we are working on a motion tracking camera system project.in order to achieve this we have used labview for image processing.the final step we need to get is to send 5v to the relay so the motor we are using rotates our camera.but we need help to send 5v from our computer to the realy unit.somebody told us that we could use a converter for usp port and a driver named max232 to convert our serial to a serial port and use this serial port via labview to send 5v to the relay unit.anyone have any experience on this subject can provide us some insight information about it?
This depends on how much current the relay draws at 5 volts?
The maximum current the USB port will supply is 500mA.
You can buy a USB dip module here.
**broken link removed**
This will appear to labview as a comm port, it has a Pic16F877 micro on board which you could use to switch your relay via a simple transistor interface.