Newport ESP300 & MFA stage problem

I am having a problem with moving the stages from the home position.
I perform a 'Find Home Signal' operation, and all the axis home ok.
When I then try and perform an Asolute Move, I get a Hardware Limit
Error and the stage stops moving. It seems to be random, as sometimes
everything is fine; after I home everything again I get the problem.
I`m pulling my hair out with this, what am i doing wrong...?
James
(Singapore)

I am controlling 2 Newport MFA-CC stages using a 3 axis Newport ESP-300 controller via PC using GPIB, these are under the control of a Labview program.
The stages have hardware limit switches and optical encoders (I think). As I had mentioned I execute and OR4 command which the Newport manual states as 'Find Negative Limit Switch'; it zero`s the display and everything is OK. The problem comes when I ask the controller to move the stage to an absolute positions using PA10 command (which should move the axis to 10.000). After moving a distance of about 0.1mm raddomly stops and give an error "Hardware Limit Detected".
I have tried lots of methods, but as I need to home the stage to a mechanical point I seem to be stuck.

Similar Messages

Getting Started With Newport ESP300

Hello, I am an undergrad working with a graduate student. I was told to purchase Labview and was given the Newport ESP300 motion controller. I have zero experience with either of these things. I can't get my computer to recognize the controller, let alone Labview to recognize it. I have LabView successfully installed. Can someone give me a step by step explaination of how to install the controller, get it to communitcate with labview, and which VI controls are appropriate to use in the context of motion control? ANY help is appreciated. Thank you!!!!

For the LabVIEW help you're in right place as for the controller I think you can access it through RS232(standard serial port) or GPIB. Ours is setup through serial.
The rest of this is only relevant if you're using RS232
The majority of USB to serial converters don't work well at all. So I would suggest using a serial port directly on the computer if at all possible. I'm sure someone on here knows of a good usb to rs232 converter but I do not have a recommendation. After the controller is all plugged in (axes,power and serial) and turned on, then you can communicate with it through the VISA functions. I attached the ESP300 interface I wrote for our project and the ESP300 manual I used for reference. The code was made for a quick project so it isn't documented, didn't go through a code clean up, might have bugs and only has support for a very limited subset of the ESP300 functions. But the code is relatively simple and has support vis for adding additional ESP300 commands pretty easily. So it should be really helpful once you can work out what it is doing. The example.vi should connect to the ESP300 turn the motor on, home it then give you position control and feed back until you stop it. Hopefully that's enough of an example to figure out what the code does. If you need to add commands you can probably copy a current vi rename some controls and tweak the command characters used.
Attachments:
ESP300.zip ‏2858 KB

Hide contents off stage problem

i'm dynamically pulling in a few flash banners onto a website i have. my problem is kind of weird and i havent been able to find any info, so any help is greatly appreciated.
objects that appear outside of the stage area are showing up on screen despite the publish settings and everything else i can think of indicates the flash should be showing exactly at 728x90. it's really weird, especially given that if i publish an html page from flash directly, that page does NOT display anything outside the stage box. are there any params i can set in the embed that will basically hide overflow of content off the stage?
hope those rambles make sense.
thanks
j

Easiest way to do this is just to make a mask in your fla on top most layer and put all your animations under that.
FP still plays content that is on stage but outside of the stage bounds if the "window" is streched beyond stage size. This can happen if your swf is set to noScale and your embed dimensions are larger than your swf dimensions.

.jnlp And Mutiple Stage Problem

When I made programe by javafx with single stage(on NetBeans) and build it.The .jnlp file can work well.
But when I create multiple Stage (in same javafx file),it work well on NetBeans.But when I build it.The .jnlp file can't work(Not any stage appear and Not any Error Dialog appear).
How can I do to this problem.TT
Thank you very much.
Ps. Sorry,that my english skill isn't work well. TT

Your application runs fine when launched with:
D:\Java\javafx-sdk1.2.1\bin\javafx -jar CodePaint_JavaFX.jarNext, I modified the JNLP file to launch the application from local disk (using file:. as codebase value).
I get an error message in the Java console (always activate it when testing applets!):
Could not launch from cache. Will try online mode. [Missing from the cache: file:CodePaint_JavaFX.jnlp]
java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.util.PropertyPermission user.dir read)
     at java.security.AccessControlContext.checkPermission(Unknown Source)
     at java.security.AccessController.checkPermission(Unknown Source)
     at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPermission(Unknown Source)
     at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPropertyAccess(Unknown Source)
     at java.lang.System.getProperty(Unknown Source)
     at java.io.Win32FileSystem.getUserPath(Unknown Source)
     at java.io.Win32FileSystem.resolve(Unknown Source)
     at java.io.File.getAbsolutePath(Unknown Source)
     at sun.awt.shell.Win32ShellFolder2.<init>(Unknown Source)
     at sun.awt.shell.Win32ShellFolderManager2.createShellFolderFromRelativePIDL(Unknown Source)
     at sun.awt.shell.Win32ShellFolderManager2.createShellFolder(Unknown Source)
     at sun.awt.shell.Win32ShellFolderManager2.getRecent(Unknown Source)
     at sun.awt.shell.Win32ShellFolderManager2.get(Unknown Source)
     at sun.awt.shell.ShellFolder.get(Unknown Source)
     at sun.swing.WindowsPlacesBar.<init>(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsFileChooserUI.updateUseShellFolder(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsFileChooserUI.installComponents(Unknown Source)
     at javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicFileChooserUI.installUI(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsFileChooserUI.installUI(Unknown Source)
     at javax.swing.JComponent.setUI(Unknown Source)
     at javax.swing.JFileChooser.updateUI(Unknown Source)
     at javax.swing.JFileChooser.setup(Unknown Source)
     at javax.swing.JFileChooser.<init>(Unknown Source)
     at javax.swing.JFileChooser.<init>(Unknown Source)
     at Main.javafx$run$(Main.fx:79)So your code use the JFileChooser. For some reason, JNLP launches have same security policy than applets, so when you access the file system (among others), you have to sign the jar.

NewPort ESP300 & LabView

Hello,
I try to use an ESP300 motion controller with labview and sometimes I have a 6 or a 14 IEEE488 error.
Can someone help me or send me an VI exemple with an ESP300.
Thanks a lot
Rémy CLAVERIE
Laboratoire MOPS - CNRS FRE 2304
Université de METZ & Supelec
2 Rue Edouard BELIN
57070 METZ Cedex
Tel : 03.87.37.85.41 (Direct)
Tel : 03.87.37.85.57 (Secr.)
Fax : 03.87.37.85.59

It sounds like you are communicating through GPIB. Here is a link to a KnowledgeBase which describes these 488.2 errors and what you can do to troubleshoot them. I've never worked with this particular instrument but this page has come in handy when communicating with other GPIB instruments.
J.R. Allen

Esp300

Hi all,
It's my first time to using labview and i try to communicate with two-axis motorized stage(newport_LTA-HL and ESP300controller) using Labview.
I find some example code for to ESP 300 motion controller via GPIB.(attached file)
but i can't understand this complicate code and when i start this code, no finish and can't work exit button.
i just find some disscussion about ESP300control at this NI forum. and i ask Newport tech. support.
so. if you have some information or easy sample code, can you tell me ?
i have no experience with this. i appreciate any kind of help. thank you.
Attachments:
ESP300 GPIB Comm Test.vi ‏154 KB

Hi,
Here are some VI that i developed through ESP300_User_Manual which reads web link (http://assets.newport.com/webDocuments-EN/images/ESP300_User_Manual.pdf).
Sorry for my english, i hope you will understand me.
Cordially,
Geoffrey BARBIER
élève ingénieur Polytech'UPMC E2I
CEA Saclay
Attachments:
NEWPORT ESP300.1.png ‏211 KB

SMC100pp rotation stage

Hello,
I am trying to program a Newport SMC100PP controller to run a Newport TRA6PPD linear actuator to move a Newport 481 rotation stage.
My goal with this program is to have the stage move at a slow velocity form designated point 1 to point 2 while reading out the absolute position.
The program that i have written is having a problem. Every time i try and run the program i get an "Error on reset - Timeout" error and the light on the front panel of the SMC100pp controller reads solid green as if the system is ready to go.
In the code below i have the top part which simply reads the motor position and time and saves that to a txt file. The top part is necessary because it is a reduced set of code for the rest of an instrument i want to incorporate this rotation stage into. The bottom code is my program where i am trying to 1st initialize the step motor, 2nd enter/modify controller velocity on command part way through a larger experiment once i see some preliminary data and 3rd execute the programed controller movement on command as the last part of a larger experiment to finish the experiment.
Included below is my labview error message, picture of the program and the program vi.
Attachments:
error.PNG ‏36 KB
SMC100 test code.vi ‏70 KB
Vi program.PNG ‏178 KB

Hello Shike,
As you are using a library or VIs that are provdided or created by the Newport company it seems, you need to contact them and verify the conditions needed for Reset to be executed correctly.
RIght now you are getting a timeout that may refer to a VI not given the sufficient time to execute or a similar condition.
Please contact Newport support about this controller and the VI's.
Regards,
David M.
National Instruments

Itunes 7.1 download problem

I'm trying to install 7.1 onto my computer. However, the process has stalled and it keeps popping up with a message saying "Service 'ipodservice' (ipodservice) could not be stopped. Verify that you have sufficient privilages to stop system services."
How do i overcome this stage/problem?
Any help on this issue would be fantastic!

I get "This installation cannot directly upgrade the version of iPod software found on this computer. Please uninstall the iPod software and try again."
Install quits.
I've inunstalled everything and flushed everything I could find even vaguely "iPod" related from the registry. I have newest version of Quicktime Pro. No go. iTunes 6 runs fine.

GPIB time out

Hi, When I try to control Newport ESP300 motion driver/controler with SR55CC rotary stage by NI GPIB controller,very often I meet with the time out error. If we ignore the error, ,after a while the control come back to life, we can control it already. Any one has similar experience with that or who can have good suggestion?
I'm using LABVIEW 5.1, for windows 98. I also attach my code. Anyone interested can go and take a look. Thank you!
Attachments:
ESP300_Home.llb ‏485 KB

Not sure how old is your ESP300 controller, you need to have the latest firmware, 3.09
Here is attached a MSWord document that will help with the GPIB setup.
There is no problem with hardware, the library might have a problem, if you call Newport Technical Support they could provide the Labview example that works fine.
Attachments:
ESP300 GPIB Communication.doc ‏301 KB

PCI-7352 DAC Output

I'm using the PCI-7352 to drive a Physik Instrument C809 amplifier and M230.25 linear acuator.
I've run into some issues with the speed and following error. I've finally been able to track down that the DAC seems to be operating around 5V as it's 0 velocity point (based on the output from 1-D interactive in NI-MAX and also in the Read DAC.vi during motions). Basically, if the voltage is >5 then the actuator extends and likewise if <5V it retracts. Since the DAC can output +/-10V the motor can retract faster than it can extend (extension speed is much less than the rated velocity; 0.4 mm/sec versus 1.5 mm/sec). This is very odd as the actuator is rated to go the same speed in both directions, and in fact it does on a completely different controller (Newport ESP300).
So, I have been in contact with Physik Instrument as I don't understand the issue. Their response at this point is:
"At the input of the C-809 it expects 0V for stand still, +10 V for
maximum positive velocity and -10 V for maximum negative speed. The
customer has to achieve this at the output of his DAC. If the customer
doesn't achieve this voltage levels he has a problem inside of his
software and not a problem of our hardware."
Based on the output from 1-D interactive and the Read DAC.vi there is clearly a discrepancy. Is it possible that the PCI-7352 is really operating around 0 as the zero velocity point, when 1-D and Read DAC seem to indicate otherwise?
At this point it appears as though I'm going to have to manually see what the DAC is outputting, but without a breakout box I'm afraid I'm going to have to purchase a cable as a donor to slice and dice.
Thanks for any help.
-Derek

Derek,
that's strange behavior. In a closed loop system the controller's output value is defined by the characteristics of the plant. The Read DAC vi returns only the value that is sent to the DAC, but it doesn't measure the real voltage output. One chance is that there is something wrong with the DAC. E. g. I could think of an extremely high offset of -5 V or something like that. Here is an idea how to get a better understanding what's going on:
Disconnect the C809 from the 7352.
Configure the board for open loop stepper operation. This will unmap the DAC from the axis.
Use Load DAC.vi to write a value directly to the DAC.
Measure the voltage at the analog output. Depending on the cable that you are using, this might be a little bit tricky. If you can't do the measurement directly at the cable, you could ask your local NI branch if they could loan you an UMI-7764 and an SH68-C68-S cable.
Please let me know how things are going. As the drive and the motor work fine with another controller, I don't think that the C809 has a problem. Stil I have good contacts to PI, so I could talk to them if required.
Another question: Have you tried the second axis on the 7352? Do you see the same issue with this axis?
Thanks and kind regards,
Jochen Klier
National Instruments

SuperDrive not found by boot camp

I have a new MacBook Pro with a usb SuperDrive. I want to create a windows partition but boot camp tells me, incorrectly, that I have no usb drive so I can't even get to the partitioning stage.

Problem solved. It was not that Boot Camp was not finding my SuperDrive, it was simply that in addition to the SuperDrive I also needed to have a usb memory stick connected as well

How should one deal with sub-projects?

Hello to all!
Let me first clarify my title-question.
On my current project I faced software malfunction [FCPX quitting] when I reached 17 minutes of building the video on the timeline. [As a reference, allow me to call this 17-minute part of the video in making as the main project.]
Remembering from an earlier thread [? Mr. Russ being the contributor], I opted to continue the project as a separate project which I seek to call as the sub-project Now even this sub-project is of a 14 minute duration and I have need to start a sub-project 2.
I would now like to be guided as to how to deal with these sub-projects while editing the video and after finishing the project.
Firstly, while editing. My present plan is to complete the project's video utilising as many sub-projects as needed, and then add the sub-projects to the main project. This done, I intend to add voiceover for the completed project. During this process, my questions are this...how do I add the sub-projects onto the main project? If I select and copy/paste the sub-project, it gets added as 'connected clips'...this is okay if one can export the project as such. But, when a voiceover has to be added, further retiming of the clips are called for and at this stage problems arise. Now, as I am writing this, it is striking me that I could make this added sub-project as a secondary storyline, get done with the retiming after the voiceover is added, and export the project. Have not done this before and would like guidance from senior contributors in this issue.
Secondly, when the project is exported and is being archived, do I need to have all the sub-projects or delete them to save drive-space?
Thanks in advance.
Have a great day.
Dr. Somanna

Thanks Karsten for this further instructions. The present project I am working on is being done as a race against time. Faced a problem when dealing with a stack of generator clips one upon the other and each clip being given different commands regarding changes in position and rotation. Beyond the 17 minute mark, one click upon the parameter in the inspector window, and the application quit. When this quitting became a regular feature, I just remembered a thread in which one contributor wrote that he usually divides his projects into 10 minute bits before making up the whole project. Not willing to spend time further on this problem, being in a very 'creative frame mode' I simply continued working upon the project by starting up a 'sub-project'.
Regards and take care.
Dr. Somanna

ESP 301 Controller (Newport stages) via Lab view

Does any one have experience with ESP 301 Controller(Newport Stages) control via labview ?
I am trying to find if there are any known issues and things I should be aware of before we start the project.
Thanks

I have only worked with the ESP300 in the past and that was quite a painful experience. It's GPIB interface works rather unreliably unless tickled always in a very specific way. Even then there are still occurrences where the motion axises suddenly seems to behave in an unexpected way, with settings that were absolutely fine before. I would hope that they improved the firmware of the ESP301 significantly but I can't vouch for that.
Rolf Kalbermatter
CIT Engineering Netherlands
a division of Test & Measurement Solutions

Problem with stage and Error #1034

Hi!
Well I'm newbie in AS, writing it only for a 5 days and I've come across error which gives me a lot headache. I was searching for solution to it for quite some time now and didnt understand what I suppose to do with solution.
So, here is my problem if someone is willing to take a look at it.
Error:
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert flash.display::Stage@ef6fb51 to flash.display.MovieClip.
at Association_fla::MainTimeline/frame30()
at flash.display::MovieClip/gotoAndStop()
at Association_fla::Association_12/prikazi()
at MethodInfo-32()
I have a lot of layers and movieclips inside my fla and so pasting all of my code isn' t an option, cause there is a lot of newb, memory wasting programming it could take hours for someone to look into it.
Problem here is, if I understood it right, that my stage isn't a movieclip as I referenced it, most probably in this section of code:
MovieClip(parent).gotoAndPlay("result"); // in stage / association_mc
Didn't have that error while doing same thing in other movieclips like:
MovieClip(parent).gotoAndPlay("home"); // in stage / instructions_mc
And last question is: How can reference my main stage? I'm using MovieClip(parent) to get to it, but I see that everyone using just stage object from Stage class
Thank you in advance!
Mario

also reports call to undefined method :/
1061: Call to a possibly undefined method gotoAndPlay through a reference with static type flash.display:DisplayObjectContainer.
edit:
After numerous checking code all over again and testing and tracing everything i found out that problem occurs when going to result label at Frame 31 when playing the result_mc movie.
going from different movieclip to it gives this errors
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert flash.display::Stage@ea9fb51 to flash.display.MovieClip.
at Association_fla::MainTimeline/frame30()
at flash.display::MovieClip/gotoAndPlay()
at Association_fla::Association_12/prikazi()
at MethodInfo-32()
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert flash.display::Stage@1fc76b51 to flash.display.MovieClip.
at Association_fla::MainTimeline/frame30()
at flash.display::MovieClip/gotoAndStop()
at Association_fla::Home_2/gotoA()
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert flash.display::Stage@1fc59b51 to flash.display.MovieClip.
at Association_fla::MainTimeline/frame30()
at flash.display::MovieClip/gotoAndPlay()
at Association_fla::Highscorescopy_36/gotoM()
edit2:
resolved !
found on one forum this answer, maybe it will help someone else
I've just had the same problem myself. A bit of detective work revealed that it has nothing to do with the code, but occurs when:
The swf is being run from a remote server.
You have a custom class on the stage which has an instance name.
The class is NOT declared as "Export in first frame".
An instance of the class doesn't appear on the first frame of the movie.
So the solution, in my case, was just to tick "Export in first frame" in the library symbol linkage options. This made everything work fine, but if anyone knows why this is then I'd be interested to know.

I am having problems updating my itunes to the latest version, on each stage I am getting a message 'The feature you are trying to use in on a network resource that is unavailable.' I try to click OK it fails and I do not know an alternate path to select

I am having problems updating my itunes to the latest version, on each stage I am getting a message 'The feature you are trying to use in on a network resource that is unavailable.' I try to click OK it fails and I do not know an alternate path to select, please help?
I get message like below on each stage of the update, Quicktime, Safari & iTunes;
It's so annoying as until I update my iTunes account my phone won't sync.

Many thanks for the screenshot. (The key to these is knowing which particular .msi file is being mentioned by the message.)
(1) Download the Windows Installer CleanUp utility installer file (msicuu2.exe) from the following Major Geeks page (use one of the links under the "DOWNLOAD LOCATIONS" thingy on the Major Geeks page):
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4459
(2) Doubleclick the msicuu2.exe file and follow the prompts to install the Windows Installer CleanUp utility. (If you're on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 system and you get a Code 800A0046 error message when doubleclicking the msicuu2.exe file, try instead right-clicking on the msicuu2.exe file and selecting "Run as administrator".)
(3) In your Start menu click All Programs and then click Windows Install Clean Up. The Windows Installer CleanUp utility window appears, listing software that is currently installed on your computer.
(4) In the list of programs that appears in CleanUp, select any Bonjour entries and click "Remove", as per the following screenshot:
(5) Quit out of CleanUp, restart the PC and try another iTunes install. Does it go through properly this time?
(Assuming that the QuickTime and Safari messages were also citing bonjour64.msi, you should also then be good to go with those installs too.)

Newport ESP300 & MFA stage problem

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for