Ascension Technology Corporation announces the availability of a family of free drivers to simplify interface with its trackers. It is available for customers running application programs on both Windows and non-Windows-based computers.
Ascension Technology Now offers FREE Software for 3D Guidance Trackers
Press Release from Ascension Technology Corporation
September 9, 2010 - Ascension Technology Corporation announces the availability of a family of free drivers to simplify interface with its trackers. It is available for customers running application programs on both Windows and non-Windows-based computers.
Following the successful May 2010 release of a MATLAB tool set, Ascension has extended its array of free software to meet growing customer demand and enable ATC trackers to easily communicate with a host of programs and operating systems.
Ascension Technology releases a LabVIEW tool set to complement the MATLAB tool set. National Instruments' LabVIEW is a powerful toolkit for developing measurement, test, and control systems. Both the MATLAB and LabVIEW tool sets acquire and display trakSTAR and driveBAY position and orientation data for display in the Windows based graphical programming environment.
In addition to long-supported Windows environments, 3D Guidance trakSTAR and driveBAY trackers now communicate with LINUX and MAC OSX (Snow Leopard) operating systems.
The open-source LINUX OS is a free Unix-type operating system deployed by thousands of companies worldwide. Its functionality, adaptability, and robustness have made it a popular alternative for proprietary UNIX and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Apple's MAC OSX is accepted as an enterprise worthy 64-bit desktop OS for office, computational, and graphical applications. MAC users can now seamlessly import real-time tracker data into MAC applications.
Emmett Hughlett, Ascension's Director of New Product Development, states "The worldwide demand for LINUX and MAC desktop applications is growing fast. Ascension addresses this demand with LINUX and MAC builds of the ATC3DG API for USB connectivity to Ascension's trakSTAR and driveBAY trackers. Now, all you need is a USB capable PC deploying Windows, LINUX or MAC OSX to develop your tracker application."
In addition, Ascension provides two free helpful utilities: CUBES and APITest (formerly pciBIRDTalk). CUBES enables visualization of sensor tracking in free space. CUBES is often used as an out-of-the-box demo when the tracker is first connected to a Windows PC or laptop. APITest is a (Windows, LINUX, or MAC OSX) tracker utility for customizing the tracker's power-up default behaviors and settings. Included in the utility package are several example C++ projects with commented source code showing API syntax and sequencing.
Ascension Technology Corporation, based in Burlington, Vermont (USA), makes magnetic and optical tracking devices for real-time measurement, navigation, and tracking purposes. Its trackers are used worldwide in computer simulation, animation, virtual reality, biomechanics, and medical applications. More information about Ascension trackers is available at www.ascension-tech.com.
