PrologixGpib

prologix_gpib is a ruby gem for accessing Prologix GPIB controllers. It currently only works with USB controllers on MacOS.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'prologix_gpib'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install prologix_gpib

USB Controller

CLI

The gem comes with a simple cli for finding controllers:

$ plx list
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                   Prologix Controllers                                  |
+-------+------------------------------------+--------------+-----------------------------+
| index | Controller                         | Version      | Location                    |
+-------+------------------------------------+--------------+-----------------------------+
| 0     | Prologix GPIB-USB Controller       |  6.101       | /dev/tty.usbserial-PX9HPBMB |
| 1     | Prologix GPIB-USB Controller       |  6.107       | /dev/tty.usbserial-PXEGWA9A |
| 2     | Prologix GPIB-LAN Controller       |  01.03.00.00 | 192.168.10.161              |
| 3     | Prologix GPIB-ETHERNET Controller  |  01.06.06.00 | 192.168.10.127              |
+-------+------------------------------------+--------------+-----------------------------+

$ plx info 0

  Prologix gpib-usb controller
    Path: /dev/tty.usbserial-PX9HPBMB
    Firmware: 6.101
    Mode: Controller
    Device Address: 9
    Auto Read: Disabled
    Read Timeout: 200
    EOI Assertion: Enabled
    EOS: Append CR+LF
    EOT: Enabled

plx info 3

  Prologix gpib-ethernet controller
    Path: 192.168.10.127
    Firmware: 01.06.06.00
    Mode: Controller
    Device Address: 5
    Auto Read: Enabled
    Read Timeout: 500
    Eoi Assertion: Enabled
    Eos: Append CR+LF
    Eot: Disabled

Finding Controllers

irb(main):001:0> f = PrologixGpib::Finder.new
=> #<PrologixGpib::Finder:0x00000001089844b0>
irb(main):002:0> controllers = f.avaliable_controllers
=> {
    :usb=>["/dev/tty.usbserial-PX9HPBMB", "/dev/tty.usbserial-PXEGWA9A"],
    :lan=>["192.168.10.161", "192.168.10.165"]
}

Working with Controllers

I'm not enamoured by this interface, I'd like a more ruby like way of finding and connecting controllers thats less clunky. It works for now, but may change as we refine things.

irb(main):003:0> device = PrologixGpib::UsbController.new(controllers[:usb][0])
=> #<PrologixGpib::UsbController:0x00000001574c4098 @serial_port=#<Serial:0x00000001574bfef8 @config=#<RubySerial::Posix::Termios:0x00000001574bf728>, @fd=9, @open=true>>

irb(main):004:0> device.config
=>  {
    :device_name=>"Prologix GPIB-USB Controller",
    :firmware=>"6.101", :mode=>"Device",
    :device_address=>"9",
    :auto_read=>"NA",
    :read_timeout=>"NA",
    :eoi_assertion=>"Enabled",
    :eos=>"Append CR+LF",
    :eot=>"Enabled"
}

irb(main):005:0> device.address
=> "9"

irb(main):006:0> device.mode = :controller
=> :controller

irb(main):007:0> device.mode
=> "0"

irb(main):008:0> device.config
=> {
    :device_name=>"Prologix GPIB-USB Controller",
    :firmware=>"6.101", :mode=>"Controller",
    :device_address=>"9",
    :auto_read=>"Disabled",
    :read_timeout=>"200",
    :eoi_assertion=>"Enabled",
    :eos=>"Append CR+LF",
    :eot=>"Enabled"
}

Firmware update

Some of the Device commands require the latest firmware.

device.version
=> "Prologix GPIB-USB Controller version 6.107"

More details here: http://prologix.biz/gpib-usb-6.0-firmware-update.html

Download FTDI drivers for Windows https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CDM212364_Setup.zip

Development

After checking out the repo, run bin/setup to install dependencies. You can also run bin/console for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/[USERNAME]/prologix_gpib.