Circaflex is a family is powerful off-the-shelf control modules with predefined inputs and outputs that support a wide variety of sensors and output devices. There are an infinite number of applications that can utilize the preprogrammed TTL logic, Industrial I/O logic, and Analog I/O within Circaflex.

The preprogrammed TTL channels and LEDs in Circaflex were useful in this type of application where a stepper motor is configured to a pump in which there is a step rate to be controlled as well as the number of steps. The step rate is how often or how many times per second the pump will dispense liquid. The total number of steps and the step rate will determine a total volume dispensed in a container. A simple program in LabVIEW shown below is how we were able to control both the step rate and the number of steps.

This code in LabVIEW was programmed into Circaflex, which is connected to a stepper motor driver using a 5-pin male header. The stepper motor driver receives step and direction signals from Circaflex and converts them into electric signals to run the stepper motor. The stepper motor then controls the pump.

Implementation of this code into a customized program may be useful for several types customers since stepper motors are needed to control a wide variety of applications. The medical field and research and development often need a pump to dispense a controlled volume of fluid numerous times for a container such as a multi-well assay plate. The number of wells or vials in each plate can vary from having 6, 12, 24, 96, 384, or 1536 wells. Therefore, we can implement the stepper motor code as many times as desired for however many wells need to be filled with the specified liquid. We positioned the vial to be directly under the pump dispenser and the wait between each step can be however long the mechanism takes to get the next vial under the pump dispenser.