Figure 1: Artist's Rendering of the Thirty Meter Telescope

     Galil has a decades long history of collaboration with projects on the cutting edge of science. Astronomy, Physics, Biology, and Geology are some of the many fields of scientific research that call on the need for deterministic motion control and data collection. The ease of use and support offered by Galil makes it a natural fit for the rapid prototyping and automation that is characteristic of large scale scientific research. 

In this application, the GalilTools COM library is used in conjunction with Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 to develop a user interface for the Galil controller. The goal is to create a simple interface that features both directional buttons for mouse interaction and the ability to poll for keyboard input. Using this digital stimulus, the application is to act similar to an analog joystick control interface. The completed user interface is visible below.

Galil has recently added a new video to its growing library of 2-minute instructional videos. This latest video gives recommendations for wiring and supply voltages when connecting to the optically isolated outputs on Galil controllers.

This article provides a sample project using the GalilTools COM library for setting up two TCP message handles. Using such an approach, Embedded DMC code can send data to two channels (for example a data storage channel and a user interface channel).