I am running a certain application on Ubuntu (16.04) in VirtualBox, while VirtualBox is running on Windows 10 (host).
In Simulink (running on my host), I have a simulation where at the last stage, I gather some values. I want to output these values over a serial connection at a certain baud rate to the application that is running on VirtualBox (i.e. QGroundControl station).
So first part of my question - VirtualBox:
In VirtualBox, I enabled the serial port and chose a host pipe in port mode, as shown in:
In the picture you can see that COM6 is used, but I used COM1 and COM2 instead. I got the same result for both.
I am not that used to working with VirtualBox, so I don't really know if this means I have now created a connection between my host and guest or if I still need to activate or connect them in any way?
Second part of my question - Simulink:
In Simulink, I want to output my values using a serial send (because I think that is the easiest way? If there is a better way, please tell me), but if I want to select a port, no ports are shown, as you can see in:
What do I need to do/change in VirtualBox/Simulink to get my COM port to show up?
Last part - MATLAB:
Because in Simulink, no COM ports were shown. I wanted to check for available ports in MATLAB, but apparently all my ports are closed:
>> info = instrhwinfo('serial')
info =
HardwareInfo with properties:
AvailableSerialPorts: {0x1 cell}
JarFileVersion: 'Version 3.8'
ObjectConstructorName: {0x1 cell}
SerialPorts: {0x1 cell}
Access to your hardware may be provided by a support package. Go to the Support Package Installer to learn more.
If I try to open one of my ports by using the fopen()-command, I get this message:
Error using serial/fopen
Open failed: Port: COM1 is not available. No ports are available.
Use INSTRFIND to determine if other instrument objects are connected to the requested device.
Using "INSTRFIND" shows that all ports are closed.
First of all, VirtualBox won't create a serial port for your host. So you have to create two virtual COM ports on the host using some other software and bridge these two ports virtually. Then use one port to connect to Simulink and other must be setup in such a way that VM COM port uses this port.
For creating a virtual COM port on Windows I will be using
com0com
from Faking an RS232 Serial Port. You can use any software you like.After installing com0com, open
setuppg.exe
fromC:\Program Files (x86)\com0com
.Now click apply. Now you will have
COM9
andCOM10
bridged (it's likeCOM9
andCOM10
are internally connected).Next we need to connect
COM9 port in Host
toCOM1 port in Guest OS
for that openOracle VM VirtualBox Manager
and open the settings of your required virtual machine. Now, select Serial Ports and setup like shown below and click OK.Now start your virtual machine, and your ports are ready. Now ports will be shown in Simulink and connect to
COM10
in this scenario and in the virtual machine, connect yourQGroundControl station
toCOM1
.