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<head>
<title> Sample Environment Devices </title>
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<h1> Sample Environment Devices</h1>
<!latex-off>
<p>
From here you can jump to:
<ul>
<li>A discussion of SICS environment control <a href="#concept">
concepts</a>.
<li>A section about environment control <a href="#error">error</a> handling.
<li>Commands for <a href="#general">monitoring and installing</a>
environment control devices.
<li>Commands understood by <a href="#all">ALL</a> environment control
devices.
<li><a href="#lsc">LakeShore Model 340</a> temperature controllers.
<li>Oxford Instruments <a href="#itc4">ITC-4</a> or ITC-503 temperature
controllers.
<li>Haake <a href="#haake">waterbath </a> thermostat.
<li><a href="#euro">Eurotherm Temperature Controller</a>.
<li><a href="#bruker">Bruker</a> Magnet Controller.
<li>The Risoe <a href="#a1931">A1931</a> Temperature Controller.
<li>The <a href="#el755">PSI-EL755</a> Magnet Controller.
<li>The <a href="#psidsp">PSI-DSP</a> Magnet Controller, also known as
SLS controller.
</ul>
Obsolete:
<ul>
<li>Old <a href="#dilu">Dilution</a> Cryostat.
<li>The <a href="#ltc11">Neocera LTC-11</a> temperature
controller (was used for the Cryofurnace).
</ul>
</p>
<!latex-on>
<p>
<h2><a name="concept">SICS Concepts</a> for Sample Environment Devices</h2>
<p>
SICS can support any type of sample environment control device if there is a
driver for it. This includes temperature controllers, magnetic field controllers
etc. The SICS server is meant to be left running continously. Therefore there
exists a facility for dynamically configuring and deconfiguring environment
devices into the system. This is done via the <b>EVFactory</b> command.
It is expected that instrument scientists will provide command procedures or
specialised R&#252;nbuffers for configuring environment devices and setting
reasonable default parameters. </p>
<p>
In the SICS model
a sample environment device has in principle two modes of operation. The first
is the drive mode. The device is monitored in this mode when a new value for it
has been requested. The second mode is the monitor mode. This mode is entered
when the device has reached its target value. After that, the device must be
continously monitored throughout any measurement. This is done through the
environment monitor or <b>emon</b>. The emon understands a few commands of its
own.
</p>
<p>
Within SICS all sample environement devices share some common behaviour
concerning parameters and abilities. Thus any given environment device
accepts all of a set of general commands plus some additional commands
special to the device.
</p>
<p>
In the next section the EVFactory, emon and the general commands understood
by any sample environment device will be discussed. This reading is mandatory
for understanding SICS environment device handling. Then there will be another
section discussing the special devices known to the system.
</p>
<p>
<h2>Sample Environment Error Handling</h2>
A <a name="error"> sample</a> environment device may fail to stay at its preset value during a
measurement. This condition will usually be detected by the emon. The question
is how to deal with this problem. The requirements for this kind of error
handling are quite different. The SICS model therefore implements several
strategies for handling sample environment device failure handling.
The strategy to use is selected via a variable which can be set by the user for
any sample environment device separately. Additional error handling strategies
can be added with a modest amount of programming. The error handling strategies currently
implemented are:
<DL>
<DT>Lazy
<DD>Just print a warning and continue.
<DT>Pause
<DD>Pauses the measurement until the problem has been resolved.
<DT>Interrupt
<DD>Issues a SICS interrupt to the system.
<DT>Safe
<DD> Tries to run the environment device to a value considered safe by the
user.
<DT>Script
<DD>Run a user defined script to do any magic things you may want.
</DL>
</p>
<h2><a name="general">General</a> Sample Environment Commands</h2>
<h3>EVFactory</h3>
<p>
EVFactory is responsible for configuring and deconfiguring sample environment
devices into SICS. The syntax is simple:
<DL>
<DT>EVFactory new name type par par ...
<DD>Creates a new sample environment device. It will be known to SICS by the
name specified as second parameter. The type parameter decides which driver to
use for this device. The type will be followed by additional parameters
which will be evaluated by the driver requested.
<DT>EVFactory del name
<DD>Deletes the environment device name from the system.
</DL>
</p>
<h3>emon</h3>
<p>
The environment monitor emon takes for the monitoring of an environment device
during measurements. It also initiates error handling when appropriate. The emon
understands a couple of commands.
<DL>
<DT>emon list
<DD>This command lists all environment devices currently registered in the
system.
<DT>emon register name
<DD> This is a specialist command which registers the environment device name
with the environment monitor. Usually this will automatically be taken care
of by EVFactory.
<DT>emon unregister name
<DD> This is a specialist command which unregisters the environment device name
with the environment monitor. Usually this will automatically be taken care
of by EVFactory Following this call the device will no longer be monitored and
out of tolerance errors on that device no longer be handled.
</DL>
</p>
<h3><a name="all">General</a>
Commands UnderStood by All Sample Environment Devices</h3>
<p>
Once the evfactory has been run successfully the controller is
installed as an object in SICS. It is accessible as an object then
under the name specified in the evfactory command. All environemnt
object understand the common commands given below.
Please note that each command discussed below MUST be prepended with the name
of the environment device as configured in EVFactory!
</p>
<p>
The general commands understood by any environment controller can be subdivided
further into parameter commands and real commands. The parameter commands just
print the name of the parameter if given without an extra parameter or
set if a parameter is specified. For example:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Temperature Tolerance
</BLOCKQUOTE>
prints the value of the variable Tolerance for the environment controller
Temperature. This is in the same units as the controller operates,
i. e. for a temperature controller Kelvin.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Temperature Tolerance 2.0
</BLOCKQUOTE>
sets the parameter Tolerance for Temperature to 2.0. Parameters known to ANY
envrironment controller are:
<DL>
<DT>Tolerance
<DD>Is the deviation from the preset value which can be tolerated before an
error is issued.
<DT> Access
<DD>Determines who may change parameters for this controller.
Possible values are:
<UL>
<LI>0 only internal
<LI> 1 only Managers
<LI> 2 Managers and Users.
<LI> 3 Everybody, including Spy.
</UL>
<DT>LowerLimit
<DD> The lower limit for the controller.
<DT>UpperLimit
<DD> The upper limit for the controller.
<DT>ErrHandler.
<DD> The error handler to use for this controller. Possible values:
<UL>
<LI>0 is Lazy.
<LI>1 for Pause.
<LI> 2 for Interrupt
<LI> 3 for Safe.
<LI> 4 for Script.
</UL> For an explanantion of these values see the section about <a
href="#error">error</a> handling
above.
<DT>errorscript
<DD>The user specified script to execute when the controlled value goes out of
tolerance. Will be used whne the ErrHandler 4, script, is used.
<DT> Interrupt
<DD> The interrupt to issue when an error is detected and Interrupt error
handling is set. Valid values are:
<UL>
<LI> 0 for Continue.
<LI> 1 for abort operation.
<LI> 2 for abort scan.
<LI> 3 for abort batch processing.
<LI> 4 halt system.
<LI> 5 exit server.
</UL>
<DT>SafeValue
<DD> The value to drive the controller to when an error has been detected and
Safe error handling is set.
<DT>MaxWait
<DD> Maximal time in minutes to wait in a drive temperature command.
If maxwait is set to 0: If the temperature is not reached within tolerance,
it waits indefinitely.
<DT>Settle
<DD> Wait time [minutes] after reaching temperature. Indicates how long to wait
after reaching temperature. If the temperatures goes again out
of tolerance during the settling time, the time outside tolerance
is not taken into account.
</DL>
</p>
<P>
Additionally the following commands are understood:
<DL>
<DT>send par par ...
<DD>Sends everything after send directly to the controller and return its
response. This is a general purpose command for manipulating controllers
and controller parameters directly. The protocoll for these commands is
documented in the documentation for each controller. Ordinary users should
not tamper with this. This facility is meant for setting up the device with
calibration tables etc.
<DT> list
<DD> lists all the parameters for this controller.
<DT> no command, only name.
<DD> When only the name of the device is typed it will return its
current value.
<DT> name val
<DD> will drive the device to the new value val. Please note that the same
can be achieved by using the drive command.
and <b>log frequency</b> (both below)
</DL>
<h3>Logging </h3>
The values of any sample environement device can be logged. There are three
features:
<ul>
<li>Logging to a file wih a configurable time intervall between log
file entries.
<li>Sums are kept internally which allow the calculation of the mean
value and the standard deviation at all times.
<li>A circular buffer holding 1000 timestamps plus values is
automatically updated.
</ul>
The last two systems are automatically switched on after the first drive or
run command on the environment device completed.
This system is run through the following commands.
<DL>
<DT>name log clear
<DD> Resets all sums for the calculation of the mean value and the
standard deviation.
<DT>name log getmean
<DD>Calculates the mean value and the standard deviation for all logged
values and prints them.
<DT>name log frequency val
<DD> With a parameter sets, without a parameter requests the logging intervall
for the log file and the circular buffer.
This parameter specifies the time intervall in seconds
between log records. The default is 300 seconds.
<DT>name log file filename
<DD> Starts logging of value data to the file filename.
Logging will happen any 5 minutes initially. The logging frequency
can be changed with the name log frequency command. Each entry in the file is
of the form date time value. The name of the file must be specified relative
to the SICS server.
<DT>name log flush
<DD>Unix buffers output heavily. With this command an update of
the file can be enforced.
<DT>name log status
<DD>Queries if logging to file is currently happening or not.
<DT>name log close
<DD> Stops logging data to the file.
<dt>name log tosicsdata dataname
<dd>copies the content of the circular buffer to a sicsdata
buffer. This is used by graphical clients to display the content of
the circular buffer.
<dt>name log dump
<dd>Prints the content of the circular log buffer to screen.
<dt>name log dumptofile filename
<dd>Prints the content of the circular log buffer into the file
specified as filename. Note, this file is on the computer where the
SICS server resides.
</DL>
</P>
<h2>Special Environment Control Devices</h2>
<p>
This section lists the parameters needed for configuring a special environment
device into the system and special parameters and commands only understood by
that special device. All of the general commands listed above work as well!
</p>
<h3><a name="lsc">LakeShore</a> Model 340 Temperature Controller</h3>
<p>
This is <i>the</i> temperature controller for cryogenic applications and
should replace at least the Oxford & Neocera controllers at SINQ.<p>
The control is handled by a seperate server process TECS (TEmperature
Control Server) and is initialized by default on most instruments. If there is already an other
device selected, it must be deleted with:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
EVFactory del temperature
</BLOCKQUOTE>
and TECS must be reinstalled with:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
tecs on
</BLOCKQUOTE>
(This is just an abbreavation for EVFactory new temperature tecs)<p>
More details can be found on the <a href=http://sinq.web.psi.ch/sinq/sample_env/tecs.html>Sample Environment Home Page</a>
<p>
<h3><a name="itc4">ITC-4</a> and ITC-503 Temperature Controllers</h3>
<p>
These temperature controller were fairly popular at SINQ. They are
manufactured by
Oxford Instruments. At the back of this controller is a RS-232
socket which must be connected to a terminal server via a serial cable.
</p>
<h4>ITC-4 Initialisation</h4>
<p>
An ITC-4 can be configured into the system by:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
EVFactory new Temp ITC4 computer port channel
</BLOCKQUOTE>
This creates an ITC-4 controller object named Temp within the system. The
ITC-4 is expected to be connected to the serial port channel of the serial
port server porgramm at localhost listening at the specified port. For example:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
EVFactory new Temp ITC4 localhost 4000 7
</BLOCKQUOTE>
connects Temp to the serial port 7, listening at port 4000.
</P>
<h4>ITC-4 Additional Parameters</h4>
<p>
The ITC-4 has a few more parameter commands:
<DL>
<DT>timeout
<DD>Is the timeout for the SerPortServer waiting for
responses from the ITC-4. Increase this parameter if error messages
contaning ?TMO appear.
<DT> sensor
<DD> Sets the sensor number to be used for reading temperature.
<DT> control
<DD> Sets the control sensor for the ITC-4. This sensor will be used
internally for regulating the ITC-4.
<DT>divisor
<DD>The ITC4 does not understand floating point numbers, the ITC-503 does.
In order to make ITC4's read and write temperatures correctly floating point
values must be multiplied or divided with a magnitude of 10. This parameter
determines the appropriate value for the sensor. It is usually 10 for a sensor
with one value behind the comma or 100 for a sensor with two values after
the comma.
<DT>multiplicator
<DD>The same meaning as the divisor above, but for the control sensor.
</DL>
<h4>Installing an ITC4 step by step</h4>
<p>
<ol>
<li>Connect the ITC temperature controller to port 7 on the terminal server
box. Port 7 is specially configured for dealing with
the ideosyncracies of that device. No null modem is needed.
<li>Install the ITC4 into SICS with the command: <br>
evfactory new temperature localhost 4000 7<br>
You may choose an other name than "temperature", but then it is in general not stored
in the data file.
Please note, that SICS won't let you use that name if it already exists. For
instance if you already had a controller in there. Then the command:<br>
evfactory del name <br>
will help.
<li>Configure the upper and lowerlimits for your controller appropriatetly.
<li>Figure out which sensor you are going to use for reading temperatures.
Configure the sensor and the divisor parameter accordingly.
<li>Figure out, which sensor will be used for controlling the ITC4. Set the
parameters control and multiplicator accordingly. Can be the same as the
sensor.
<li>Think up an agreeable temperature tolerance for your measurement. This
tolerance value will be used 1) to figure out when the ITC4 has reached its
target position. 2) when the ITC4 will throw an error if the ITC4 fails to
keep within that tolerance. Set the tolerance parameter according to the
results of your thinking.
<li>Select one of the numerous error handling strategies the control
software is able to perform. Configure the device accordingly.
<li> Test your setting by trying to read the current temperature.
<li> If this goes well try to drive to a temperature not to far from the
current one.
</ol>
</p>
<h4>ITC-4 Trouble Shooting</h4>
<p>
If the ITC-4 <b>does not respond at all</b>, make sure the serial connection to
is working. Use standard RS-232 debugging procedures for doing
this. The not responding message may also come up as a failure to
connect
to the ITC-4 during startup.
</p>
<p> If error messages containing the string <b>?TMO</b> keep appearing
up followed
by signs that the command has not been understood, then increase the
timeout. The standard
timeout of 10 microseconds can be to short sometimes.
</p>
<p>
You keep on reading <b>wrong values</b> from the ITC4. Mostly off by a
factor 10. Then set the divisor correctly. Or you may need to choose a
decent sensor for that readout.
</p>
<p>
Error messages when <b>trying to drive the ITC4</b>. These are usually the
result of a badly set multiplicator parameter for the control sensor.
</p>
<p>
The ITC4 <b>never stops driving</b>. There are at least four possible
causes for this problem:
<ol>
<li>The multiplicator for the control sensor was wrong and the ITC4 has now
a set value which is different from your wishes. You should have got error
messages then as you tried to start the ITC4.
<li>The software is reading back incorrect temperature values
because the sensor and
divisor parameters are badly configured. Try to read the temperature and if
it does have nothing to do with reality, set the parameters accordingly.
<li>The tolerance parameter is configured so low, that the ITC4 never
manages to stay in that range. Can also be caused by inappropriate PID
parameters in the ITC4.
<li>
You are reading on one sensor (may be 3) and controlling on another one (may
be 2). Then it may happen that the ITC 4 happily thinks that he has reached
the temperature because its control sensor shows the value you entered as
set value. But read sensor 3 still thinks he is far off. The solution is to
drive to a set value which is low enough to make the read sensor think it is
within the tolerance. That is the temperature value you wanted after all.
</ol>
</p>
<h3><a name="haake">Haake</a> Waterbath Thermostat</h3>
<p>
This is sort of a bucket full of water equipped with a temperature
control system. The RS-232 interface of this device can only be operated at
4800 baud max. This is why it has to be connected to a specially configured port.
The driver for this device has been
realised in the Tcl extension language of the SICS server. A prerequisite
for the usage of this device is that the file hakle.tcl is sourced in the
SICS initialisation file and the command inihaakearray has been published.
Installing the
Haake into SICS requires two steps: first create an array with
initialisation parameters, second install the device with evfactory. A
command procedure is supplied for the first step. Thus the initialisation
sequence becomes:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
inihaakearray name-of-array localhost name port channel<br>
evfactory new temperature tcl name-of-array
</BLOCKQUOTE>An example for the SANS:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
inihaakearray eimer localhost 4000 1 <br>
evfactory new temperature tcl eimer
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Following this, the thermostat can be controlled with the other environment
control commands.
</p>
<p>
The Haake Thermostat understands a single special subcommand: <b>sensor</b>.
The thermostat may be equipped with an external sensor for controlling and
reading. The subcommand sensor allows to switch between the two. The exact
syntax is:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
temperature sensor val
</BLOCKQUOTE>
val can be either intern or extern.
</p>
<h3><a name="bruker">Bruker</a> Magnet Controller B-EC-1</h3>
<p>
This is the Controller for the large magnet at SANS. The controller is a
box the size of a chest of drawers. This controller can be operated in one
out of two modes: in <b>field</b> mode the current for the magnet is controlled via
an external hall sensor at the magnet. In <b>current</b> mode, the output current
of the device is controlled. This magnet can be configured into SICS with a
command syntax like this:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new name bruker localhost port channel
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</p>
<p>
name is a placeholder for the name of the device within SICS. A good
suggestion (which will be used throughout the rest of the text) is magnet.
bruker is the keyword for selecting the bruker driver. port is the
port number at which the serial port server listens.
channel is the RS-232 channel to which the controller has been
connected. For example (at SANS):
<pre>
evfactory new magnet bruker localhost 4000 9
</pre>
</p>
<p>
creates a new command magnet for a Bruker magnet Controller connected to
serial port 9.
</p>
In addition to the standard environment controller commands this magnet
controller understands the following special commands:
<DL>
<DT>magnet polarity
<DD> Prints the current polarity setting of the controller. Possible
answers are plus, minus and busy. The latter indicates that the controller
is in the process of switching polarity after a command had been given to
switch it.
<DT>magnet polarity val
<DD>sets a new polarity for the controller. Possible values for val are
<b>minus</b> or <b>plus</b>. The meaning is self explaining.
<DT>magnet mode
<DD> Prints the current control mode of the controller. Possible
answers are <b>field</b> for control via hall sensor or <b>current</b> for
current control.
<DT>magnet mode val
<DD>sets a new control mode for the controller. Possible values for val are
<b>field</b> or <b>current</b>. The meaning is explained above.
<DT>magnet field
<DD>reads the magnets hall sensor independent of the control mode.
<DT>magnet current
<DD>reads the magnets output current independent of the control mode.
</DL>
<p>
<big>Warning:</big> There is a gotcha with this. If you type only magnet a
value will be returned. The meaning of this value is dependent on the
selected control mode. In current mode it is a current, in field mode it is
a magnetic field. This is so in order to support SICS control logic.
You can read values at all times explicitly using magnet current or
magnet field.
</p>
<h3><a name="euro">The Eurotherm Temperature Controller</a></h3>
<p>
At SANS there is a Eurotherm temperature controller for the sample heater.
This and probably other Eurotherm controllers can be configured into SICS
with the following command. The eurotherm needs to be connected with a
nullmodem adapter.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new name euro computer port channel
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</p>
<p>
name is a placeholder for the name of the device within SICS. A good
suggestion is temperature.
euro is the keyword for selecting the Eurotherm driver. port is the
port number at which the serial port server listens.
channel is the RS-232 channel to which the controller has been
connected. <b>WARNING:</b> The eurotherm needs a RS-232 port with an unusual
configuration: 7bits, even parity, 1 stop bit. Currently only the SANS
port 13 is
configured like this! Thus, an example for SANS and the name temperature
looks like:
<pre>
evfactory new temperature euro localhost 4000 13
</pre>
</p>
<p>
There are two further gotchas with this thing:
<ul>
<li>The eurotherm needs to operate in the EI-bisynch protocoll mode. This has
to be configured manually. For details see the manual coming with the machine.
<li>The weird protocoll spoken by the Eurotherm requires very special control
characters. Therefore the send functionality usually supported by a SICS
environment controller could not be implemented.
</ul>
</p>
<h3><a name="a1931">The Risoe A1931 Temperature Controller</a></h3>
<p>
This is a temperature controller of unknown origin (probably built at
Risoe) which is coming with the Risoe instruments. This temperature
controller is connected to the computer systems through a GPIB bus and
controller. A A1931 temperature controller is configured into SICS
through the command:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new temperature-name a1931 gpib-controller-name gpibaddress
</BLOCKQUOTE>
This creates a new command temperature-name. gpib-controller-name is
the name of a GPIB controller within SICS. A GPIB controller is
configured into SICS with the command MakeGPIB as described in the
SICS managers documentation. gpibaddress is the address of the A1931 on the
GPIB bus.
</p>
<p>
A A1931 temperature device understands a couple of additional commands
on top of the standard set:
<dl>
<dt>temperature sensor <it> val</it>
<dd>The A1931 can switch control to various sensors. This command
allows to query the control sensor (command without parameter) or set
the control sensoe (command with parameter).
<dt>temperature file filename
<dd>The A1931 can be configured through files containing calibration
commands. Sich file can be loaded into the A1931 through the file
subcommand. The full path of filename must be given.
</dl>
</p>
<h3><a name="el755">The PSI-EL755 Magnet Controller</a></h3>
<p>
This is magnet controller developed by the electronics group at
PSI. It consists of a controller which interfaces to a couple of power
supplies. The magnets are then connected to the power supplies. The
magnetic field is not controlled directly but just the power output of
the power supply. Also the actual output of the power supply is NOT
read back but just the set value after ramping. This is a serious
limitation because the computer cannot recognize a faulty power supply
or magnet. The EL755 is connected to SICS with the command:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new name el755 localhost port channel index
</BLOCKQUOTE>
with port and channel being the usual data items for
describing the location of the EL755-controller at the
serial port server. index is special and is the number of the power
supply to which the magnet is connected. An example:
<pre>
evfactory new maggi el755 localhost 4000 5 3
</pre>
connects to power supply 3 at the EL755-controller connected to lnsa09
at channel 5. The magnet is then available in the system as maggi. No
special commands are supported for the EL755.
</p>
<H3><a name="psidsp">PSI-DSP Magnet Controller</a></h3>
<p>
The PSI-DSP magnet controller has been developed by the PSI
electronics group, most notably by Lukas Tanner, for the
SLS. However, these controllers are now being used at SINQ as
well. This controller has a binary command protocoll and thus the send
command does not work for it. In order to handle this protocoll SICS
has to bypass the usual SerPortServer mechanism for communicating with
serial devices
and to connect to the terminal server directly. This also implies one
gotcha: <b>
The PSI-DSP works only at specially configured terminal server
ports</b>.The terminal server
port to which the PSI-DSP is connected <b>MUST</b> be configured to:
115200 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, odd parity. In general a system
manager is required to do this. The PSI-DSP also requires a null-modem
connector between the box and the terminal server. Once these hurdles
have been mastered, the PSI-DSP can be configured into SICS with the
command:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new name psi-dsp terminalservername port
</BLOCKQUOTE>
with name being the name of the magnet in SICS, terminalservername the
name of the terminal server, for example psts224 and port being the
address of the binary port on the terminal server. This is usually
the serial port number at the terminal server plus 3000. An example:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new maggi psi-dsp psts224 3016
</BLOCKQUOTE>
configures a magnet named maggi which is connectd to port 16 at the
terminal server psts224. maggi can now be read and driven like any
other environment device.
</p>
<h3><a name="dilu">Old Dilution</a> Cryostat (Obsolete)</h3>
<p>
This is a large ancient device for reaching very low temperatures. This
cryostat can be configured into SICS with the command:
<pre>
EVFactory new Temp dillu computer port channel table.file
</pre>
Temp is the name of the dilution controller command in SICS, dillu is the
keyword which selects the dilution driver, computer, port and channel are
the parameters of the Macintosh-PC running the serial port server program.
table.file is the fully qualified name of a file containing a translation
table for this cryostat. The readout from the dilution controller is a
resistance. This table allows to interpolate the temperature from the
resistance measurements and back. Example:
<pre>
evfactory new temperature dillu lnsp19.psi.ch 4000 1 dilu.tem
</pre>
installs a new dilution controller into SICS. This controller is connected
to port 1 at the Macintos-PC with the newtwork adress lnsp19.psi.ch. On this
macintosh-PC runs a serial port server program listening at TCP/IP port
4000. The name of the translation table file is dilu.tem.
</p>
<p>
The dilution controller has no special commands, but two caveats: As of
current (October 1998) setting temperatures does not work due to problems
with the electronics. Second the dilution controller MUST be connected to
port 1 as only this port supports the 4800 maximum baud rate this device
digests.
</p>
<h3><a name="ltc11">Old CryoFurnace Controller (Obsolete)</a></h3>
<p>
The CryoFurnace at PSI is equipped with a Neocera LTC-11 temperature
controller. This controller can control either an heater or an analag output
channel. Futhermore a choice of sensors can be selected for controlling the
device. The LTC-11 behaves like a normal SICS environment control device
plus a few additional commands. An LTC-11 can be configured into SICS with
the following command:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
evfactory new name ltc11 computer port channel
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</p>
<p>
name is a placeholder for the name of the device within SICS. A good
suggestion is temperature.
ltc11 is the keyword for selecting the LTC-11 driver. Computer is the name of
the computer running David Maden's SerPortServer program, port is the
port number at which the SerPortServer program listens.
Channel is the RS-232 channel to which the controller has been
connected. For example (at DMC):
<pre>
evfactory new temperature ltc11 localhost 4000 6
</pre>
</p>
<p>
creates a new command magnet for a LTC-11 temperature Controller connected to
serial port 6 at lnsp18.
</p>
<p>
The additional commands understood by the LTC-11 controller are:
<dl>
<dt>temperature sensor
<dd> queries the current sensor used for temperature readout.
<dt>temperature sensor val
<dd> selects the sensor val for temperature readout.
<dt>temperature controlanalog
<dd> queries the sensor used for controlling the analog channel.
<dt>temperature controlanalog val
<dd> selects the sensor val for controlling the analog channel.
<dt>temperature controlheat
<dd> queries the sensor used for controlling the heater channel.
<dt>temperature controlheat val
<dd> selects the sensor val for controlling the heater channel.
<dt>temperature mode
<DD>queries if the LTC-11 is in analog or heater control mode.
</dl>
</p>
<p>
Further notes: As the CryoFurnace is very slow and the display at the
controller becomes unusable when the temperature is read out to often, the
LTC-11 driver buffers the last temperature read for 5 seconds. Setting the
mode of the LTC-11 is possible by computer, but not yet fully understood and
therefore unusable.
</p>
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