bench power supply that have a Linux USB/LAN GUI interface? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: anonono
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 10, 2020, 03:14:15 am
content: Hi,would you have models of bench PSU that are controllable through Linux?Commandline would be fine, GUI would be a must.Any recommendation is welcome, from let's say ~[0 to +-12V,0 to5A] all the way up to ~[0 to +-60V, 0 to 10A].I know Riden RD6012 60V 12A are affordable and have a nice software for windows and android, but I saw nothing for linux yet except thishttps://github.com/eez-open/psu-firmware...

author: Matje
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2020, 05:38:01 pm
content: Just look for PSUs that have a LAN interface and support LXI, some may even have a Web interface for control.On Linux look for something like "lxi-tools" and GUIs built on top of that. Or have a look at "sigrok", which supports some PSUs via USB connection.Rigols DP800 series seems to have support for it, some of the Siglents too, and probably tons of others.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2020, 06:49:56 pm
content: Quote from: anonono on October 10, 2020, 03:14:15 amSo what is it? CLI or GUI?DPS5005 seems to be a popular module, and there is a version with a serial interface which can be controlled by simple commands, so I recon there are at least some python libraries floating around for it, but it's not SCPI.Korad 30V 5A power supply also has a version with a programmable interface, and is relatively cheap.The project you found is based on:https://www.crowdsupply.com/envox/eez-h24005but you probably already knew that.Anything supporting SCPI should be easy to get going, if you have some experience with programming.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2020, 11:27:44 pm
content: lxi-tools are CLI, but there is an experimental GUI on top of that.Siglent seemed to have jumped that train some years ago:https://siglentna.com/application-note/lxi-tools/

author: anonono
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 02:06:25 am
content: @Matje Thank you for Sigrok, but I'm not sure if it's like a generic GUI ashttps://lxi-tools.github.io/, it seems to be just a database listing all individual efforts about some specific device, since the page about the RD6006https://sigrok.org/wiki/Riden_RD6006only redirects to the python CLIhttps://github.com/Baldanos/rd6006Herehttps://lxistandard.org/Products/ProductList.aspxin category 'power supplies' they don't list any Siglent device, and on your pagehttps://siglentna.com/application-note/lxi-tools/at the end they list everything but power supply devices.. Would you know some places where I could get a list ? Afaik this brand is commonly sold online in my country (fr) without some importation fees@Doctorandus_P + @Matje + @nightfire I see in the lxi-tools linux GUI that there is a tab for SCPI keyboard commands... What is the difference between SCPI and LXI interfaces? LXI includes SCPI and all LXI devices are SCPI but not all SCPI devices are LXI-enabled?@Doctorandus_PQuote from: Doctorandus_P on October 10, 2020, 06:49:56 pmActually both in order to make custom routine tests and record the PSU display stream. A web app instead of a GUI software would be appreciated as I'd be sure it works in linux butI wonder if it won't be "less real-time" via web than via a softwareI'm not sure I can find any high-end web-enabled device for a price under 200$@Doctorandus_P KA3005P seems to be a very good competitor for the RD6006 build but as for the RD6006, I only saw a GUI software on Windows and nothing on Linux, would you have a link?Regards

author: mjkuwp
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 04:57:50 am
content: I just bought a Siglent SPD1305X and it has this.and have done some automation using Linux on Raspberry pi. I use Python and the library python-vxi11. Recently I have been doing some projects with power supplies, meters and electronic loads. Many of these have USB or Serial inputs but I have found that I like the Ethernet connection the best because it is more uniform between Linux and Windows.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 11:02:57 am
content: I do not now of Linux software for these power supplies, just that they are programmable ( Mostly with a USB <==> Serial chip).Any Linux PC should recognize these chips out of the box and initialize them as a serial port.You can check this by checking dmesg just before and just after you plugged the device in, or with lsusb, which lists USB devices.I do not like Python much (especially that ridiculous whitespace dependence) but it does have the ability to quite a lot with a few lines of code. Making a CLI Python script as an interface to your power supply should be easy enough if you have some proper documentation of your power supply.Starting a TKinter GUI from Python is also around 5 lines of code, and with libraries such as matplotlib you can also draw graphs of measurementsLearning how to use all these tools will take quite some time. The reason I recommend Python is because it seems to have become the de facto standard for scripting in lots of applications. Sigrok (Pulseview), KiCad, FreeCAD, they all use Python.SCPI is:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Commands_for_Programmable_InstrumentsLXI is:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAN_eXtensions_for_InstrumentationSo SCPI is a protocol to encode data into (pretty human readable) text strings while LXI is a way to exchange data over a LAN interface.

author: mjkuwp
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 01:18:09 pm
content: Looking at the so-called standards such as LXI/SCPI/IVI/USBTMC and so on can be pretty confusing. Making things even more confusing, SCPI is also now known as IVIhttps://ivifoundation.org/about/default.aspx"The SCPI Consortium voted to become part of the IVI Foundation in late 2002 and the IVI Foundation Board of Directors voted to accept the merger in the spring of 2003. IVI has assumed control of the SCPI specifications and all ongoing work will be accomplished as part of the IVI Foundation."What is important is that the instrument supports SCPI/IVI command styles. You can check the individual documentation of an instrument to verify this. Having worked with 3 different power supplies recently, I found that even though the SCPI/IVI commands follow a 'standard' there are so many varieties of command styles that you really have to write software for each brand independently.There are some USB/Serial instruments that have an interface but do not have SCPI/IVI commands and they would have their own binary protocol - I stay far away from those. I doubt that any LXI would have such a protocol.

author: Matje
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 05:23:06 pm
content: Quote from: anonono on October 11, 2020, 02:06:25 amSCPI and LXI are different but related things.SCPI is a set of standard commands for all sorts of programmable devices, like PSUs, oscilloscopes, signal generators etc. Historically this was used over GPIB bus or RS232, but nowadays also can work over USB or Ethernet.LXI is a standard for controling devices over LAN, i.e. Ethernet. It does in itself not specify SCPI commands be used AFAIK but many devices supporting LXI also support SCPI commands via some standard TCP port, meaning in a pinch you can control your device with telnet and writing a program for it is very simple.Wikipedia has more info about all this stuff.Quote from: anonono on October 11, 2020, 02:06:25 amWell, web will be less real time usually, but depending on the use case this might not matter.As for the prices, sorry, all instruments sporting SCPI, LXI and so on fall more on the "high end" side of things and so are more expensive than simpler devices. Especially true for PSUs, since a simple (perfectly usable) PSU doesn't need a microcontroller, Ethernet port and a not quite trivial chunk of software, a remotely controllable one however does - which increases costs.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 05:35:07 pm
content: Quote from: anonono on October 10, 2020, 03:14:15 amKeysight E36300 series has LXI and USB controls, and Keysight has a some references about it. All a bit too experimental, but still...https://www.keysight.com/main/editorial.jspx?cc=US&lc=eng&ckey=1189290&id=1189290&cmpid=20586

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 05:43:02 pm
content: Quote from: anonono on October 11, 2020, 02:06:25 amAt the Siglent homepage the info that the PSU will support at least scpi is a bit hidden in the datasheets and manuals. Amazon.fr carries those, as probably other distributors.

author: anonono
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 12, 2020, 12:42:38 am
content: Thank you guys for all these routes, in the meantime I found that the Korad KA3005P does have a linux USB interface called labpower-qt16min27https://github.com/crapp/labpowerqt(no fork seems to be more advanced) it also mentions handling the KA6010P but I'll open another post for knowing how much power I needThe plot seems to not be real-time but it may be ok for some peopleThank you for the Keysight ref, the doc seems detailed but I don't have 1300€ to spend unfortunatelyThe KA3005P can be purchased for 110€ but I'll still investigate the Siglent ref you guys gave me before purchasing

author: RenThraysk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2020, 01:05:20 am
content: Software wise there is WebUSBTMC. Not tried it but seems would easy to create custom UIs for USB gear.https://github.com/ananswer/webusbtmcEven integrated with blockly, a gui programming editor,https://webusbtmc.net/blocklypage/blocklypage.html