Phototrack Control Panel
ASI's Phototrack Control Panel is a windows .net framework based GUI to help user use ASI Phototrack system. It connects to ASI's MS2000 controller over serial port and uses serial commands to interact with MS2000.
Below are the descriptions and usage for the various controls on GUI
Control #1) Com Port, drop down box to indicate the serial port MS2000 controller is connected to. If unsure, go to Windows system properties>Device Manager to figure out what port MS2000 is on.
Control #2) Baud Raid, drop down box to pick the baud rate MS2000 controller will respond to. Default is 9600
Control #3) Start/Stop Button, once Com Port and Baud rate are selected , clicking this button will connect the GUI to MS2000. If unsuccessful an error message will pop up saying “Unable to open comm port”. This could be because of multiple reasons , either another program is connected to MS2000 , or simply a wrong comport or baud rate were selected. If successful , text on the button will now say “Stop”, clicking it now will disconnect the GUI from MS2000.
Control #4) Cal Value , used to set the calibration factor , more info here .Setting is only applied when SET button is clicked. Setting doesn't read and show current Cal value.
Control #5) Quad Order, drop down box , lets the user pick the Quad order , more info here . Setting is only applied when SET button is clicked. Setting doesn't read and show current Quad order value.
Control #6) Next State button , Same function as LK command or short @ button press. Advances controller to next phototrack state Idle>Monitor>Ready etc.
Control #7) Special Func button , same function as LK Y command or extra long HOME button press. Example moves controller from Monitor state to Balance state.
Control #8) Prev State button , same function as LK X command or long @ button press. Moves controller to previous phototrack state , Ready>Monitor>Idle
Control #9) Report Button, same function as LR Z , prints out useful diagnostic info like this
X+Y+:1 X+Y-:0 X-Y-:3 X-Y+:2
XY CAL FACTOR:10 (LR X=n)
Z CAL FACTOR:30 (UL Y=n) on Axis 2
QUAD_ORDER:78 (LK F=n)
QD BAL BKGND PMT CORR
0 33 0 15 495
1 32 0 17 544
2 32 0 15 480
3 44 0 16 704
Yplus:1024 Yminus:1199
Xplus:1039 Xminus:1184
Zplus:975 Zminus:1248
XY Lock_range: 5.0000 (LR Y=mm)
Z Lock_range: 0.1000 (LR Z=mm)
Cal_range: 0.0400 (LR F=mm)
Min_Sum_Sig: 100 (LK Z=n)
focus_offset: 0
closeness: 100 close_factor: 0.5405
Z gain factor: 0
Control #10) Save Setting Button, same function as SS Z . Saves current settings like Cal Value, Quad order , Quad balance into non volatile memory, settings will remain unchanged with system reset or restart. Good idea to save settings once your happy with the Phototrack performance.
Control #11) Restore Factory button, same function as SS X . Reset all settings to factory defaults.
Control #12) Reset button , same function as pressing the reset button. Current position will be zeroed.
Control #13) Quad Balance button, brings up the Quad balance GUI , it helps user thru the Quad balance procedure. More info on quad balance is here . Quad balance procedure get the background reading and zeros it.
Control #14) Quad order button, brings up the Quad order finder GUI. Finding the quad order is a trial and error process, this GUI is meant to ease that a bit by figuring out the quad order needs to be by asking the user how the error signs work. More Info on Quad order setup procedure is here
With a nice bright stationary sample in view , The GUI asks the user to set the Quad order to default settings of “78” , save and reset the controller. Then Quad Balance and put the controller in Ready state.
It then asks user to move the stage in positive x direction , then check and see how the error changed, was it X error or Y error and the sign of the error. Same thing in Y axis too. User puts in the findings with drop box control #19 and #20 . Then pressing the “Process button”(control #21) , the GUI displays the result in control #22 .
User can then Input the correct Order thru Control #5 the Quad order setting.
Control #15) Serial Command , this control provides serial terminal function , lets the user send any input or commands to the MS2000 controller. Command is only sent after “Enter” key or “Send” button is pressed.
Control #16) Controller Reply text box, displays all the data/replies sent by the MS2000 controller.
Control #17) Clear button , clears all the data in Controller Reply text box (control #16)
Control #18) Copy button , copies all the data in Controller Reply text box (control #16) to windows clipboard.