Arduino Uno with Valco Multiposition Valve

Hello,

I am a research student at Arizona State University and my lab is currently working on a "Switching unit" (which will be part of a water-testing device we are currently developing), composed of a Valco Multiposition Valve and an Arduino Uno micro-controller.

Essentially, we are having trouble with finding out the right command to use which will send a string to the multiposition valve (for example: the string "GO11" will tell device to switch to valve 11).

To connect the arduino with the multiposition valve, we have bought an RS232 shield for the arduino (since the multiposition valve uses a serial connection).

Sadly, none of us are very experienced in programming. So it would be awesome if you could help!

So far, we have tried using:

Serial.println("GO11")
Serial.print("GO11")
Serial.write("GO11")

However, none have worked.

Note: We were able to use LabView's VISA to set up a connection with the multiposition valve. And using VISA's "write", we were able to send a string to the valve and the valve would switch to the corresponding position we wanted. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the multiposition valve.

What baud rate are you using? Did you do a Serial.begin(XXX) command in setup(). Can you show us your whole sketch?

--
The Rugged Motor Driver: two H-bridges, more power than an L298, fully protected

We are using a baud of 9600.

Here is our sketch:

/*
Commands Valco multiposition valve to go to position 11
for 5 seconds. Then switch to position 10 for 5 seconds. Repeat.
*/

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
Serial.println("GO11");
delay(5000);
Serial.println("GO10");
delay(5000);
}

OK...what kind of RS232 is it -- logic-level or +/-10V stuff? Which RS232 shield do you have? Also a link to the datasheet of your valve would be useful.

--
The Gadget Shield: accelerometer, RGB LED, IR transmit/receive, light sensor, potentiometers, pushbuttons

Here is a link to the RS232:
http://www.cutedigi.com/product_info.php?products_id=4329

Sorry, but I am unsure of what kind it is.

And here is the manual that came with the valve:

Page 6 starts the topic of establishing serial connections.

Try Serial.print("GO11\x0D");

--
The Quick Shield: breakout all 28 pins to quick-connect terminals

Alright. I am actually not in the lab with all the equipment right now, but will be there tomorrow. Hopefully this will work.

Thanks for your help so far though! I really appreciate it.

The serial examples given for hyperterminal and such have an at the end of the character string, which appends a carrage return/line feed to the end of the string. I would think Serial.println("GO11"); you have in your code would do the same. If the valve works with a regular pc serial port, then there maybe an issue with the rs232 shield or its connections.

@RuggedCircuits:
I tried the code today and had no results. Perhaps the command ("Serial.print()") is not valid for this...?

@zoomkat:
I thought that may have been a possibility at first. However, I tested each part and they all worked fine.

I'm going to keep at it tomorrow when I return to the lab.