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Powering up for the first time

Once everything is wired up, the next step is to begin testing the machine to see if it will function correctly. At this point, it is essential that you realize the safety issues involved. The machine can be very very dangerous. The only safety feature is the emergency stop switch. There are no feedback mechanisms to prevent the machine from moving with lethal force that can easily maim or cause great bodily harm. Your safety depends on you. You must act with extreme caution, awareness, and respect for the power of the machine.

The easiest test to perform, is to plug the machine in and see if the fault lights turn green. The Z-stage amplifier is powered by a 110-volt plug, and the X,Y stage amplifiers utilize one 220 volt plug (both emerging from the fuse box).

If everything is wired and configured correctly, with each stage near the center of its range of motion, the status lights on the amplifiers should turn yellow when first powered up, and then switch immediately to green. If something is miswired, or otherwise misconfigured, the lights will turn red indicating a fault somewhere in the system.

Be prepared at the emergency switch when first powering up. You will hear clicking in the amplifiers as the relays switch over providing power to the stages. You may hear the stages make a noise - hopefully something of a silent hum and not a wailing vibration. If the fault lights turn green, the next step will be to see if they stay green with normal movements. If they are red, unplug the amplifiers and begin checking the wiring.

Assuming everything is green, proceeding further is a matter of personal preference, but in the spirit of cautious progress, it is wise to take incremental steps. Basically, you want to start by testing and verification of simple predictable behaviors.

For instance, it should be a simple task to move the X-stage 1 inch. If the X-stage is near the center of its travel, and if the fault lights are green, you should be able to issue a command to move the X-stage 25000 microns and it alone should respond by moving and the fault light should remain green.

To accomplish this kind of testing you will have to know commands for communicating with the stages. For troubleshooting, you will be able to read the status of the limit and home switches, and you will be able to observe the status of the fault lights on the amplifiers.

Motor Commands

Using the terminal interface within ArrayMaker, you can issue some simple commands to the arrayer. All the commands are listed in detail in the command reference manual that comes with the amplifier. You can read about them there. However, here are the simple commands you need to test the arrayer and check to see that it is functionaing properly:

Command Description

TP Tell Position. Shows the position of each stage.

TS Tell Switches. Shows the status of the limit and home switches. However, the number returned must be converted to an 8 bit binary number in order to understand the result (discussed below).

MO Motors Off. Turns off the power to all stages. If the motors are acting funny, or vibrating when power is supplied, this can be a handy command.

PR Use this comand to set a distance to be moved.

BG Begin Movement (Watch out!)

CN Inverts the status returned for the limit switches, so you can decode it correctly.

Command	Description
TP	Tell Position. Shows the position of each stage.
TS	Tell Switches. Shows the status of the limit and home switches. However, the number returned must be converted to an 8 bit binary number in order to understand the result (discussed below).
MO	Motors Off. Turns off the power to all stages. If the motors are acting funny, or vibrating when power is supplied, this can be a handy command.
PR	Use this comand to set a distance to be moved.
BG	Begin Movement (Watch out!)
CN	Inverts the status returned for the limit switches, so you can decode it correctly.

If you can power up the arrayer, the indicator lights are green, and the arrayer is quietly waiting to do some work, you are ready to perform the first simple test: moving the X-stage 1 inch.

Power up the computer and start ArrayMaker. Plug in the arrayer and make sure the status lights are green. Within ArrayMaker connect to the controller and check that there are no errors.

Using the terminal interface within ArrayMaker, issue the command TP to see the position of all the stages. To set the return codes for interpreting the limit switch status type "CN 1,1".

To move the the X-stage 1 inch type:

  PR 25000
  BGX

To move the Y:

  PR ,25000
  BGY

To move the Z:

  PR ,,25000
  BGZ

To move all the stages simultaneously:

  PR 25000,25000,25000
  BGXYZ

To turn off the motors, type:

MO

To reset the controller (returns everything to default settings), type:

RS

Binary converter for Tell Switch command

...still in progress

Each of the amplifiers (GV motor drivers) has a little operating system inside that starts up with certain parameters that are configured based on what kind of stage, or motor, they will be driving. The amplifiers should come pre-configured (as of Summer 2002). However, the Z-stage is unique in that many different types of motor can be driven from the amplifier and it may come un-configured by mistake. It is possible to hook the amplifiers directly to your computer using a null-modem serial cable, and configure the drives manually. There is a little program called "Motion Planner" for doing this. In case things don't work once you get everything hooked up, you can use the Motion Planner program to examine the configuration, or upload a configuration to the amplifier.

seidel@phageT4.org