FreeCal - GPIB Instrument Automation for Metrology Test and Measurement
By Scott Page
FreeCal is a free 100% .NET suite of utilities and instrument drivers for controlling multiple instruments in a Test and Measurement environment.
Features
Base instrument libraries for Signal Generators, Spectrum Analyzers, Network Analyzers, Power Meters, Function Generators, Universal and RF/Microwave Counters, Attenuator/Switch Drivers, EEPROM Power Sensors, Digital Multimeters and any other type of instrument that can be controlled remotely. All categories have specific instruments that have been coded for compatibility (due to the fact that all instruments have their own specific language for communication).
Charts/graphs are integrated into the code with the use of ZedGraph: A flexible charting library for .NET (Thanks to JChampion for ZedGraph, many sleepless nights have been avoided developing an integrated charting library).
Procedures for Power Sensors, Signal Generators, Spectrum Analyzers and Network Analyzer Calibration Kits have already been developed (so far most of them partially completed due to time), but they are not difficult to create as you will see in the examples below.
Several conversion functions included to aid in the development and presentation of data: Frequency conversion from one range to another (i.e. MHz to GHz), Amplitude and Time conversions are also included as a base for almost all formulas and instrument communication.
I recently started construction of a visual editor that allows "drag and drop" style test creation. It is included in the source and can be found in the demo under the Tools menu.
Integrates with MySQL using the MySQL.NET Connector. I have created a number of data classes that ease the task of saving result data to a MySQL database.
Various forms have been created for several of the instrument categories, like Network Analyzers. One of the most difficult tasks in RF/Microwave is downloading and manipulating data from the Agilent 8500 Series NWA, so I spent a lot of time writing the NWA data transfer classes.
Because every instrument has its own tolerances and capabilities, the drivers have been written to include all of this (any missing information is easily added as it is all structure based).
Instrument drivers and procedures are written with a "One Procedure Any Instrument" mindset. You can write one procedure that can calibrate any instrument of the same category. This is due to each instrument driver including the specifications for each test.
To get detail and download:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/FreeCal.aspx?msg=1710490
Friday, August 28, 2009
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