SICS Hardware Configuration

Hardware is configured into the SICS system by executing special hardware configuration commands from the server initialisation file. These commands are described here. Much SICS hardware is hooked up to the system via RS-232 interfaces. The SICS server communicates with such devices through a serial port server program running on a Macintosh PC. All such devices require on initialisation the following parameters:

Motors

The following commands are available to install motors into the system:

Motor name SIM lowlim uplim err speed
This command creates a simulated motor with the lower limits lowlim, the upper limit uplim, an ratio of randomly generated errors err and a driving speed of speed. Use this for testing and instrument simulation. If err is less then 0, the motor will not create failures and thus can be used in a instrument simulation server.
Motor name EL734 host port chan no
This command creates a stepper motor named name which is controlled through a El734 motor controller. The parameters host, port, chan have the meanings defined above. no is the number of the motor in the EL734 motor controller.
Motor name EL734DC host port chan no
This command creates an analog motor named name which is controlled through a El734DC motor controller. The parameters host, port, chan have the meanings defined above. no is the number of the motor in the EL734DC motor controller.
MakePIMotor name c804 pararray
Creates a motr name connected to a C804 motor controller from the manufacturer Physik Instrumente. Pararray is a Tcl array holding the initialization information. The follwoing elements are required in this array:
Computer, port, channel
The standard connection parameters.
upperlimit, lowerlimit
The limits for this motor.
motor
The number of the motor in the motor controller.
Motor name pipiezo pararray
Creates a piezo electric positioning device. Again the controller is a Physik Instrumente controller. pararray has the same meaning as for the C804 controller given above.
Motor name ecb ecbcontroller ecb-number lowerlimit upperlimit
This creates a motor which is controlled through the Risoe ECB electronic. The parameters:
ecbcontroller
The ECB controller to which this motor is connected to. See below for more on ECB controllers.
ecb-number
Number of the motor in the ECB system.
lowerlimit
The lower hardware limit for this motors operation
upperlimit
The upper hardware limit for this motors operation
In contrast to normal motors, the ECB motors have quite a number of hardware parameters which must be configured. The general syntax to configure them is: motorname parametername value. The following parameters are available:
encoder
0 if there is no encoder for this motor, 1-3 for the encoder used for this motor.
control
The control bit flag. This falg determines if the motor sets a control bit in the ECB controller. This control bit can be used to drive air cushions and the like. If required set to 1, else leave at 0.
delay
Delay time to wait after setting a control bit.
range
The speed range for the motor: 0 for slow, 1 for fast
multi
The ECB controller supports up to 24 motors. In some instances this is not enough. Then one ECB channel can be multiplexed into several motors. This flag (),1) determines if this is the case.
multchan
The multiplexer channel for a multiplexed motor.
port
The ECB port a multiplexed motor is using.
acceleration
The speed with which the motor accelerates to its final speed.
rotation_dir
Rotation direction of the motor.
startspeed
Starting speed of the motor.
maxspeed
The maximum speed for this motor.
auto
Speed in automatic mode
manuell
Speed used when driving the motor through the manual control box.
offset
When using an encoder: the offset between the motor zero and the encoder zero.
dtolerance
hardware tolerance of the motor.
step2dig
conversion factor from encoder steps to physical values.
step2deg
Conversion factor from motor pseudo encoder steps to physical values.
backlash
In order to correct for backlash, Risoe motors always approach a target position from the same direction. In order to do this the motor has to overshoot and drive back when driving in the wrong direction. The parameter backlash determines how much to overshoot.
ECB motors have another quirck: 8 motors in a rack share a power supply! This has the consequence that only one of the 8 motors can run at any given time. In SICS this is directed through the anticollider module described elsewhere.

Counting Devices

MakeCounter name SIM failrate
This command creates a simulated single counter accessible as object name. Failrate is the per centage of invocations at which the counter will generate a random failure for testing error treatment code. If failrate is less then 0, there are no failures. This can be used in a instrument simulation server.
MakeCounter name EL737 host port chan
This command creates a single counter name, using an EL737 driver. The counter is at host host, listening at port port and sits at serial port chan.
MakeCounter name ecb ecb-controller
Installs a counetr on top of the Risoe ECB hardware. The only parameter is the name of the ECB controller to use.
MakeHMControl name counter hm1 hm2 hm3
At some instruments (for instance TRICS) multiple counters or histogram memories are controlled by a master counter which watches over presets and the like. This command installs a virtual counter which does exactly that. The parameters are:
name
The name of the virtual counter in SICS
counter The name of the master counter
hm1, hm2, hm3
Up to three slave counting devices.

Histogram Memory

Due to the large amount of parameters, histogram memories are configured differently. A histogram memory object is created using a special creation command. This command is described below. Then a lot of options need to be configured. The commands used for setting these options and their meanings are defined in the user documentation because histogram memories may be reconfigured at runtime. The sequence of configuartion options is ended with the command hmname init. This last command actually initialises the HM. Histogram memory objects can be created using the command:

MakeHM name type
The parameter name specifies the name under which the HM will be avialable in the system. type specifies which type of driver to use. Currently three types of drivers are supported: SIM for a simulated HM , SINQHM for the SINQ histogram memory and tdc for the Risoe histogram memory. Please care to note, that the SINQHM requires a EL737 counter box for count control. This counter must have been defined before creating the HM object.
As an example the configuration of a SINQHM HM with the name banana will be shown: 
MakeHM banana SINQHM         
banana configure HistMode Normal
banana configure OverFlowMode    Ceil
banana configure Rank     1
banana configure dim0   400
banana configure BinWidth 4
banana preset 100.
banana CountMode Timer
banana configure HMComputer psds04.psi.ch
banana configure HMPort 2400
banana configure Counter counter
banana init

Velocity Selectors

A velocity selector is configured in a three step process. First a Tcl array is filled with the necessary configuration options for the actual velocity selector driver. In a second step the velocity selector is created with a special command. In a third step the forbidden regions for the velocity selector are defined. Currently two drivers for velocity selctors are known: a SIM driver for a simulated velocity selector and a DORNIER driver for a Dornier velocity selector hooked to a SINQ serial port setup. The last one needs a parameter array containing the fields Host, Port, Channel and Timeout. Host, Port and Channel have the meanings as defined at the very top of this section. Timeout is the maximum time to wait for responses from the velocity selector. A large value is required as the dornier velocity selector is very slow. The second step is performed through the following commands:

VelocitySelector name tilt-motor SIM
This command installs a simulated velocity selector with the name name into the system. tilt-motor is used for driving the tilt angle of the selector. tilt-motor must exist before this command can be executed successfully.
VelocitySelector name tilt-motor DORNIER arrayname
This command installs a dornier velocity selector into the system. name and tilt-motor have the same meanings as described above. arrayname is the Tcl-array with the driver configuration parameters.
As an example the configuration of a dornier velocity selector named nvs is shown: 
set dornen(Host) lnsp25.psi.ch
set dornen(Port) 4000
set dornen(Channel) 6
set dornen(Timeout) 5000
VelocitySelector nvs tilt DORNIER dornen
nvs add -20 28800
nvs add 3800 4500
nvs add 5900 6700
nvs add 8100 9600

Chopper

Chopper systems are handled via a generic controller object. This basicly consists of two components: One object represents the actual controller. This basic object allows to query parameters only. Then there is for each parameter which can be controlled from SICS in this controller an adapter object. These adapter object are virtual motors which can be driven with the normal run or drive commands. Currently two drivers for this scheme exists: one for a simulated device, the other for the Dornier Chopper Controller at FOCUS. The first step when initializing this system is the installation of the general controller object into SICS. This is done with the commands: 

MakeChopper name sim
MakeChopper name docho mac port channel
The first command simply installs a simulated controller. The second command install a controller with a driver for the FOCUS Dornier Chopper system. Mac, port and channel are the usual Macintosh terminal server parameters which describe where the chopper controller is connected to through its RS-232 interface. After both commands the controller is available as command name within SICS.

A drivable parameter at this controller is installed with a command similar to this: 

ChopperAdapter vname cname pname lower upper
vname is the name under which the virtual motor will appear in SICS. cname is the name of the controller object installed into SICS with the commands in the previous paragraph. pname is the name of the drivable parameter in the controller. upper and lower are the upper and lower limits for this parameter. More then one of these commands can be given for each general controller.

After this, the parameter can be modified by a command like: 

drive vname newvalue

RS232 Controller Direct Access

RS232 controllers connected to a terminal server can be directly accessed by SICS through the TCP/IP network, bypassing the SerPortServer program. See the description of this facility for more details. Such a controller can be configured into the system through the command: 

MakeRS232Controller name terminalserver port
For example: 
MakeRS232Controller hugo psts213 3004
name is the SICS name for the controller, terminalserver is the name of the terminal server the device is connected to and port is the port number at which the terminal server publishes the RS232 channel to which the device is connected. This is usally the port number plus 3000.

To be expanded. Please note, that environment devices such as temperature controllers are dynamically configured into the system at run time. Therefore the necessary commands are described in the user documentation.

GPIB Controller Access

GPIB is yet another bus system. Up to 30 devices can share the bus and transfer data on it. SICS likest to speak to GPIB devices through the National Instrument ENET-100 TCP/IP bridge. In order for this to work the National Instruments driver software must have been installed on the computer running SICS. SICS has to be compiled with the define HAVENI defined and the proper paths to the header file and library configured. The an GPIB controller can be installed into SICS with the command: 

MakeGPIB name drivertype
Name is the name under which the GPIB controller is addressable within SICS afterwards. drivertype is the driver to use for the GPIB device. Supported values are:
sim
Simulation
ni <>National instruments driver, see above.
The GPIB controller supports a couple of commands for communicating with devices on the GPIB bus directly. Use with extra care because it is very easy to lock things up on the GPIB bus. In the following documantation of the command set it is assumed that a GPIB controller has been configured into the system under the name gpib. Please note, that managers privilege is required in order to be allowed to wrestle with this controller.
gpib attach controller-no gpib-address gpib-secondary timeout eos eot
This attaches the GPIB controller to a certain device at a certain address for later communication. The return value is an integer handle which will be used later on a s a handle devID when referring to the conenction. The parameters are:
controller-no
The number of the GPIB controller on the computer. There may be more then one GPIB controllerinstalled on a given system. Usually this is 0.
gpib-address
The GPIB address of the device on the bus.
gpib-secondary
GPIB devices may have a seconadry address. This can be specified with this parameter. Usually this is 0.
timeout
The time to wait for answers on the GPIB bus. 13 is 10 seconds and ussually a good value.
eot
A parameter determining the termination mode on this connection. Consult NI documentation for this or leave at 0.
eoi
A terminator. Set to 1 or understand NI documentation for this parameter.
gpib detach devID
Breaks the connection described through devID. devID is the return value from attach.
gpib clear devID
Tries to clear the GPIB buffers for the conenction described through devID. Usually in vain.
gpib send devID bal bla bla
sends data to the device at devID.
gpib sendwithterm devID string terminator
Sends string to the device at devID. The terminator character identified through the integer terminator is automatically appended. Use this to send things which require a terminator. Terminators included in strings sent by send get messed up through Tcl!
gpib read devID
Reads data from the device at devID and returns it as a string.
gpib readtillterm devID terminator
Read from teh device devID unti the terminator character described through the interger terminator is read. Then return the data read as a string.

ECB Controllers

ECB controllers are at the heart of the Risoe data aquisition system. These are essentially Z80 processors wired to the GPIB bus. Functions can be invoked in this processor by sending a function code followed by the contents of 4 8 bit registers. As a result the contents of the registers after the function call are returned. A ECB can be made knwon to SICS through the initialisation command: 

MakeECB name gpib-controller gbib-controller-number gpib-address
The parameters:
name
The name used as a token for this controller later on.
gpib-controller
the name of the GPIB interface to use. See above.
gbib-controller-no
The number of the GPIB board in the system
gpib-address
The GPIB address of the ECB on the GPIB bus.
Once installed, the ECB controller understands a few commands:
ecb1 func funcode d e bc
Invoke ECB function funcode with the registers d e b c.Returns the contents of the registers d e b c. Function codes and register contents are documented, if at all, in the ECB documentation.
ecb1 clear
Tries, usually in vain, to clear the communications interface to the ECB.
ecb1 toint char
A helper function which converts the character char to an integer. Tcl does not seem to be able to do that.