An open source USB to GPIB adapter will soon reach version 3, bringing an integrated Ethernet port with PoE support to the design. Project originator Kai Gossner (Xyphro) recently contacted CNX Software about the impending milestone. Regular readers will have moderately fresh GPIB imprints on their brains, as we recently reported on this ancient (53-year-old) cable connectivity standard introduced by HP back in 1972 getting its first stable Linux driver.
XyphroLabs’s UsbGpib project can be found on GitHub, where you can check out the buy it or build it guide, download resource files, and read about the latest v2.2 update. The project exists to provide “access to legacy GPIB/IEEE-488 instruments using contemporary hardware and software,” using modern hardware, specifically via USB, hence the name.
UsbGpib hardware features a list of “easy to source” components – an important asset for building an interface for such a lost-in-time standard. Central to its operation include an easily sourced ATMega32U4 microcontroller for 5V I/O compatibility, a USB Type-C port with full USBTMC (USB Test and Measurement Class) support, a 16 MHz Crystal, and of course, a physical 24-pin GPIB interface. Xyphro kindly expands upon the physical necessities by sharing housing/enclosure resources, firmware, and software that includes the source code.
Work on v3 of the UsbGpib project seems to be quite advanced. Several 3D designs of this integrated Ethernet with PoE support revision have been made, and CNC machined housing ordered. Xyphro says that “V3 is converging and nearing completion… [and] prototypes will arrive approximately end of January.”
A GPIB / IEEE-488 refresher
GPIB is an ancient interface, capable of up to 8 MB/s transfers, created by HP back in 1972. It was developed by the influential tech firm as a standard to connect its growing range of lab equipment to computers at a time when a robust standard interface, capable of meeting HP’s needs, simply wasn’t available. GPIB connectivity would be embraced by other makers of electronic test and measurement instruments, and we even saw some 8-bit home computers from Commodore and Acorn use it (as IEEE-488).
XyphroLabs’ implementation looks suitably robust to carry the GPIB flag. It has been successfully tested with a multitude of equipment from makers such as HP, R&S, Agilent, Tektronix, Keithley, Gould, and others. Moreover, this adapter isn’t just useful for Linux folks, it works with Windows 7 or newer, and MacOSX devices, too.
You can buy a pre-made “rock solid” UsbGpib v2 currently for $54.99. That’s only advisable if you have no need / desire for an Ethernet and PoE enabled (v3) model.
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