8 Channel USB GPIO Module with Analog Inputs

Weight: 0.3 lb.
$19.95
USD

In Stock and Ready To Ship
Within 24 Hours

 

Numato’s 8 Channel USB GPIO module is low cost easily deployable solution for connecting your PC to other electronic circuitry through USB. No USB specific knowledge is required to set up and use this module.

 

  • 8 TTL compatible GPIOs available.

  • 6 Analog input channels (Pins shared with GPIOs)

  • 10 Bit Analog input resolution

  • All GPIOs can be individually configured as input or output.

  • 20ma Source/Sink capacity.

  • Can be controlled by using standard serial console applications or custom applications.

  • On board controller can be reprogrammed for custom applications.

Download User Manual

Download Driver

Test Application in Visual Basic Express 2008

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/11/2012 - 07:10.

c# sample

Does anybody have a c# app that just sets the I.O. to input and reads the state looking for a switch closure (i.E. ground)

Win Forms, c#. I have not used a USB interface

Highflier

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 05:43.

Switch Closures

Is it possible to monitor a switch/contact closure with this board and the driver through VB 6? If it is where would I find documentation?

Thanks

Submitted by leo76 (not verified) on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 09:42.

mac ?

Is this usable as a regular serial on a mac platform ?

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 18:05.

R: mac ?

This board can be accessed just like a serial port in Mac. Mac has built in CDC driver, so no driver installation is required. Hope this helps.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/20/2012 - 22:07.

Drivers for Win7

I notice that the drivers are in a folder markled win2k_winxp. I assume that they will also work under Win7 32 and 64 bit? Can you confirm this please

Submitted by admin on Sat, 04/21/2012 - 07:21.

Re:Drivers for Win7

Updated the package with latest driver and renamed the folder to reflect the names of supported operating systems. Thanks for pointing this out.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/20/2012 - 04:02.

Maximum number of devices

Hi can you tell me if you can connect more than one of these devices and control them through software independantly. If so is the a maximum for windows XP and Win7

Submitted by admin on Sat, 04/21/2012 - 06:53.

Re:Maximum number of devices

The number of devices that can be connected is limitted only by USB ports and any other USB specific limitations. By definition, one host port can have only up to a maximum of 128 devices conencted at any time. Each device will show up as a separate COM port and can be controlled independantly.

Submitted by Chris Sands (not verified) on Wed, 04/18/2012 - 04:44.

What about using QBasic?

Hi. Can this device be controlled from my PC with QBasic? If so, could you provide a simple script for accessing and setting the GPIOs. Thanks.

Submitted by admin on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 16:53.

Re:What about using QBasic?

Unfortunately we do not have QBasic expertise to write a program, but we can give you a few pointers on how to accomplish this task. Controlling the GPIO module using any language should be pretty straight forward. Since the module is enumerated as a serial port, all that you need to do is open that port, send the commands as ascii strings and send a Carriage Return character (char 13). The steps are as below.

 
1. Open the serial port (CreateFile or equivalent API)
2. Set the handshake option ton "none" (SetCommDCB or equivalent API)
3. Send commands and CR (Writefile  or equivalent API)
 
Depending on the language and development environment used, the APIs can be different, but the fundamental method is same. A quick Google search with keywords "qbasic serial port programming" should come up with a lot of information about how to use serial ports with QBasic.
 

Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Wed, 03/07/2012 - 21:09.

analog input

Do you have any examples in Visual Basic (v6 or .net 2010) which show how one might program for the analog inputs on a USB relay module? I'm using an AD595 chip to measure thermocouple temperatures. The chip amplifies the TC microvolt input and outputs that in a 0 - 5 volt analog signal. I'd like to monitor that voltage output with one of the analog inputs and, based on temperature, turn on/off fans. Any insights you could give me would be appreciated. Thanks.

Submitted by admin on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 12:19.

Re:analog input

Hi Gary,

I have updated the VB Express 2008 test application to read analog input channels as well. Please download the same from the link above.

Tom

Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 21:37.

Analog input

Thanks - that helps alot! Next question - I've input a fixed voltage of 3.0 volts on Analog 1 and am getting a reading of 620 (which is the same reading I get when using Windows Hyperterminal interface).What's the relationship of voltage in vs. analog reading out? And why do I get readings showing up in Analogs 2, 3, & 4 even when those pins are disconnected? Do they need to be grounded to prevent some type of voltage float? - Gary

Submitted by admin on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 22:02.

Re:Analog input

Hi Gary,

Full scale reading for this device at 5V is 1023, ie; 0.00489V per count. So the reading that you see is correct (0.00489 * 620 = 3.03). Any input that is left unconnected are floating and may read random value. It is always good to connect them to ground (if possible, use a 1K resistor). Do not run "gpio set" command on grounded IOs.

Tom

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/11/2012 - 09:26.

Analog input

Tom - thanks for the quick response. I was able to answer my own questions late last night after reading further on the PIC controller. Just a suggestion though, your company might consider adding a bit of this information either in the FAQ section or other documentation. I realize now it's in the 'Comment' section but having the info up front would have saved me a lot of time. I'm not sure how a person would figure out how the module program interface works in Visual Basic/C++/Python without knowing how you programmed it and the 'key' words that trigger the PIC to read and convert the analog inputs. Key words such as "adc read 1" which causes the PIC to output both the status and the converted analog reading for analog pin 1. Or "gpio read 1" which causes the PIC to return only the status of the same pin 1.

- Gary

Submitted by admin on Sun, 03/11/2012 - 09:54.

Re:Analog input

Thanks Gary for the comments. We will update the user guide as per your suggestions.

Tom

Submitted by Marc Rucinski (not verified) on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 13:24.

SNMP?

Does this device, or any other GPIO device you might have, have SNMP capability? Looking for when a GPI contact closure is made, we can have it trigger an alarm/email through a monitoring system, such as Nagios. Any help you can provide would be great!

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 23:09.

Re: SNMP?

Hi Marc, this board does not support SNMP but we are working on some products with Ethernet capability. But it would be a couple of months before ready to sell.

Submitted by Marc Rucinski (not verified) on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 09:20.

Thanks for letting me know.

Thanks for letting me know. In this case, since the device is plugged into a computer for control, it wouldn't necessarily have to have ethernet capability built into it (or so i would think). Thanks again for the fast response.

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/27/2012 - 23:28.

Software

do you have any code in visual basic6 or labview for the IO 8 Channels USB GPIO Module?

Submitted by admin on Sun, 01/29/2012 - 09:55.

Re: Software

Yes, we do. I have posted a link to VB 2008 test application above. This software works with USB GPIO and USB Relay modules as well.