Arduino and LabJack interface

Other Hardware 3rd Party Boards
1

Hi All,

I'm a newbie here. I am trying to control a few solenoid valves for one of my grad school projects. I'm wondering if its possible to use my Arduino Uno R3 to control a LabJack power switching board I got for my solenoid valves. I am already using the Arduino board for the same project, and it seems a bit excessive to get a dedicated LabJack component to interface with the power switching board.

Thanks!

3

Yup!

I know it can happen, but I need to know if I can do this specifically with an UNO.

4

There's a pdf that specifically describes the Arduino interface to a UNO- here:
https://labjack.com/sites/default/files/2014/05/LabJack-PS12DC-Datasheet-052014.pdf

5

Awesome!

Thanks you!

Is it possible to control two Arduino boards with the same Matlab code simultaneously? Should I expect any problems?

Thanks Again

6

Could you describe what you are wanting to achieve? The same code could be installed in many arduino, but what is the arrangement you have in mind?

7

I also posted in the project guidance forum.

I need to deliver an odor via a pump to a receptacle and begin recording from my IR sensors at the same time. I am using an Uno to control the IR sensors, this takes 3 out of the 14 digital IO pins in my Uno. I use Matlab to control the board and record the resulting data.

The delivery of the odor happens after a solenoid valve is opened. I am using a PS12DC power switching board to control the solenoid valves, I just need to find a way to interface my power switching board with my computer so that I can switch the solenoid valve on and begin recording from the IR sensors at the same time. I have two options, one of it being using an Uno to interface with the power switching board. Ideally, I would control both my IR sensors and power switching board (solenoid valves) with a single Uno and the matlab code I already use to control and record data from my IR sensors. However, my IR senors already take up 3 out of the 14 digital pins in my Uno. The power switching board needs to use 12 of the digital ports plus a ground. (I will attach a PDF describing this connection).

I know now that I may be able to control the power switching board with one arduino uno board only via the "analog" pins which supposedly are digital by default.

8

You could also use something like an MCP23017 which has 16 digital IO ports and can interface to the arduino simply, using I2C (4 wires connection) and can easily replace your other 12 IO ports.

9

If you decide to use the MCP23017, I can help with the relay control logic which is what I've been using for some years.