Newport ESP301 Controller

[AHAT110]

I'm trying to operate a Newport ESP301 motion controller through Labview. So far, I haven't been able to successfully communicate with it. I'm running Labview 2011 on a Windows 7 machine. The controller is visible in device manager and it says that it's working properly. I've only been using the default VIs from Newport's website, so I don't think the code is the problem. I'm also not getting any error messages.

One issue that I suspect is the baud rate. The ESP301 has a fixed baud rate of 921600. The controller is connected to my computer with a USB cable. When I tried to change the baud rate for the corresponding port in device manager, I found that 921600 was not an option. Not sure how to fix this.

The thing that puzzles me about all this is that everything works fine through Newport's app for this controller. I can send commands, read data, and execute programs perfectly through the app, but not through Labview. Since I'm using the unmodified VIs straight from Newport, I wouldn't think the problem would be with Labview. Since Newport's app is able to communicate with the controller, that makes me think connection between the computer and the controller is fine. With all this in mind, I don't know what the problem could be.

[Kyle97330 · Accepted solution]

You shouldn't need to change the baud rate in device manager.  If you go to NI-MAX there should be a place to fill it in with any number instead of using a dropdown, or you could just use the "VISA Configure Serial Port" VI which also has this option.

Also just as a general note, I've not had great luck with Newport devices over USB.  If you can use a built-in serial port on your PC instead of the USB connection, I'd recommend it.  The regular serial port only runs at 19200 baud, but unless you need to do hundreds of commands a second that speed should be fine.

[AHAT110]

Thanks for the reply.

I changed the baud rate in NI-MAX, but it still didn't fix the problem. I also tried using the serial port, but my computer wouldn't recognize the controller at all through that connection.

[rolfk]

The baudrate you set in NI-MAX has no effect when using a serial port in LabVIEW. For that you need to use the VISA Configure Serial Port VI.

As to using the default VIs from Newports site: My experience with Newport is that their hardware is top notch, their software including the firmware in their devices is fair, and their LabVIEW support is catastrophic.