IRS Systems

PS Module

All power supply (PS) modules have the following mandatory standard parameters:

ParameterMeaningExamples
ResourceThe connection information needed to connect to this device. Depending on the type of device this can be a COM port, a GPIB address, an IP address or something else. Most drivers are based on VISA, which brings its own syntax to provide a GPIB or IP address. The VISA resource names can usually be looked up in NI Max.

COM1
GPIB0::1::INSTR
TCPIP::192.168.222.50::INSTR

NominalVoltageThe initial voltage which should be set during device initialization.12.0
MinVoltageThe lower voltage limit in V. This value can be changed through the LTT GUI. The GUI will stop all running tests if this limit will be violated.0
MaxVoltageThe upper voltage limit in V. This value can be changed through the LTT GUI. The GUI will stop all running tests if this limit will be violated.19.0
CurrentLimitThe max. current the power supply will regulate to in current mode (CC). This value can be changed through the LTT GUI. If the actual load is greater than this current the voltage will drop, leading to malfunctions.100

Depending on the specific PS module, there might be additional parameters, which are described here.

Per default a power supply configured here is controlled by the underlying LTT software layer. This means the PS is automatically initialized and configured to the provided parameters. Nevertheless, in your testplan you can still change voltage and/or current during runtime, as well as access the latest values read from that PS (see here). But you have no control over when the PS is initialized/closed and when the output is turned on/off.

TestStand-only control

There are situations in which you might need more control over your power supply from within TestStand. For such situations you can provide the tsonly="true" attribute to the Module node.

<Module name="PS1" tsonly="true">
...
</Module>

If you do so, you are in charge of initializing, setting and closing the power supply properly. Read here to learn how to do.

You can access the PS control panel through GUI and also via TestStand. However, the control panel is not available for self-controlled (tsonly="true") power supplies.