview 2009 and I've been having problems with the intrument I/O Assitant. Each time I place it on the block diagram I get the error message that it was not properly installed. I've searched the knowledge bases and carried out the recommended remedies to no avail. I downloaded drivers from NI.com, uninstalled NI VISA and reinstalled the its latest version still nothing worked. Can someone please help me out here.
Thanks

Hello,
I see that you uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers, but did you make sure to only reinstall the Instrument Assistant after the drivers? Also, what operating system and driver versions are you using?
-Zach
Certified LabVIEW Developer

How to use Extech Instruments model 407123 with Labview 7.1

I am pretty new to Labview. With the help of this forum I was able to configure my DAQpad 6020E with my Labview 7.1.
Now I am looking at using an Extech Instruments Hot Wire Thermo-Anemometer (407123) in my experiment and running it through Labview. Based on my research, I was led to believe that I should use the Instrument Assistant I/O and NI-Visa, but I am having a lot of difficulties. First off, the Thermo-anemometer is wired for RS232 and I have it connected to an RS232 to USB converter, which is then plugged into my computer. I have the driver for the converter. When I plug the thermo-anemometer into my computer, MAX reads it as a serial port and it is listed as COM3. MAX claims that the device is working properly. However, when I run Labview's Instrument Assistant I/O, and tell it to read data I get a bff0015 error and it says that the device timed out. I have tried changing the time and I still get the same error. I am assuming this means that Labview and my device are not communicating.
I have seen some mention of instrumentation drivers, but I haven't been able to find any for my particular device. I am assuming that is the root of my problem, and that if I had an instrument driver to run my device in Labview that it would work properly. So here are my questions.
1) What do I need to take data from a third party thermo-anemometer in Labview?
2) Am I correct in thinking I need some sort of instrument driver? And if so, where could I find one (I have already searched for one and did not find it)?
3) Is it possible and practical to take data through Labview from a DAQpad and a third party instrument at the same time?
4) Are there any guides or tutorials I could use that may show me how to accomplish what I'm trying to do?
Thanks.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I've been trying numerous things to get this to work, and I've had little luck in getting exactly what I want. I have been able to get data from some example VI's designed for serial read, and I was able to tweak them some, but this data seems to be only able to be saved to a .txt file. I want the data from my anemometer to be read along with the time it was read and stored in a spreadsheet.
Instrument I/O Assistant appears to have exactly what I need to do this, but I can't get it to work. I keep getting the bff0015 error, which is that the device timed out before the operation completed. I don't understand why it is doing this, or how to stop it, because I am able to get data from the device otherwise. In fact, following these steps I can see the exact data I want:
1. Open Instrument I/O Assistant
2. On "Select Instrument" I select the correct port and then click "properties"
3. At the top corner of the window I click "Open VISA Session"
4. Once there, I go to the "Basic I/O" tab. Within that tab I click the "Read" tab.
Please see attached screenshots if you want to see what I'm talking about below.
At this point I can read the data from my device. The default count value is 1024 bits. If I click "execute" the device is read and I can read the data in the textbox that says "buffer." However, my device only makes one 16-bit reading every 1.6 seconds, so I have to let the device sit for some time before it can fill the buffer up with 1024 bits. If I don't, the reading takes place, I can see all of my data in the buffer, but the "Return Count" value on the screen is something significantly less than the "Count" value. This makes sense because the buffer did not have time to fill. Needless to say, the "Return Value" says "bff0015" which means it would return the time-out error.
If I wait for the full time for the buffer to fill, OR if I change the "count" value to something significantly lower, say... 32 bits, the buffer "fills" much faster, the "return count" count is correct, and the "return value" reads "3FFF0006" which I assume is a standard code meaning everything went correctly. I also notice that if I wait long enough, the buffer will continue to fill, and I can click "Execute" many times rapidly and get readings instantly. I can tell that the program is just reading data stored in the buffer when it doesn't take a second to perform the reading, and if I continue to click "Execute" rapidly, I will eventually expend the data stored in the buffer and I will start to see the "fresh" readings again.
So here is my question. How do I lower the expected "count" value in the actual "Instrument I/O Assistant"? I can do it in the "Open VISA session" under properties, but the only thing I can change in the Instrument I/O Assistant is the timeout value, but even when I set the value to 5 minutes, I still get the time out error. What else can I do?
Attachments:
Instrument IO view select.pdf ‏119 KB
Instrument IO view read.pdf ‏125 KB

There are no inputs or outputs on the DAQ assistant to connect to

Hi everybody,
I am new to labview and have run into some difficulties with the DAQ assistant. I am running labview v8.0, NI-DAQmx v8.7.1 and have a PCI-6224 DAQ installed. It seems that when ever I drop the DAQ assistant (the instrument assistant, and the simulated DAQ has the same issue) onto the block diagram, and configure it, there are no inputs or output which I can wire a control or indiactor to. Is there a step that I am missing somewhere?
Thanks in advance!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Sorry, forgot to attach the end result. Note I did have errors come up, they may have been due to no DAQ cards in my PC.
-AK2DM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It’s the questions that drive us.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attachments:
daq_test[2].vi ‏83 KB

How to sweep IV curve using GPIB instrument (ILX 3220)

Hi, I'm new to Labview---I learned basic stuff, such as strings,arrays, structures,etc. I have an ILX-3220 current source, NI-488.2,and I want to make an IV curve using a light-emitting-diode. I'm really confused about what I should use. I downloaded intrument drivers from ILX's website.They provide some example VIs, but I can only set one current and read one voltage. I try to configure the block diagram by adding a for loop, then I got lost among the complicated SubVIs. I also tried to use I/O Instrument assistant to communicate with the current source, but apprarently it didn't listen to me . I can input the commands one by one (LAS:LDI 5 LAS:LDV? LAS:LDI 10 LAS:LDV?.....)----not much differently from writing down by hands. Is there a way to sweep IV curve using ILX 3220?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Yes, you will have to use a loop - either a for loop or while loop. I'm not familiar with the instrument or functions but at the minimum, you would need to place the function that sets the current and the function that reads the voltage inside the loop. The loop would probably have a shift register and you would wire this to the current set function. Inside the loop would be an increment function and some code to determine if the max current has been set. Below is a generic ramp application.
Attachments:
Generic Ramp.PNG ‏6 KB

Sparkfun SerIO: How to USB communicate with non-NI HW?

I have a Sparkfun SerIO , sku: DEV-09521, which is a DIO/ADC/DAC device,
which is similar to the Arduino Pro (3.3V, 8MHz), and is built using ATMega328.
User manual: http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/DevTools/Arduino/SerIO%20User%20Guide.pdf
It has Serial Communication over USB at 57600bps, 8-N-1
I don't have any drivers or VIs for this. I tried the Instrument Assistant but it only has option for com and lpt
The interface commands are listed in the user manual cited above,and follow a simple sytax:
"C,0,o\r"
where the command inside the quotes is
   "C" for configure command,
   "0" is for pin 1,
   "o" is for output, and
   "\r" is the termination character at the end of each command, a carriage return or enter key.
thus issuing command to configure pin 1 for output of bit.
How do I initalize usb communication to this device in labview and send a command string?

The PC needs to know the device... Don't know how W7 handle this, but usually you need a driver ....
After the PC get to know the device it should show up as a serial COM port (in MAX ) and can be accessed in LabVIEW with the VISA serial vis
Greetings from Germany
Henrik
LV since v3.1
“ground” is a convenient fantasy
'˙˙˙˙uıɐƃɐ lɐıp puɐ °06 ǝuoɥd ɹnoʎ uɹnʇ ǝsɐǝld 'ʎɹɐuıƃɐɯı sı pǝlɐıp ǝʌɐɥ noʎ ɹǝqɯnu ǝɥʇ'

Controlling Kistler Quattro Jump Force Plate

Hi everyone,
Our lab recently acquired a Kistler Quattro Jump force plate (model #9290AD). Supposedly a great plate, but so far I've been unable to set up any sort of communication with it. From a company software side, they don't yet support Windows 7, and lo and behold, all of our computers run Windows 7. "No big deal, I can use LabView," I told myself. In the long run, this would be the better option anyway, as we can integrate accelerometers, potentiometers, etc. if/when we receive more funding. We don't currently have a DAQ system so that sort of integration is a long way off, but the plate has its own amplifier and DAQ built in so we should be able to communicate with it. Back to this in a second.
The other issue is that the plate only has a serial port. Much the same as our Windows situation, none of our computers have serial ports, so I purchased a serial-to-USB converter from the now-defunct Cables Unlimited. I installed the necessary drivers and made sure they are up to date. The port is recognized as COM3 on my desktop and COM4 on my laptop. I attempted running VISA, and in both cases (laptop and desktop), VISA recognizes the plate is there, but I receive "(Hex 0xBFFF0015) Timeout expired before operation completed." I also tried running Instrument Assistant with similar results. I imagine the converter could be the issue in this case, but securing funds for a unit from NI is unlikely at this point in time (yay, Bureaucracy). If anyone has ideas as far as what converter I could look into (if it is the issue), I would appreciate it. If the converter isn't the issue, though...
The user manual (included in the zip) states that the Quattro Jump software sends a signal to the force plate during data collection to turn it on. I reason this could be the issue affecting my ability to connect to the plate through VISA, but that's just speculation at this point. I've attempted to compensate for this by adjusting query time and other settings, but I'm really flying in the dark.
To attack this from another angle, Kistler included a system called QJServer (also included in the zip) to allow for third-party connections to the force plate. It's great they've included it, but as my bad luck seems to be continuing, I don't understand enough about programming to utilize the information they've provided. I downloaded VC++ and poked around with the files, but they're gibberish to me. I've tried running the dll importer and Call Library Function node, but again, I don't really know what I'm looking for in terms of the correct dll/header file. I also don't know if I need to compile my own dll or include a header from the Windows SDK or what. So, I'm hoping someone can at least point me in the right direction. I've heard nada back from Kistler at this point, so any information would be extremely helpful.
As far as what I'm attempting to do on the VI side of things, we're using the plate for jump testing and isometric pull testing with our athletes. The jump collection will look very similar to the VI I've attached (likely sans Scaling and Mapping node), though a friend of mine is currently refining a more complex version that can provide us with instant feedback instead of requiring a separate analysis program.
Sorry if the post is information overload; I'm just attempting to cover all bases. Any help would be appreciated, and I'll be sure to promptly reply to any other questions you might have.
Thanks!
(As a side note, I'm unable to upload the entire Quattro Jump folder as it's about 4 MB too large; these files should contain the main information, though)
Attachments:
Documents.zip ‏548 KB
QJServer.zip ‏375 KB
RC Jump Data Collection.vi ‏205 KB

Hey, everyone, thanks for your replies. I figured as much on the QJServer side of things. I've attempted to get in contact with their regional office here in NY, but haven't heard anything back thus far. When it comes to C++/VB, I have two main issues. 1) I have no programming experience outside LabView, and 2) the examples they have don't seem to mesh well with the version of VC++ I have. I can likely work around the first issue (the examples from their BioWare software had guidelines built in, so I imagine the examples for QJS provide something similar). As far as issue 2 goes, is there another program you would recommend I check out to open the projects?
On the VI side of things, it was actually written by a friend whose lab uses NI equipment. At this point, we probably can't secure funding to purchase a DAQ system. I've used other calling nodes in hopes of finding something that will interface with the plate, but I attached the current VI to provide an example of what I'm looking to do. Once I find a way to interface with the plate, I'll be sure to edit the VI.
Thanks again!

Firewire cameras

I have a Dragonfly Express camera(Point Grey Research Inc) connected to
PCI card via IEEE-1394b cable. I should not need a driver to
controll the camera in labview as long as I have appropriate VI,
correct? I am looking for a library of example VI's, VI for firewire
cameras in particular.If there is no such a thing as the library of
example VI's, how do I get this thing to work? Should I look for the
driver or use I/O Instrument Assistant?
Thanks for the help.
Marek

If you look at How Can I Tell If My IEEE 1394 (Firewire) Camera Is Supported by the NI-IMAQ for 1394, you'll find some info on how to find out if your camera is supported.
There's also the Industrial Camera Advisor that may be of some help.
If your camera is supported, the IMAQ VIs will work with your camera.
Ed
Message Edited by Ed Dickens on 01-16-2007 02:11 PM
Ed Dickens - Certified LabVIEW Architect - DISTek Integration, Inc. - NI Certified Alliance Partner
Using the Abort button to stop your VI is like using a tree to stop your car. It works, but there may be consequences.

How to see data from anemometer in labview?

I'm attempting to see the data from my anemometer via labview...when that didn't work I wanted to make sure the instrument was working, so I tried to set it up in HyperTerminal like the anemometer instruction manual suggested. Now HyperTerminal won't let me connect to the anemometer using that port (keeps saying another program is using Com5, and to try again later!)
Any suggestions on how to just basically See the data in labview from my anemometer(or hyperterminal if you're better at trouble shooting that!!)??
Thanks!

It's possible that Com5 isn't the correct port to read the data from. Since the built in serial port on most PCs is setup to be Com1, you might just be talking to wrong port. Of course if you've changed the default system setup or have added some extra serial ports, this may not be the issue. Hyperterminal probably isn't working because you have opened the port in LabVIEW but have not properly closed it. The operating system won't let more than one application at a time to access a serial port. Try shutting down LabVIEW, then try Hyperterminal. That should release the port. You might need to reboot. If you still get the error in Hyperterminal, then you are trying to access a port that is already in use by something else.
Since your anemometer is a serial instrument, the easiest way to simply read data from it would be to use the Instrument Assistant Express VI. (assumming you're using LabVIEW 7.0 or 7.1 here)The Instrument Assistant is pretty good at hepling you figure out how to talk to your device. But if you're going to be using this in an application, you should look into using the VISA functions.
Have a look through the LabVIEW examples (look in the help menu for "Find Examples") for plenty of serial examples. And remember to always close the port at the end of your application and don't use the Abort button on the toolbar to stop your application. Put everything in a While loop and use a boolean Stop button. The examples will show how to set this up.
Ed
Ed Dickens - Certified LabVIEW Architect - DISTek Integration, Inc. - NI Certified Alliance Partner
Using the Abort button to stop your VI is like using a tree to stop your car. It works, but there may be consequences.

Programming optical power meter 1931 c on labview.

I have very less experience with labview and need help programming. I have installed the drivers, how should i figure out the block diagram?

Hello to all who read this,
I think I can attest to the thread starter over his frustrations. But i i would like to borrow this thread to highlight some 'quirks' with Newport devices.
I am personally using Newport's 1935-C Power Meter with 918D Photodetector IR OD3 (A newer variation of the 1931-C). I have attached the user manual and LLBs that came from Newport FTP website. The power meter basically can communicate via RS232 or USB (square port on device) to USB flat port(on PC). The Power meter i believe is not a USBTMC class of instrument and thus can only be recognised in MAX via use of VISA driver creation method for USB Raw device.
Try out #1-> USB RAW Talking: I did follow NI's tutorial on creating the USB INF files for this power meter via the VISA Driver Wizard. However, this will require complicated development of the VI for say extracting the value the power meter is measuring throught the PMOWER? command.
Try out #2-> Going through tutorials on various levels of communicating with instruments, I understand that you could have Direct I/O, PLug and Play Drivers etc. which translates to shortest development time to longest development time and consequently varying functionality sophitication. Since Try out #1 was complicated, I decided to go with the I/O Instrument Assistant method of building a simple VI to extract the measurement. Of course this has to be done via RS232 Serial port. (I have tried using USB Raw drivers done by the Driver wizard, and having Instr I/O Asst. to find my USB instrument but it could only show me GPIB and Serial. MAX did detect the USB device.)
As I have learnt from my course instructor at NI Singapore, based in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I set the approapriate parameters of baud rate, bit parity etc in MAX-> Serial and validated it. It was fine. I opened VISA Test panel but failed to get any explicit response from the Newport device.
I use the Instr I/O Asst to run a Query and Parse step on the COM port of the RS232 where the Newport instrument is connected. It return the bites and ASCII string. However, it was not the appropriate response as set out by Newport's list of commands in their user manual. (I have attached a screen shot of it)
Ultimate Try out-> At wits end, I managed to find the sample drivers designed by Newport themselves and place the LLB (also attached) in my instr.lib folder. The Sub VIs in the Instrument Drivers for Newport showed a few icons like Query icon, Parse Icon, Send, Read. I looked at the Hierachy diagram and noticed they use case structures and sequence structures to pass from Write to Read. But I have do not fully understand the principles behind their Sample Query VI. The Sample Query VI on its own does work off hand, but it merely alows the user a interface to query the instrument and extracting the readout.
So I would like to ask NI,
1. Could the weird Query and Parse observation be due to hardware or the lack of support by NI's Instrument I/O Assitant? (version 2.4 was used). The conclusion i have is that I am not getting the appropriate response after parsing (evident when the byte index is 0, ASCII string is the command i sent out). If the Instr I/O Asst. were to work as it would have, then things will be simpler in developing the VIs for my purpose of extracting readouts at fixed intervals and plot on a Graph chart within Labview.
2. How can I proceed from here after "banging" walls in trying to communicate with the device? Newport has no proper step by step into using their sample Labview drivers.
Appreciate it if someone could provide some input.
Andrew
Nanyang Technological University
Attachments:
1935_2935_Power_Meter_User's_Manual.pdf ‏4776 KB
NP_GeneralDrivers_LV8.llb ‏226 KB
Instrument IO Asst queried after parsing wrong response.JPG ‏125 KB

Error -1073807246

Hi,
I am new to labview.
I got the following error when I tried to read measurements from "Mark-10 Force guage-Model M4" using labview.
Error -1073807246 occurred at Property Node (arg 1) in force guage.vi:Instance:2->force guage.vi
Possible reason(s):
VISA: (Hex 0xBFFF0072) The resource is valid, but VISA cannot currently access it.
I have tried many things that have been posted in the forum including reinstall Visa but nothing work.
I am able to read the data from inside Instrument assistant but can not pull the data out of it.
please see the attachment.
I appreciate any help
Thanks in advance
Attachments:
Error -1073807246.docx ‏94 KB

Figured out after reading an old post for you.
It was all about the termination character.
It is working now after I used the advanced example and changed the termination charecter.
Your old post:
http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/Changing-termination-character-doesn-t-seem-to-work/td-p/1898241
Thanks

Fluke45 serial commnication, problems when parsing

hi.
I use the Fluke 45 via rs232 and when I send a command like for instance "VAC" the Fluke reponds with a "=>" as a ok for valid command. this means that when I send the read&parse command "val?" the Fluke cannot parse correctly because the first data it parses is the"=>" from the previous command.
I managed to solve this by reading&parsing the Fluke twice. Firstly it reads the ok "=>" and outputs it as as token1 and then I send "val?" for a second read&parse. This gives me two tokens out from Instrument assistant and I am wondering if there is a setting in the instrument so that it doesnt return "=>" aafter I give it a command like "VAC" or"VDC" .
Anyone?
Thanks.
Fredrik

You'd have to look in the instrument manual to see if such a command exists. Instead of using the Instrument I/O Assistant though, why don't you use the instrument driver that you can download from here? Looing at it, it does an extra read after sending a command so it's doing the same thing you're doing. Using the driver will be a lot more flexible though.

Upgrading from 2.5.1 Tek to 2010 Full

I had a demo version of SE - Tek installed which I think is version 2.5.1. I downloaded the full version of 2010 and bought a license. 2010 installed ok and said it was upgrading the existing 2.5.1.
When I ran 2010 it came up and said it was a Tek version and I was able to access the Tek scopes like I did in 2.5. After closing 2010 I accidentally ran 2.5 so I closed it down and launched 2010 again. 2010 now has nothing under the "add tasks" except the favorites folder.
I uninstalled 2010 and 2.5.1 Tek. Reinstalled Tek 2.5.1 and 2010 again. But 2010 still has no tasks listed under the Add tasks.
Any idea how to correct this? In reinstalling, I installed 2.5.1 again because I wanted the Tek scope tasks which wouldn't be there if I installed just 2010 - is this correct?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi,
Can you try to delete the following file from your computer. It's a cache file so it will re-create itselt next time you launch SignalExpress. Make sure that SignalExpress is closed before you delete the file.
On XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\Assistants\mxwCacheENG.mxc
On Windows Vista or Win7
C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\Assistants\mxwCacheENG.mxc
Once the file has been deleted, go ahead and relaunch SignalExpress. Please let us know whether or not this works.
Phil

Instrument assistant

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