Love Controller Driver Support
Table of contents
Description
The love module is part of synApps and provides EPICS support for Love temperature and process controllers. It includes an asyn-based multi-device port driver, EPICS databases, operator interface screens, and an iocsh configuration snippet.
The Love Controller is an instrument that can monitor temperature and pressure, serve as a thermocouple, or control pressure, flow, humidity, motion, or pH given the proper hardware. Control functions such as selecting the input type are programmed from the front panel. Communication with the controller uses a half-duplex, multi-drop, RS-485 serial bus.
Supported Hardware
Two controller models are supported:
| Model | Documentation |
|---|---|
| 1600 | User Manual, Communication Protocol |
| 16A | User Manual, Communication Protocol, Data Sheet |
An RS-232 to RS-485 converter such as the B&B Electronics 485LDRC is needed to connect the controllers to a serial port.
Architecture
The driver (drvLove) is an asyn multi-device port driver that binds standard EPICS device support with the serial bus through drvAsynSerialPort. It implements the following asyn interfaces:
- asynDrvUser – allows user-specific information to be communicated to and from the port driver.
- asynCommon – driver reporting, connection, and disconnection.
- asynInt32 – integer-based communication with a device.
- asynUInt32Digital – bit-level communication via an Int32 register.
Each controller on the RS-485 bus is addressed individually. The asynRecord can be used to select tracing masks for debugging communication with individual controllers.