Summary of Open source hardware GPIB USB Adapter
The GPIBUSB Adapter rev3 project was developed to simplify communication between computers and GPIB-connected test and measurement devices, especially to overcome issues with MATLAB integration on Linux. The third revision features hardware upgrades including replacing pull-up resistors with proper GPIB line drivers and swapping the FT232RL chip for the newer FT230X. Software improvements enhance reliability and add new commands. Additionally, a Python library called InstrumentKit was created to abstract hardware-specific operations for ease of use.
Parts used in the GPIBUSB Adapter rev3:
- GPIB line drivers (replacing pull-up resistors)
- FT230X USB-to-serial converter chip
- PCB board (custom designed for the adapter)
- Supporting passive components (resistors, capacitors, etc.)
Greetings to all! I have observed that in the previous period, I have received some links to my GPIBUSB adapter project from this forum, so I decided to create a specific thread for it.
GPIBUSB Adapter rev3
A couple of years ago, during my last year of college, I was employed at a new university laboratory where I later pursued my master’s degree. During the installation of some devices, I needed to link a group of T&M devices to a computer using GPIB. Nevertheless, I soon realized how difficult it is to get GPIB functioning properly. I discovered that there are no MATLAB bindings in the Linux GPIB drivers. If they had done it, we wouldn’t have been able to make it function. Using pyvisa with Python was easy, but this project mandated the use of MATLAB. In the end, we ended up installing Windows instead (resulting in future problems with SSH, but that’s a different matter).
Several months later, I reflected on the situation and decided to create my own solution. I made a board that utilized a virtual serial port to circumvent these problems. Using this method, any up-to-date software could communicate with a GPIB linked device.
This weekend, I completed the third significant revision of my GPIBUSB adapter board. Significant hardware modifications involve replacing the pull-up resistors with the correct GPIB line drivers, and replacing the FT232RL with the updated FT230X. There are several software enhancements ranging from increased reliability to extra commands.
In order to help abstract the user away from having to deal with adapter-specific commands (eg: setting the target GPIB address, etc) my friend and I started a Python library project called InstrumentKit. Here, we took things another step further and abstracted hardware-channel specific instructions away.
Source : Open source hardware GPIB USB Adapter
