Labview and UM232H

[CatherineBrown]

Hi all, 

We are using a UM232H module from FTDI, this module is linked to a PCA9535D IC, which is used to control a relay that will be used for test. 

(Please see the image attached to understand the setup)

I would like to have control of the relay(s) using LabVIEW. Is this possible? I have jumped between many different options but have gone back to LabVIEW, this is because FTDI recommends the use of C language, the basis of Labview. 

I am currently looking at the Formula Node but think this will overcomplicate the process. I have an example in labview of controlling UM232H, however, I want to to perform the relay test over multiple PCA9535D ICs, and I'm not sure if the example can be adjusted for more complicated techniques. 

I am very new to Labview and this will be the first full project I'll undertake with this software. 

Thank you in advance for your replies. 

Thanks,

Catherine

[santo_13]

Technically, it is possible. How easily is the question?

I don't know if the D2xx driver supports UM232H, if it does, it is easy, if not, you need to call the C dll drivers to interact with the UM232H.

[K C]

Hi,

In the diagram I don't see the 2 power supply connections at the UM232 connectors. Also no pull-up resistors. 

Kees

[CatherineBrown]

Hi,

Thank you. After some trail + error, I don't believe the driver will support UM232H. How do I call/use the C DLL driver? 

Catherine

[santo_13]

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@CatherineBrown wrote:

Hi,

Thank you. After some trail + error, I don't believe the driver will support UM232H. How do I call/use the C DLL driver? 

Catherine

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If you're doing this at work, I would rather quickly buy a USB DAQ to save my engineering time than try to get this working.

Knowledge Article on calling a c-dll in LV - https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA03q000000YGggCAG&l=en-US

[rolfk · Accepted solution]

The UM232H uses the FT232H chip on board. The FT232H chip is supported by the D2XX driver DLL (and if you want to use the RS-232 serial mode of the chip also through the according FTDI Virtual Com Port (VCP). https://ftdichip.com/products/ft232hl/

There is also a MPSSE engine built in that can be used to implement I2C and SPI communication through according APIs. FTDI also has according drivers in the form of DLLs for these two modes that on their term call into the D2XX driver for the actual low level communication.

So it is definitely possible but also definitely not for the faint at heart. If DLL interfacing through the Call Library Node is not something you have managed to do with one hand in your pockets, it may indeed be a better idea to follow Santoshs advice. Unless of course your development time costs pretty much nothing. In that case you can spend weeks to get it eventually done, with not consequences. 😁

There are also some projects on LAVA to interface to the according I2C and SPI DLL drivers, but they are not quite perfect and need some extra work also if you happen to want to run in LabVIEW 64-bit. 

https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/FTDI-drivers-usage-in-Labview/td-p/4040967

https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/FTDI-libmpsse-dll-crash/td-p/4181459

https://ftdichip.com/software-examples/mpsse-projects/

https://lavag.org/topic/19453-cr-mpssedll-labview-driver/

https://lavag.org/topic/19993-cr-mpsse-spi/

[CatherineBrown]

Brilliant thank you! 

How do I access these files?: 

https://lavag.org/topic/19453-cr-mpssedll-labview-driver/

https://lavag.org/topic/19993-cr-mpsse-spi/

I cant seem to make a login to access. 

Thanks,

Catherine

[rolfk]

Yes, LavaG account creations have currently been disabled, courtesy of some Spammers that try to hit the LavaG forum and as of now still seem to be able to do so somehow. Hopefully the site maintainers will be able to clean up the mess, but as it is a non-commercial forum run by volunteers, there is always the problem that other activities such as a normal job that bring in the money for living, end up having a higher priority than this.