This device communicates with external hardware using serial (RS-232) connection It does not collect tracking or image data, only allows sending and receiving data using OpenIGTLink commands (see PlusServer commands).

A (customizable) newline string is appended after each sent command and the device listens for reponse that is terminated by the same newline string.

Supported hardware devices

Any device communicating through serial (RS-232) interface.

Supported platforms

Installation

Connect the device to the serial port. Make sure communication speed matches the setting in the configuration file.
If a USB to serial converter is used then the port number can be obtained (and modified, if needed) in the Device Manager.

Device configuration settings

Type = "GenericSerial"
AcquisitionRate Defines how frequently Plus should read data sent by the serial device

Default = "10"
SerialPort Used COM port number for serial communication (ComPort: 1 => Port name: "COM1").
BaudRate Baud rate for serial communication.

Default = "9600"
MaximumReplyDelaySec Maximum time to wait for the device to start replying.

Default = "0.100"
MaximumReplyDurationSec Maximum time to wait for the device to finish replying.

Default = "0.300"
LineEnding Line ending character(s). Used when sending and receiving text to the device. Each character encoded as 2-digit hexadecimal, separated by spaces. For example: CR line ending is "0d", CR/LF line ending is "0d 0a"

Default = "0d"
DataSources No DataSource should be defined

Example configuration file PlusDeviceSet_Server_GenericSerial.xml

<PlusConfiguration version="2.1">
  <DataCollection StartupDelaySec="1.0">
    <DeviceSet 
      Name="PlusServer: Generic serial device" 
      Description="Send text and receive response through OpenIGTLink"
    />
    <Device 
      Id="SerialDevice"
      Type="GenericSerialDevice"
      SerialPort="5"
      BaudRate="9600"
      LineEnding="0d"
      >
      <DataSources>
        <DataSource Id="SerialData" Type="FieldData"/>
      </DataSources>
      <OutputChannels>
        <OutputChannel Id="FieldChannel">
          <DataSource Id="SerialData"/>
        </OutputChannel>
      </OutputChannels>
    </Device>
  </DataCollection>
  
  <PlusOpenIGTLinkServer 
    MaxNumberOfIgtlMessagesToSend="1" 
    MaxTimeSpentWithProcessingMs="50" 
    ListeningPort="18944" 
    LogWarningOnNoDataAvailable="false"
    OutputChannelId="FieldChannel" >
    <DefaultClientInfo> 
      <MessageTypes> 
        <Message Type="STRING" />
      </MessageTypes>
      <StringNames>
        <String Name="SerialData" />
      </StringNames>
    </DefaultClientInfo>
  </PlusOpenIGTLinkServer>
  
</PlusConfiguration>

Example script for sending command from 3D Slicer

connectorNode = slicer.vtkMRMLIGTLConnectorNode() connectorNode.SetTypeClient('127.0.0.1', 18944) slicer.mrmlScene.AddNode(connectorNode) connectorNode.Start()

arduinoCmd = slicer.vtkSlicerOpenIGTLinkCommand() arduinoCmd.SetCommandName('SendText') arduinoCmd.SetCommandAttribute('DeviceId','SerialDevice') arduinoCmd.SetCommandTimeoutSec(1.0)

arduinoCmd.SetCommandAttribute('Text', "123456") slicer.modules.openigtlinkremote.logic().SendCommand(arduinoCmd, connectorNode.GetID())

def onArduinoCmdCompleted(observer, eventid): print("Command completed with status: " + arduinoCmd.StatusToString(arduinoCmd.GetStatus())) print("Response message: " + arduinoCmd.GetResponseMessage()) print("Full response: " + arduinoCmd.GetResponseText())

arduinoCmd.AddObserver(arduinoCmd.CommandCompletedEvent, onArduinoCmdCompleted)