Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) Software Manual

Transcription

1 Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) Software Manual DOC-0092 Revision E-4 Software Version Central Avenue Boulder, CO USA C O P Y R I G H T D R O P L E T M E A S U R E M E N T T E C H N O L O G I E S, I N C.

2 Copyright 2013 Droplet Measurement Technologies, Inc CENTRAL AVENUE BOULDER, COLORADO, USA TEL: +1 (303) FAX: +1 (303) All rights reserved. DMT licenses software only upon the condition that you accept all of the terms contained in this license agreement. This software is provided by DMT as is and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort, contract, or otherwise, shall DMT or its developers be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including damages for work stoppage; computer failure or malfunction; loss of goodwill; loss of use, data or profits; or for any and all other damages and losses). Some states do not allow the limitation or exclusion of implied warranties and you may be entitled to additional rights in those states. Trademark Information All Droplet Measurement Technologies, Inc. product names and the Droplet Measurement Technologies, Inc. logo are trademarks of Droplet Measurement Technologies, Inc. All other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Risks of Installing Additional Software Instrument computers from DMT are configured to acquire data in a reliable, robust manner. Typically, such instruments are either not connected to a network or are connected to a small, local network that is isolated from the internet, reducing the risk of viruses. Since anti-virus programs can cause erratic behavior when run in the background on data acquisition computers, DMT does not install anti-virus, anti-spam, or anti-malware programs. If you choose to install these programs, you accept the risk associated with them in terms of potential performance degradation of the software installed by DMT. For similar reasons, DMT recommends that you do not install or run other software on the dedicated instrument computer. Although the installation of some software may be unavoidable, it is particularly important not to run other software while the computer is acquiring data. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 2

3 T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s 1.0 Product Description Program Architecture Channels Getting Help from Within the Software Note on Terminology About Sequences About Exit Steps Running Sequences Concurrently Communicating with the Video Monitor Taking Data for the First Time Changing and Saving Configuration Files Creating User-Defined Calculations Creating Calculated Channels Using Pre-defined, LabVIEW-based Calculations User-created LabVIEW Calculations Creating Sequences Creating Auto Sampler Sequences Preparation Running the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator Creating and Editing Sequences Using the Config > Sequences Tab Using the Sequence Editor Troubleshooting Program Tabs SP2 Tab Control Tab Controllers Sequence Switches Digital Outputs Laser Controls Threshold Controls Alicat Flow Controller Housekeeping Data Output Channel Setting Status Tab...34 DOC-0092 Rev E-4 3

4 6.4 Sequences Tab Config Tab Program Sub-Tab Acquisition Sub-Tab Housekeeping Sub-Tab Analog In (AI) Sub-Tab Digital I/OTab Flow Sub-Tab Laser & A.S. Sub-Tab Alarms & Timers Sub-Tab Calculations Sub-Tab Communication Sub-Tab Sequences Sub-Tab Utility Tab Auto Sampler Sequence Generator SP2 Data Reader Program SP2 Housekeeping Reader SP2 Log Reader Sequence Editor...87 Appendix A: Revisions to Manual Appendix B: Gaussian Fit Calculations Appendix C: Output File Channels *.SP2b File...91 Data File Format Board Channels Board Channels...94 Time Data...94 File Processing...95 *.hk File...95 Laser-Control Channels Additional Housekeeping Channels *.log File *.ini File Appendix D: SP2 Actions Appendix E: Remote Communication Format via CCL Appendix F: Syntax for Calculated Channels DOC-0092 Rev E-4 4

5 T a b l e o f F i g u r e s Figure 1: New Calculated Channel Figure 2: Selecting Input Channel, Step Figure 3: Selecting Input Channel, Step Figure 4: Selecting the New Output Channel Figure 5: New Scattering Avg Channel Figure 6: Creating a New Controller Channel Figure 7: Inserting a Step After Rinsing Figure 8: Specifying a Sequence Step Figure 9: Specifying an Exit Step Figure 10: Sequence Editor Tab after a Sequence has been Selected Figure 11: Inserting a Step after Increment Sample Figure 12: Configuring the New Step Figure 13: SP2 Tab Figure 14: Control Tab for SP2-D Figure 15: Control Tab for SP2-C Figure 16: Control Tab for Systems with Auto Sampler. (Note: This screen shot is from an SP2-C. SP2-D s with Auto Samplers will display two additional flow controllers, Laser Temp SP (C) and Pump Laser Current SP. SP2-D displays will also list Digital I/O channels.) Figure 17: Control Tab while Auto Sampler Sequence is Running (configured for SP2-C) Figure 18: Status Tab Figure 19: Sequences Tab Figure 20: Config Tab Program Sub-Tab Figure 21: Digital Board Table Figure 22: Config Tab Acquisition Sub-Tab Figure 23: Config Tab Housekeeping Sub-Tab Figure 24: Config Tab Analog In Sub-Tab Figure 25: Config Tab Digital I/O Sub-Tab Figure 26: Config Tab Flow Sub-Tab Figure 27: Config Tab Laser & A.S. Sub-Tab Figure 28: Auto Sampler with Space for 12 Rows and 5 Columns of Sample Vials Figure 29: Auto Sampler Cell Numbers for a 5 x 12 Vial Tray Figure 30: Config Tab Important Components of Calculations Sub-Tab DOC-0092 Rev E-4 5

6 Figure 31: Config Tab Communication Sub-Tab Figure 32: Selecting a Channel for Inclusion in Streamed Output Data Figure 33: Config Tab Sequences Sub-Tab Figure 34: Example Sequence Switch on Control Tab Figure 35: Utility Tab SP2 Data Reader Program Figure 36: Utility Tab SP2 Auto Sampler Sequence Generator Figure 37: Utility Tab SP2 Housekeeping Reader Figure 38: Utility Tab SP2 Log Reader Figure 39: UtilityTab SP2 Sequence Editor Figure 40: Parameter Settings Stored in Reserved Channels, as Shown on the Config > Acquisition Tab DOC-0092 Rev E-4 6

7 1.0 Product Description The SP2 software is designed in LabVIEW, a program that provides a user-friendly virtual instrument panel for the control, data display, and data logging of the SP2 instrument. This manual describes version of the SP2 software. To start the program, double-click on the SP2 icon on the desktop. The SP2 Tab is the displayed upon start-up. Several other tabs are displayed at the top of the screen. Clicking on these tabs will bring up different displays, as follows: 1. SP2 Tab Graphs SP2 spectra and up to six user-selectable channels on three time-series charts 2. Controls Tab Controls the sample flow, sheath flow, laser settings, thresholds, and other channels, and monitors the housekeeping channels. 3. Status Tab Displays information about the SP2 software, including output file locations, error logs, alarms, and configuration settings. 4. Config Tab Allows the user to view and edit the settings for the SP2 software. 5. Sequences Tab Allows the user to view and run sequences. 6. Utilities Tab Provides access to utilities such as the data and housekeeping readers. The top of the screen, above the tabs, displays key information about the program. The Alarm button indicates whether an alarm is currently active. When the button is red, an alarm has been generated; a green button indicates normal operation. Yellow indicates a warning: an Alarm condition has been met, but the Min Time required has not yet elapsed. The Do Not Write to Data File / Write to Data File switch allows the user to control whether acquired data are currently written to a file. Clicking on the Press to Start a New Data File button will start a new data file, and the name of this file will appear in the Data File field on the SP2 Tab. To the right of these buttons and switches, the screen displays the current date and time. 1.1 Program Architecture The SP2 software program consists of several different loops or sub-programs, as follows: Control Program This loop starts and stops the other modules, updates the displays, controls the instrument set points, watches the alarms, and otherwise supervises the operation of the entire system. Housekeeping Program This loop acquires housekeeping data from a number of sources at the rate specified in the Config tab. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 7

8 Data Acquisition Loop This loop acquires data for particle events. Data is acquired in buffers of typically 500,000 to 1,000,000 points in each channel, with 200 to 400 ns between each data point. This loop acquires data continuously and passes the data buffers to the Data Processing Loop. Data Processing Loop This loop examines the data buffers acquired by the Data Acquisition Loop and identifies events within those buffers. It extracts the events, saves them to disk, and supplies them to the Control Program for display. If data loads are high and the CPU cannot keep up with this processing, some buffers from the Data Acquisition Loop will be ignored and the duty cycle of the acquisition will drop to less than 100%. In addition, there are a Data Reader, Housekeeping Reader, a Log Reader, and other utilities. These are integrated into the main program in the Utilities menu item, and the Data Reader and Housekeeping Reader can also be run as separate programs. 1.2 Channels SP2 software records both data channels and housekeeping channels. Instruments that use a National Instruments PCI-6110 board are limited to four data channels, while those using a PCI-6133 board allow up to eight data channels. 1 The PCI-6110 board channels typically include Scattering, Wide-Band Incandescence, Narrow-Band Incandescence, and Split Detector. The PCI-6133 board channels are the same but feature a high and low-gain reading for each channel. Housekeeping channels record auxiliary data and parameters such as flow and temperature readings. A glossary of data and housekeeping channels appears in Appendix C of this manual. 1.3 Getting Help from Within the Software Context-sensitive help is available for many SP2 features. To access help, press CTRL- H and hover the cursor over the area in question. In addition, there are help sections on the Config tab. These sections explain the functions of the various parameters. 1 The 6110 board has four channels and 12 bits, and can acquire data up to 5 MS/s. It was used in the original SP2 systems. The 6133 has eight channels and 14 bits, and it can acquire data at up to 2.5 MS/s. It is used in more recent SP2s. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 8

9 1.4 Note on Terminology In the SP2 4.2 software, the configuration parameters define a Primary channel and a Secondary channel. Normally, the primary channel is Ch 0, the scatter signal, and the secondary channel is Ch 1, the incandescent signal. The primary trigger is always used to find events, while the secondary trigger is optional. Warning: The SP2 program assumes the primary channel is the scatter signal and the secondary channel is the incandescent signal. Associating other signals with these channels will result in mislabeled output channels, e.g. the channel labeled scatter concentration will actually store the concentration based on this other signal attached to the Primary channel. The SP2 4.2 software refers to scatter and incandescent events. Although these concepts are very similar to primary and secondary channels, they are not identical and hence are given different names. In particular, a scatter event is one which has a signal above the threshold on the primary channel but NOT on the secondary channel. An incandescent event is one that has a signal on the secondary channel, regardless of what is on the primary channel. Scatter and incandescent events are used in calculating scatter and incandescent concentrations. The user can also apply filters so as to save only scatter or incandescent particles, or to save only a fraction of particles; see section Note that the real-time calculations of scatter and incandescent concentrations are intended only for first-look purposes. These calculations do not perform any filtering to remove noise peaks or to otherwise validate the events. They are useful for observing the current operating conditions, but should not be considered as publishable data. Also note that before version 4.0.3, the software s scatter calculation used all events that had a signal on the primary channel, and hence included many of the incandescent particles. 1.5 About Sequences A powerful new feature of SP2 4.2 is the ability for users to define Sequences. Sequences are sets of actions the user creates and the software then performs automatically, much like macros in Microsoft programs. Sequences can be created on the Config > Sequences tab or in the Sequence Editor or Auto Sampler Sequence Generator in the Utilities menu item. After sequences have been defined and configured, the user will need to restart the program for these changes to take effect. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 9

10 Users can then start and stop sequences using the Control tab. Keep in mind that the state of a Sequence is logically different than the state of the sub-system that it controls. Take the example of a Sequence that turns a series of pumps on through a set of timed steps. While this Sequence is running, the pumps are turning on, speeding up to their nominal rate, etc. When the Sequence finishes, the Sequence will be off, but the pumps will be On. Do not confuse the state of the Sequence with the state of the subsystem it is controlling. Also note that stopping a Sequence that is running is different than undoing the things that the sequence did. For example, consider a Sequence that steps the laser power through a series of levels at defined time intervals. If this Sequence is written correctly, when it finishes, it will have left the laser power at a known level. However, if the Sequence is running and the operator stops the Sequence, the laser power will be left at whatever value it currently has About Exit Steps One way around the laser-power issue described in the previous paragraph would be to use the Exit Step feature of Sequences. The purpose of an Exit Step is to specify a step that should be taken whenever a sequence ends. In this case, the user could define an Exit Step that logically undoes the action that the Sequence did. The Exit Step could set the laser to a specific power level, thus undoing the last power level set by the Sequence. No matter how the Sequence finishes or is interrupted, the laser will then be at a known power level when the Sequence is no longer running. As another example, the user can specify an Exit Step to send the Auto Sampler probe to the home position. This will ensure the probe is not left in a sample vial if the auto sampler sequence is interrupted and does not complete normally. Note that Exit Steps will execute if the sequence has finished or if the user stops the sequence using a button on the Control tab. They do not execute if the sequence was stopped because the program was quit or restarted Running Sequences Concurrently In general, sequences can be run concurrently. However, if multiple sequences act on the same objects, they generally should not be run at the same time. In particular, sequences involving the Auto Sampler should be run one at a time, with the first one stopping before the next one starts. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 10

11 1.6 Communicating with the Video Monitor For more recent SP2s with a built-in computer, if the SP2 computer is booted without a video monitor connected, the computer will default to a video mode that will not communicate with most monitors. To reset the video mode when you later have a monitor present, reboot the computer and do either one of the following: While the system is booting: Press <F8>. The computer will display a start-up screen. Tab to ENABLE VGA MODE, press <Enter>, then hit <RETURN> when the computer asks to boot to Windows XP. After the system has booted: Wait until Windows XP has finished loading, which should take about a minute. Press <CTRL><ALT><F1> simultaneously. The monitor should begin functioning normally. 2.0 Taking Data for the First Time SP2 components must be set up and turned on in a specific order. For details, see DOC- 0171, the SP2 Operator Manual. 3.0 Changing and Saving Configuration Files Information on the Config tab is intended for reference only. Do not change the configuration without first contacting DMT, as changing the configuration can cause the system to malfunction. To change a configuration file, click on the Config tab. Then click on Load a File. Select the configuration (*.ini) file you would like to load. If you would like to designate this file as the one the program uses upon start-up, click Mark Current Config as the Start-up Config. Otherwise, the next time you restart the program, the configuration will revert to the default start-up. To save changes you have made to the SP2 program configuration, click on Save Config As and then designate a name for the configuration file. This file that was saved will now be shown as the Config File Being Viewed. If you would like this file to be used every time the program starts up, click Mark Current Config File as the Start-up Config. Note that the program will not use any new configuration values until it is restarted. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 11

12 4.0 Creating User-Defined Calculations The SP2 software provides two ways for users to define calculations for use within the program. For relatively simple operations, users can define their own calculated channels as described in section 4.1. For more complex operations, users can import LabVIEW routines for use within the program. 4.1 Creating Calculated Channels Suppose you want to create a Total Conc. channel. You might do so by following the steps below: 1.) Click on Config > Calculations. 2.) Click on the top green button in the Insert column. 3.) Under Calculated Channels, in the Name field, type Total Conc. 4.) In the Formula box, type the following text: Scatter. Conc. (#/cc) + Incand. Conc. (#/cc) 5.) Click Save Changes. 6.) Click Restart Program. 7.) Go to the Control tab. If you scroll down to the bottom of the housekeeping channels, you should be able to see the Total Conc. channel (Figure 1). DOC-0092 Rev E-4 12

13 Figure 1: New Calculated Channel Appendix F contains a list of all the functions available for use in calculated channels. 4.2 Using Pre-defined, LabVIEW-based Calculations The SP2 program allows users to import LabVIEW routines for use within the program. The following steps describe how to import SP2 software s built-in Channel Averager function. This function is then used to average Scatter. Conc. (#/cc) readings over sixty samples. Such averaging can be useful to eliminate noise. 1.) Click on Config > Calculations. 2.) You should see Channel Averager.vi listed under Available Calculations. (If for some reason the vi is stored elsewhere, move it into the C:\DMT\SP2 Support\Calculations directory.) 3.) Double-click on Channel Averager.vi. It should appear in Defined Calculations. 4.) With Channel Averager.vi still highlighted, click on the first gray box listed under Input Channels, and Select Scatter. Conc. (#/cc). See Figure 3 and Figure 8. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 13

14 Figure 2: Selecting Input Channel, Step 1 DOC-0092 Rev E-4 14

15 Figure 3: Selecting Input Channel, Step 2 5.) Under output channels, name the output channel Scattering Avg (#/cc) (Figure 4). DOC-0092 Rev E-4 15

16 Figure 4: Selecting the New Output Channel 6.) Set Num to Avg to ) Click on Save Changes in the upper right. 8.) Click on Restart Program in the upper right. 9.) Go to the Control tab. The new channel should be visible at the bottom of the housekeeping channels on the right. You may need to scroll down to see it. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 16

17 Figure 5: New Scattering Avg Channel 4.3 User-created LabVIEW Calculations In addition to using the calculation routines provided by DMT, the operator can create new calculations if they have a copy of LabVIEW To do this, open one of the existing calculation VI s in LabVIEW as a starting point. Edit the calculation VI and give it a new name. Put the resulting new VI and all necessary sub-vi s in the C:\DMT\SP2 Support\Calculations directory. When the SP2 program is restarted, the new calculation VI will appear in the Available Calculations list. Note that for operatorcreated calculations to function correctly in the SP2 program, the interface to the calculation VI must not be altered. E.g., the new calculation VI must have the same connector pane with the same data types. Its overall function must be similar, with the data being indexed the same way and producing the same sort of array of output data with the new calculations added to the input data array. The Description text box should be filled in with relevant text that is made to be the default value for that indicator. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 17

18 5.0 Creating Sequences If your system does not have an Auto Sampler, or if you wish to create sequences that do not involve the Auto Sampler, skip to section Creating Auto Sampler Sequences Preparation If your system includes an Auto Sampler, follow the steps below before using the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator. 1.) Make sure the Auto Sampler configuration is set: a. Go to the Config > Laser & Auto Sampler tab. b. Make sure the Enable/Disable A-S Control switch is set to Enable. c. Make sure the COM Port, Columns and Rows parameters are properly set. See section d. If you make changes on this tab, click on Save Changes and Restart Program for the changes to take effect. 2.) Make sure that the A-S Timer channel is created: a. If this channel is created, it will appear near the bottom of the channel list on the Control tab. b. If it is not created, go to the Alarms & Timers sub-tab of the Config tab. Add a Timer channel named A-S Timer. 3.) Make sure the three Auto Sampler manual channels are created: a. Go to the Control tab. Under Controllers, the top three channels should be Start Sample #, End Sample #, and Samples Left. If these channels are displayed, go to step three. Otherwise, proceed with the steps below. b. Go to the Config > Flow tab. Create any of the three channels that has not yet been created within the Controllers array. Type should be manual in each case. The Initial Setpoint can be zero for all three channels. See Figure 6. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 18

19 Figure 6: Creating a New Controller Channel c. Press Save and then Restart Program Running the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator After the Auto Sampler has been configured and the three manual channels have been created, follow the steps below to use the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator. 1.) Click on the Utilities menu item and select Auto Sampler Sequence Generator. The Utility tab should become active with the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator loaded. 1.) Fill in the desired parameters for the Auto Sampler Sequence. See section for more descriptions of these parameters. Be sure to fill in the Sequence Name parameter. 2.) Press the Add to Current Config button in the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator. This will add the currently defined Auto Sampler Sequence to the configuration that is running. Note: You do not need to restart the program at this point. Adding a sequence with this method is the only time that the DOC-0092 Rev E-4 19

20 configuration for the SP2 can be changed and take effect without restarting the software. 4.) Fill in Start Sample # and End Sample # on the Control tab. 5.) Press the button on the Control tab for the Auto Sampler sequence you have created. The Auto Sampler should begin sampling. Start Sample # is increments as the Sequence progresses. When Start Sample # = End Sample #, the sequence stops. Note: You can stop the sequence manually any time. If you then start it again, it picks up with the same sample as you stopped on. This allows you to pause during a Sequence. When you stop the sequence or it finishes, you can reset the Start Sample #, Samples Left and End Sample # and start the sequence again using a new range of samples. 5.2 Creating and Editing Sequences If your sequence does not involve the Auto Sampler, or if you wish to perform more complex sequence steps than the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator permits, the SP2 software offers two tools for creating and editing sequences. You can use the Config > Sequences tab described in the following section. Alternatively, you can use the Sequence Editor utility found under the Utilities menu item and described in section The following two sections describe how to do this. The sequence used as an example involves an Auto Sampler, but the same process can be used to edit any sequence. Example: Say you would like to make the Auto Sampler rinsing process depend on how clean the Auto Sampler probe is. To do this, you could use particle concentration readings to get an indication of probe cleanliness. In order to eliminate noise, you could also use the SP2 software s built-in Channel Averager function so that concentration readings are averaged over sixty samples. If the averaged concentration reading exceeds a certain limit, the Sequence could instruct the system to keep rinsing the probe. To implement this logic, you could either use the Config > Sequences tab (procedure described in section 5.2.1) or the Sequence Editor utility (procedure described in section 5.2.2) Using the Config > Sequences Tab Note: the following instructions are given only as an example. If you would actually like to implement this routine, contact DMT to determine appropriate condition channel and threshold values for your system. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 20

21 The following procedure requires that you have created a Scattering Avg. (#/cc) channel as described in section ) Click on Config > Sequences. 2.) Under Sequences, click on the Sequence you d like to edit, e.g. Run Auto Sampler. 3.) Under Steps, click on the Rinsing step. Figure 7: Inserting a Step After Rinsing 4.) Click on the green Insert After button (Figure 7). 5.) Under Sequence Step, fill in the parameters as shown in Figure 8. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 21

22 Figure 8: Specifying a Sequence Step 6.) Using the Insert buttons on the Config > Sequences tab, insert the following steps right after Check if Clean : Label: Move to Rinse in loop Action: A-S Rinse Condition: True Label: Rinsing in loop Action: Wait (Value) Condition: True Value: 8 Label: Repeat Test Action: Goto Condition: True Target Label: Check if Clean 7.) If you would like, you can specify that the system should rinse the A-S probe when the sequence stops. To do this, set the Exit Step switch to Include Exit Step, and set the parameters below as follows: Label: Exit Action: A-S Rinse Condition: True See Figure 9. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 22

23 Figure 9: Specifying an Exit Step 8.) Click on Save Changes. 9.) Click on Restart Program. If you do not wish the sequence to go into an infinite loop in the event the rinsing is not adequately reducing concentration, you could create a manual channel called A-S Rinse on the Config > Flow tab. You could initially set this channel to 0, increment it with every rinse, and opt out of the loop when A-S Rinse meets a certain threshold Using the Sequence Editor In addition to using the Config > Sequences tab, you can use the Sequence Editor to edit sequences. Say you would like to do the same task that was described in section editing the sequence so that it rinses the Auto Sampler probe until particle concentrations are low. You might then open and use the Sequence Editor as described below. (This procedure assumes you have already created a basic Auto Sampler DOC-0092 Rev E-4 23

24 sequence as described in section 5.1 and created a Scattering Avg (#cc) channel as described in section 4.2.) 2.) Click on the Utilities menu item. 3.) Select Sequence Editor. The Utility tab should become active with the Sequence Editor loaded. 4.) Under Sequences in the SP2, double-click on the Auto Sampler sequence you would like to modify. The Steps should appear in the Steps box. The table in the bottom half of the screen should populate with each step s Label, Action, Condition Channel, etc. See Figure 10. Figure 10: Sequence Editor Tab after a Sequence has been Selected 5.) Rename the sequence. Note: If you edit an existing sequence without changing its name and then add it to the current config as described below, the software DOC-0092 Rev E-4 24

25 will save the modified sequence with the same name as the original. There will thus be two sequences with the same name. It is recommended that you change the name of the modified sequence to avoid confusion. 6.) The logical place to test whether the probe is clean or if it needs a rinse is just before the Auto Sampler moves to the next sample i.e., just before the Increment Sample step. To insert a new step here, click on the green Insert button to the right of the Increment Sample step. See Figure 11. Figure 11: Inserting a Step after Increment Sample 7.) A new step will appear above Increment Sample. This step will be named (Step [x]), where [x] is the step number in the sequence. 8.) In the table in the bottom half of the window, locate the (Step [x]) step you have just created. In the Label field, replace (Step [x]) with Check If Clean. Fill in the rest of the parameters as shown in Figure 12. Figure 12: Configuring the New Step 9.) Using the Insert buttons, add the following steps after Check if Clean : Label: Move to Rinse in loop Action: A-S Rinse Condition: True Label: Rinsing in loop Action: Wait (Value) Condition: True Value: 8 DOC-0092 Rev E-4 25

26 Label: Repeat Test Action: Goto Condition: True Target Label: Check if Clean 10.) If you would like, you can specify that the system should rinse the A-S probe when the sequence stops. To do this, set the Exit Step switch to Include Exit Step, and set the parameters below as follows: Exit Step: Exit Condition: True Action: A-S Rinse 11.) Click on Add to Current Config. The program will automatically start using the updated configuration. 5.3 Troubleshooting Note that older sequences may not work with updated SP2 software. If you are experiencing problems with sequences that worked on an older version of the software, you may need updated.seq files. 6.0 Program Tabs 6.1 SP2 Tab The SP2 tab is shown in Figure 13. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 26

27 Figure 13: SP2 Tab # in File shows the number of particle events in the data file so far. Data File displays the file to which output data are currently written. Typically this file is named C:\DMT\SP2 Data\YYYYMMDD\YYYYMMDDx[nnn].sp2b, where YYYYMMDD is the date and [nnn] is the number of the file (e.g., 001 for the first file on a given day). If more than 999 files are created, the program adds another digit to the file name, e.g. YYYYMMDDx1000.sp2b, YYYYMMDDx1001.sp2b, etc. The SP2 Spectrum graph on the left side of the screen charts data channels for a single particle event from the most recent data buffer. (Since there may be many events during a single data buffer, the program can only display a small subset of recorded particles.) For systems with a 6133 card, the graph can chart up to eight data channels. For those with a 6110 card, the graph can display up to four channels. The legend at the bottom right of the graph shows which color corresponds to which data channel. Clicking on the buttons to the right of the legend allows the user to display or exclude available data channels from the graph. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 27

28 The two switches to the lower left of the chart allow the user to control the graph s scaling. Both the x and y axes can be auto-scaled or scaled manually. The default settings upon start-up can be changed in the Config tab. To scale values manually, set the switch to manual scaling and put the cursor over the graph s current axis limits. Then click on the number and type to set new values. Clicking on Press to Pause Display freezes the data display to the current particle event. The two or three charts on the right-hand side of the SP2 Tab show user-selected housekeeping channels. Each chart shows two channels, one in blue (with its scale on the left y-axis) and one in red (with its scale on the right y-axis). The names of the channels appear in the white boxes above each graph. The channels can be changed in two ways: by right-clicking on the boxes and selecting a new channel from the dropdown list, or by using the arrows to the left of the boxes. Values for the current moment in time appear in the relevant-colored box above each time-series chart. The user can control how far back the charts display data by clicking on the control in the center area between the two graphs. 6.2 Control Tab The Control tab displays information about flow controllers, the laser, thresholds, and housekeeping channels. Figure 14 shows the Control tab for the SP2-D, while Figure 15 shows the tab for the SP2-C. Note that the laser operation differs significantly for the two versions of the instruments. SP2-D users can turn the laser and sample pump and off by using the switches listed under Digital Outputs. SP2-C users turn the laser on and off using the switch listed in the Laser controls box. The sample pump must be turned on and off on the pump itself. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 28

29 Figure 14: Control Tab for SP2-D Figure 15: Control Tab for SP2-C DOC-0092 Rev E-4 29

30 6.2.1 Controllers For Systems with Auto Samplers Systems with Auto Samplers display three additional Controllers: Start Sample #, End Sample #, and Samples Left. Systems with Auto Samplers also typically have buttons for preconfigured sequences. See Figure 16. Figure 16: Control Tab for Systems with Auto Sampler. (Note: This screen shot is from an SP2-C. SP2-D s with Auto Samplers will display two additional flow controllers, Laser Temp SP (C) and Pump Laser Current SP. SP2-D displays will also list Digital I/O channels.) These three Controllers are used by the Auto Sampler sequences. The first two allow the user to specify the starting and ending sample #. For information on how samples are numbered on the auto sampler, see section The starting sample number will change as the auto sampler proceeds with sampling. Samples Left indicates the number of samples remaining and is calculated by the program. Users are advised not to change this number. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 30

31 For All Systems The Sample Flow SP and Sheath Flow SP allow users to specify set points for these flows. Typically Sample Flow SP is 120 vccm, although it can range from vccm depending on particle concentration. Sheath Flow SP is typically 1000 vccm. Laser Temp SP (C) and Pump Laser Current SP allow the user to specify set points for the pump laser. Some of the controller channels may have a button to their right which determines how the set point target is set. (See the green button next to Sample Flow SP in Figure 14 and Figure 15.) These buttons are present for all controller channels that are configured as either Simple Control or PID. Manual simply sets the controller variable to the manually specified output value for example, a voltage output for a simple controller or a flow value for a flow controller. Loop Control uses the measured value and a control loop to try to reach the Set Point (e.g., 120 vccm). Controllers are stored as an array. The user can create controllers on the Config > Flows tab; see section If more controllers have been created than can be displayed at one time, the scroll bar allows users to change the range of Controllers that is displayed Sequence Switches If the current configuration has any Sequences defined, and these Sequences have been created with switches, then a set of Sequence Switches will be displayed on the left side of the Control tab. The Sequence Switches display the available sequences and allow the user to start and stop these sequences. The user can start a sequence by clicking on the relevant button, which will then turn green and indicate that the sequence is running (Figure 17). DOC-0092 Rev E-4 31

32 Figure 17: Control Tab while Auto Sampler Sequence is Running (configured for SP2-C) Keep in mind that stopping a Sequence that is running is different than undoing the things that the sequence did. See section 1.5, About Sequences, for more information. Sequences are stored as an array. If more sequences are available than can be displayed at one time, the scroll bar allows users to change the range of sequences that is displayed Digital Outputs The Digital Outputs controls allow you to turn digital outputs on and off. A control is displayed for each digital output defined on the Config > Digital I/O tab. The ON/OFF switch will be set to whichever position is specified as the Initial State on the Config > Digital I/O tab. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 32

33 In Figure 15, for instance, you can use the Digital Output controls to turn the sample pump and pump laser on and off Laser Controls The boxed laser controls only appear on the SP2-C Control Tab. For the SP2-D, laser control is now accomplished via the Pump Laser Power switch and the Laser Temp (C) SP controller channel Threshold Controls The boxed threshold controls determine how particle events get detected. Primary Threshold indicates the primary-channel threshold value that triggers an event. Secondary Threshold specifies the secondary-channel trigger value, if applicable. Users must specify a primary threshold, but the secondary threshold is optional. To enter a new threshold, use the white control field to type in a new value, or use the up-and-down arrows to the left of this field. Then hit Set New Value. The updated value will appear in the gray display field once the change takes effect. Pressing Set Auto Threshold Time will change the auto threshold time to whatever value is entered in the white auto threshold time control. The currently displayed auto threshold time is displayed in the gray field underneath the Auto Threshold Every n Seconds label. For information on the auto threshold feature, see section Alicat Flow Controller Some SP2s have an Alicat Flow Controller installed as an optional feature. On these instruments, the Alicat Flow Controller box allows the user to determine the controller s set point. The set point can be changed by entering a new value in the white field and then clicking on Set New Value. The gray field indicates the current set point Housekeeping Data The gray fields on the right side of the screen provide current values for the housekeeping channels. The ordering of these channels can be changed within the Config tab. See section for details Output Channel Setting This field allows users to set the value of specific output (control) channels. For example, setting Sheath Flow SP (vccm) to 800 will result in changing the Sheath Flow SP (vccm) channel to 800. Only output (control) channels can be set with this feature. Once a DOC-0092 Rev E-4 33

34 channel and value have been specified, click on Set Channel to have these settings take effect. 6.3 Status Tab The Status tab (Figure 18) provides information about the program s status. Figure 18: Status Tab The Data Folder, Data File and Housekeeping File fields show the locations where the raw SP2 data (*.sp2b) and housekeeping (*.hk) files are stored. These settings cannot be changed from this screen; rather, changes must be made to the Config tab settings. Configuration File lists the configuration file the SP2 software is currently running. Description lists the description associated with this configuration file, if one exists. Users can add descriptions to configuration files on the Configuration > Program tab. Note that changes to the configuration will not take effect until the program is restarted. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 34

35 Serial Number lists the serial number of the SP2. Depending on the age of the SP2, this serial number is either read directly from the instrument or is entered by the user on the Program sub-tab of the Configuration tab. Ver. lists the current version of the SP2 software. The right side of the tab displays information about alarms that the program is currently testing for. Alarms are stored as an array, and if more Alarms are defined than can be displayed at one time, the scroll bar allows users to change the range of Alarms that is displayed. For each alarm, the tab shows the following information: Alarm name Whether the alarm is currently False, Warning, or True The time at which the alarm conditions were first met, if applicable The condition trigger for the alarm (the current value of the channel that triggered the alarm, the operand used in testing the alarm condition, and the threshold). For more information about alarms, see the section on the Config > Alarms & Timers tab. If any alarms are in a Warning state but none are True, the Alarm Status button at the top of the program display turns yellow. If any alarms are True, the Alarm Status button turns red. The lower portion of the Status tab displays the 20 most recent events and errors that the program has logged. Although only 10 logs are shown at once, the scroll bar to the right can be used to view the remaining 10 logs that are available. These events and errors are stored in the *.log file. Users can also add their own notes to this file by typing text in the Message field and clicking the Log This Message button. 6.4 Sequences Tab Figure 19 shows the Sequences tab. Note that if no sequences are defined, the Sequences tab is not visible. As explained above, Sequences are sets of actions the user creates and the software then performs automatically. See section 1.5, About Sequences, for details. The sequences tab displays all available sequences. The sequence tab also allows users to activate sequences, by clicking on the button. When the sequence is running, the button will light up, and the Step and Timer parameters will update. If the button is pressed while the sequence is already running, the sequence will be stopped. To view more sequences, use the horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of the screen. To view a full list of steps in a sequence, use the vertical scrollbar to the right. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 35

36 Figure 19: Sequences Tab Sequence steps are listed in order beneath each sequence. To get more information on a particular step, hover the cursor over it. A box will appear in the right margin with additional information. Note that Exit steps are not listed, as they are not technically part of the sequence itself. If exit steps exist, however, they will get executed whenever the sequence stops. To see the definition of the Exit Step for any Sequence, view that sequence in the Config > Sequences tab or the Sequence Editor. To modify sequences, go to the Config > Sequences tab. Changes made to sequences do not take effect until the program is restarted. 6.5 Config Tab The configuration tab allows the user to view and/or change parameters related to the SP2 instrument and the SP2 software. It also allows the user to set specifications for DOC-0092 Rev E-4 36

37 streaming data out to a serial port or Ethernet connection, or in from an aircraftnavigation system or other data stream via an Ethernet connection or a serial port. The configuration options are organized into sub-tabs that are visible after clicking on the Config tab. Information on the Config tab is intended for reference only. Do not change the configuration without first contacting DMT, as changing the configuration can cause the system to malfunction. Note: After changing any parameters in the configuration tab, you must click on Save Changes and then Restart Program for the changes to take effect. Save Changes is grayed out until changes are made Program Sub-Tab The Program sub-tab allows the user to set default parameters to manage the SP2 software. This tab is shown in Figure 20. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 37

38 Figure 20: Config Tab Program Sub-Tab Data File Path stores the directory in which data files are stored. The default setting for this parameter is C:\DMT\SP2 Data. A new path can be entered by typing into the field or by clicking on the folder icon to the right of the field. If a valid NTP Server IP address is entered in the NTP Server parameter, the program will attempt to connect to the NTP server when it first starts. If successful, it will adjust the computer clock appropriately once before taking data. Control Cycle Time specifies an interval in milliseconds for the program s control loop (see section 1.1). The default rate is 1000 msec (1 second). If Restart Files at Midnight is selected, the program will automatically create a new folder and new files at midnight. If Continuous Files is selected, a new file will not be automatically started at midnight. The Write File/Don't Write File parameter determines whether or not the program begins writing data to a file immediately when it starts. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 38

39 The Autoscale/Manual Scale switches allow the user to specify whether data on the SP2 spectrum graph should be scaled automatically or manually upon program startup. Once the program is running, the user can always change these settings using the switches on the SP2 tab. Graph Backgrounds controls the background color of all graphs on the SP2 tab. Clicking on the white or colored square will bring up a selection of color options to choose from. Description allows the user to enter a description of the current configuration file. For example, Incandescent Only might be used to describe a configuration with a save condition set to Incandescent Only. The boxed Upper Graph, Lower Graph, and Third Graph (optional) controls specify which channels are graphed in the time-series graphs upon start-up. To change the channels, use the arrow controls or click on the channel name to bring up a list of options. Clicking on the Reset to Defaults button restores all the values on the Program tab to their DMT-supplied defaults. Note that you must save these changes and restart the program to have these defaults take effect, just as you would do for any other changes Parameters for the SP2-D s Digital Boards The table beneath the Help screen shows information about the instrument s digital boards. The SP2 typically has two boards either a 6110 or 6133 for synchronous data, and either a 6036 or 6259 for digital I/O. On the SP2-D, the 6133 and 6259 are standard; see the figure below. Figure 21: Digital Board Table The default values for many of the parameters on the Config tab are specific to the digital boards being used. The software uses the information in the Digital Board table to determine what values these parameters should have. In the unusual event that the DOC-0092 Rev E-4 39

40 detector area lists multiple boards of the same type e.g., both 6110 and 6133, which are both synchronous data boards then the board listed last in the table determines the default values for parameters. The white field beneath the table is for adding new devices. This feature is primarily used by DMT staff, and you should not need it. The query button on the left side of the table is also not normally needed. If your instrument is not detecting any devices, however, clicking this button may allow the system to detect The scrollbar on the right side allows you to move up and down in the table so you can see all the rows Parameters for Configuration Files The right-hand side of the screen provides options for handling configuration files. If you only use one configuration for your system, you will not need to use these controls very often. When you make changes, you can simply click on Save Changes and Restart Program, which will update all program settings to the ones selected on the Config sub-tabs. These settings will also be used the next time the software loads. Pressing Save Changes writes the current configuration data to the configuration file shown in the Config File Being Viewed indicator. This file is stored in the C:\DMT\SP2 Support directory. Pressing Restart Program causes the SP2 program to restart, loading the currently defined Start-up Config File. This is a quick way to make configuration changes take effect. Note that when the program is restarted, time-series graphs will lose their history and a new data file will be opened. Config File Being Viewed displays the name of the configuration file that was last read from or written to. If you have edited the configuration parameters, the currently displayed configuration parameters will not coincide exactly with those in the file or with those the program is actually using. Start-up Config File displays the name of the configuration file that will be used the next time the SP2 program is started. This file is stored in the C:\DMT\SP2 Support directory. Press the Mark Current Config File as the Start-up Config to designate the Config File Being Viewed as the Start-up Config File. The parameters in that file will be used the next time the program starts. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 40

41 Save Config As... saves the current configuration parameters to a file with a name chosen by the operator. This allows you to save various configurations for future use or reference. Note that you can only archive configuration files to the C:\DMT\SP2 Support directory. Load a File loads the configuration parameters stored in any previously saved configuration file into this editor. These new parameters will NOT be used by the program unless they are saved to the file that is designated as the Active Config File. Load Start-up Config will load the start-up configuration file. The name of the startup configuration file is shown in the Start-up Config File indicator. To change the start-up configuration file, use Load a File to load the desired file, then press Mark Current Config File as the Start-up Config Acquisition Sub-Tab The Acquisition sub-tab allows the user to set and view parameters related to data acquisition. It also determines which data channels are acquired and which are displayed on the SP2 data graph on the SP2 tab. The Acquisition tab is pictured in Figure 22. The parameters visible on the tab are described below. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 41

42 Figure 22: Config Tab Acquisition Sub-Tab Acquisition Box Device is the identifier given to the data acquisition card within Measurement and Automation Explorer. 2 Device numbers start at 1. Samples/Sec defines how many A/D samples are taken every second. This is normally set to 5,000,000 for the 6110 board or 2,500,000 for the 6133 board. Scan Length determines how many A/D samples are taken for each channel in one buffer of data. Typically the Scan Length and the Samples/Sec parameters are set so that data buffers are seconds long. 2 To access the Measurement and Automation Explorer, go to Start > All Programs > National Instruments > Measurement & Automation. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 42

43 Input Range specifies the range of voltages that the channels will be configured to acquire. This range is applied to all the data channels, but not to housekeeping channels. Note that most of the options are specific to either the 6110 card or the 6133 card. (The 6110 card is the older, 4-channel card, and the 6133 is the newer, 8- channel card.) The Primary Chan # specifies which channel is used to determine particle events. It is usually set to Channel 0, the Scattering Channel. (Channel numbers start at 0.) There must always be a Primary Trigger channel defined. The Secondary Chan # specifies a secondary channel used to detect particle events. It is usually set to Channel 1, the Incandescent Channel. If this parameter is set to -1, the Secondary Trigger is undefined and ignored. The Primary Threshold and Secondary Threshold specify the initial values of the triggers in digital units. These may be periodically updated when the program is running if automatic thresholding is enabled (see section ). Trigger Hyst defines the hysteresis in digital units such that after a particle is detected, the primary signal must go below [Threshold - Hysteresis] before the program looks for another event. The hysteresis allows the program to filter out minor signal variations that are due to noise. See section for more details. Points per Event controls the number of A/D samples taken during each particle event. This value provides the scale for the x-axis of the SP2 Spectrum Data graph. Pre-Trig Points stores the number of A/D samples recorded with an event before threshold is reached. For instance, if Pre-Trig Points is set to 30, and Points per Event is 180, the particle event will start 30 samples before the threshold is reached and continue for 150 samples afterwards. Saturation indicates the maximum number of A/D counts a channel can store before the data should be deemed unreliable. Every channel has a saturation bit in the Flag data that indicates whether the saturation point has been reached Unboxed Parameters (Background Parameters, Sample Flow) Sample Flow LFE (vccm) tells the acquisition program which housekeeping channel is used to determine sample flow. This channel is required for the calculation of particle concentrations. Typically, this field is set to Sample Flow LFE (vccm) and should not need to be changed. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 43

44 Version features two additional parameters next to the Sample Flow parameter. If Background Every n Seconds is non-zero, then a set of background data will be saved to a file named yyyymmddhhmmssbkgnd.sp2b every n seconds. The number of points of data saved is determined by the Background Points parameter. This background data set can be viewed with the normal data viewer, and it can provide a diagnostic for viewing baseline drift, noise levels, and other issues Channels Box Use Channels Through determines the highest-number channel that will be acquired. It is often set to 3, meaning that channels 0, 1, 2, and 3 will be acquired. The instrument will acquire all consecutive channels through this number. For the 6110 board, this field cannot be set higher than 3 (4 channels total). For the 6133 board, this field can be set up to 7 (8 channels total). Channel Names are used in the legend of the data graph on the main SP2 front panel. These names are not included in the data file; however, since they are included in the configuration file that is saved with the data file, they can be used to document the signal attached to each channel. Acquire? defines whether each channel in the list will be included in the data. Although all the channels up to the Use Channels Through value are read from the data acquisition card, if one or more channels are not needed, deselecting them in this array will make the data files smaller. Show? defines whether or not a channel is included in the SP2 Spectrum data graph. The channels shown can be changed once the program is running. These values only define which channels are shown when the program first starts. Color defines the color of each line on the graph. The controls to the right of the color boxes provide AC/DC/Gnd coupling options for channels 0-3. Note that this option is only valid for the 6110 board and is ignored for the For the 6133, this parameter should be set to DC Files Box The switch on the left side of the box controls whether the software automatically names the output file or whether this name is user-specified. Autonamed files are named C:\DMT\SP2 Data\YYYYMMDD\YYYYMMDDx[nnn].sp2b, where YYYYMMDD is the date and [nnn] is the number of the file. If Manual File Name is selected, when data recording starts, the program will bring up dialog box for users to specify an output file name. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 44

45 # In File: This number provides a threshold for the number of particles the program will write to a file before it begins a new output data file. Note that because the file will not begin until the current data buffer has been completely processed, a file may contain more particles than the number stipulated in the # In File field Filters Box The data that is saved to a file can be limited in a number of ways using the Filters. The Save Condition control can be used to specify the types of particles the output file will save: 1. All Particles does not apply any filters. 2. Scatter Only saves particles whose signal on the primary channel (defined by the Primary Chan # parameter and usually the Scattering channel, channel 0) is greater than the Primary Threshold, but for which the secondary channel signal does not exceed the Secondary Threshold. 3. Incandescent Only saves only those particles that had a signal on the secondary channel (defined by the Secondary Chan # parameter and usually the Incandescent channel, channel 1) larger than the Secondary Threshold regardless of the signal level on the Primary Channel. Write Data n Minutes Out of m is used to automatically turn on and off the saving of data for a fraction of the minutes that acquisition is running. This helps minimize file size. If Skip Wide Peaks is True, events that have a signal above the Threshold at the last point in the event will be discarded This can be useful for removing wide noise pulses or signals from particles that are not confined to the normal particle flow stream. 1 of Every is applied after all the other conditions. If set to 1, this parameter is ignored, as every particle is saved. If set to a larger number, for example 5, then one out of every 5 particles that are otherwise qualified will be saved. This parameter is further defined by the Scatter/All Particles option. If set to All Particles, this filter is applied to all particles regardless of their signal. If set to Scatter, it will cause 1 of n Scatter-only particles to be saved whereas all Incandescent particles will be saved. (Note that Incandescent particles are defined as those for which the signal on the Secondary Trigger channel goes above the Secondary Threshold; the assumption is that that the Secondary Trigger in this case is set to 1, i.e. the Incandescent channel.) Note that the Write Data n Minutes Out of m and 1 of Every can also be set programmatically via alarms, sequences, or CCL commands. The programmatic use of these features should be used with care, however. The log file will note these DOC-0092 Rev E-4 45

46 programmatic changes, but the data files can be difficult to interpret if the filter conditions change in the middle of an experiment Thresholds Box The SP2 software can automatically calculate new primary and secondary channel thresholds periodically, which may help in situations where the signal baseline shifts due to external influences. To use this feature, the Thr. Every n Sec must be set to a non-zero value. (Setting it to zero disables auto-thresholding.) The # of Thr. Points determines how many data points are used to calculate a threshold. This value should not be increased beyond several thousand, or the program s performance can be impacted. The Primary Delta and Secondary Delta specify additional offsets that are added to the calculated thresholds to ensure noise immunity. Typically, the fourchannel 6110 board will have Primary and Secondary Deltas of 20, while the eightchannel board will have a Primary Delta of and a Secondary Delta of Smaller deltas than this will increase the sensitivity of the instrument, but the data will also require more post-processing to filter out peaks due to noise Other Acquisition Tab Features Reset to Defaults resets the Acquisition parameters to the default values Housekeeping Sub-Tab The Housekeeping sub-tab (Figure 23) displays controls for housekeeping channel acquisition and display. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 46

47 Figure 23: Config Tab Housekeeping Sub-Tab HK Cycle Time defines the loop rate in msec that the Housekeeping module will use to acquire and write housekeeping data to the housekeeping file. Normally this parameter is set to 1000 (1 second). Buffer Depth determines how many points the housekeeping data buffer stores. Normally, this is set to 3600, so that with 1000 ms HK Cycle Time, there is one hour of housekeeping data buffered in the program. This means that during data acquisition, at most the most recent one hour of data can be displayed in the time-series plots. Increasing this value much past 3600 is not recommended, as it can severely impact the program s performance. Time Range determines how much data is displayed in the time-series graphs when the program starts. This value can be changed by the user after the program is running. The OSDS Format is an optional feature for reading streaming data from a variety of sources. If this field is blank, no data are streamed in. Configuration of this feature is DOC-0092 Rev E-4 47

48 complex and you should consult DMT before using it; see the Communication tab for more information. Two/Three HK Graphs switch determines how many time-series plots are displayed on the main program tab for Housekeeping data. Each graph displays two housekeeping channels. If Include File Number Channel is checked, an additional channel is included in the Housekeeping list called File Number, which indicates which data file is being recorded at the time the Housekeeping data were acquired. If no data file is being written, this channel will have the value of 0. If automatic file naming is being used, this channel will contain the serial number of the data file being recorded. If operator-selected file names are being used, this channel will be set to a value of 1 when data are being recorded. Note that this channel is an approximate guide to the data file being recorded, since the file can change partway through a housekeeping interval. The Channel Order list on the right-hand side of the screen is used to order the housekeeping channels. This order applies to both the SP2 software (in drop-down lists) and in the *.hk output file. To substitute a new channel for one already in the list, click on the gray arrows or right-click on the existing channel s name. Clicking on the Insert (green) or Delete (red) buttons allows channels to be inserted or deleted. The first channel in the Channel Order list is always Time (sec since midnight) and cannot be changed. Any channels not explicitly included in this list will be added on to end of the channels. Digits of Prec. affects how the channels are written to the *.hk data file. To use automatic formatting, use a value of -1 for Digits of Prec. Any channel in the data file that is not explicitly listed in the Channel Order will also use automatic formatting. Note: This parameter does not affect how channels are displayed within the program, which always uses automatic formatting. The Reset to Defaults button at the bottom of the Housekeeping tab resets all the housekeeping values to their DMT-supplied defaults Analog In (AI) Sub-Tab The Analog Input ( Analog In ) sub-tab specifies information about the housekeeping data acquisition devices. It also allows the user to view and define the method used to convert voltage readings to meaningful units for the housekeeping channels. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 48

49 Figure 24: Config Tab Analog In Sub-Tab Single-Ended/Differential defines whether the relevant National Instruments data acquisition device is configured for Single-Ended or Differential operation. The device must be wired accordingly. Note that all channels on a given device must be configured and wired the same way. Also note that although the NI Device used for the main signals (scatter and incandescent channels) may appear in this list of devices, the setting on this tab for that device is ignored. The main signals are always wired as differential. These parameters are only relevant to NI devices used for Analog Input housekeeping channels. Extra channels that may be available on the main signal device cannot be used for housekeeping channels. To remove elements from this array, right-click on the device button and select Delete Element from the menu AI Channels Table AI Channels is an array that defines conversion methods for the analog-input housekeeping channels acquired from any number of National Instruments data acquisition devices. To view different elements in the array, use the numeric control DOC-0092 Rev E-4 49

50 right underneath the AI Channels label or the scroll bar on the right of the AI Channels array. The number listed in this control will correspond to the array element shown in the top row of the display table. You can type numbers directly into the field, or you can use the arrows to increment or decrement the number. The channels can be listed in any order. Channel names appear in the first column. The Scaling column lists the type of scaling used to convert the measured voltage to engineering units. There are several scaling options: - Thermister: a built-in scaling system for SP2 Thermisters. - YAG Thermister a built-in scaling system for SP2 YAG Thermisters. - Polynomial: a polynomial equation with coefficients specified in the Offset, Linear, Quadratic, and Cubic columns. - None: no conversion. Data will be returned as a Voltage. - Lookup Table: a scaling system based on a lookup table. See below. The Device column lists the number of the device from which the analog input is read. The Chan column lists the channel number on this device. The Range column lists the analog input range. Note that not all of the Range options listed are available on all National Instruments devices. The range selected must be available on the NI device that is installed for the measurement to be made correctly. Channels can be added or removed from the table using the Insert (green) and Delete (red) buttons to the right of the table columns Lookup Table Lookup Table is an array that allows one or more analog input channels to be scaled from voltage to engineering units according to any arbitrary relationship. Any channel which has the Scaling parameter set to Lookup Table will use this table to scale its value. The program will take the channel's voltage and interpolate it into the Raw Value column of the Lookup Table and use a quadratic fit to the 5 nearest points to calculate the scaled value. Load Table from File allows the user to load a Lookup Table from a preexisting file.. The file should contain two columns of data, raw and scaled, separated by commas or tabs, with no header and any number of rows. Reset Channels to Defaults sets the channels back to their DMT-supplied default values. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 50

51 6.5.5 Digital I/OTab The Digital I/O tab (Figure 25) allows the user to define digital input and output channels for use within the SP2 system. Any number of such channels can be defined, and they can use any National Instruments device that supports them. Figure 25: Config Tab Digital I/O Sub-Tab There are two methods of creating a channel. First, you can simply start typing the channel s information (Name, Chan, Port, etc.) in the first blank row in the table. If the new channel should appear somewhere in the middle of existing channels, you can use the green Insert button. Clicking this button will insert a blank row just above where you clicked. To delete a channel, click the red Delete button that corresponds to that channel s row. Note that each Digital Input channel is logged in the SP2 system as another data channel. A value of 0 represents a low input signal, and a value of 1 represents a high input signal. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 51

52 Digital Outputs Parameters Name defines the name of the digital output channel within the SP2 system. Channel is used to define the channel number of the digital output bit on the National Instruments hardware. Port defines the digital port that the digital bit is associated with on the National Instruments hardware. Device must match the device name of the National Instruments Digital IO Device as seen in Measurement and Automation Explorer. Initial State is used to define the state, On or Off, that the bit will be set to when the SP2 program starts. Invert? can be used to invert the logical output of the digital bit. If set to On is True, (no inversion), then when the SP2 switch is set to On, the digital bit will be True. If set to On is False (Inverted), then when the SP2 switch is set to On, the digital bit will be False Digital Inputs Parameters Name defines the name of the digital input channel within the SP2 system. Channel is used to define the channel number of the digital input bit on the National Instruments hardware. Port defines the digital port that the digital bit is associated with on the National Instruments hardware. Device must match the device name of the National Instruments Digital IO Device as seen in Measurement and Automation Explorer Flow Sub-Tab The Flow sub-tab governs the flow controllers (left side of screen) and the flow meters (middle of screen). Unlike other screens, where help windows are always visible, users must click on the Flow Controller Help and Flow Meter Help buttons to view help windows. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 52

53 Figure 26: Config Tab Flow Sub-Tab Controllers The Controllers define how analog output voltages are set to control external devices. Often, these control functions use housekeeping channels as inputs to calculate the desired output voltage. For instance, the user can configure a Controller so that a mass flow controller device uses a volumetric flow set point and measured temperature and pressure (housekeeping channels) to determine a mass flow output. The standard Controllers that come configured with the SP2 include one for controlling mass sheath flow with a volumetric set point, and one for controlling the Exhaust Valve Set (V) based on the sample flow reading and set point (vccm). In addition to the two default Controllers described above, the Controllers parameters allow the configuration of an arbitrary number of Analog Output control channels. Each channel can be configured to be one of the following types: DOC-0092 Rev E-4 53

54 Direct Setpoint: Used to create an Analog Output channel that has a voltage Set Point that the operator controls directly. This can be used with a Mass Flow Controller for which the operator Set Point is also in Mass Flow, a Volume Flow Controller for which the operator Set Point is also in Volume Flow, or other controls that need an Analog Output voltage directly determined by an operator Set Point. Mass Controller, Volume SP: Used with a Mass Flow Controller for which the operator Set Point is in Volume Flow. A second data channel will be created to record the operator Volume Set Point. The Name channel will record the Mass Set Point. Volume Controller, Mass SP: Used with a Volume Flow Controller for which the operator Set Point is in Mass Flow. A second data channel will be created to record the operator Mass Set Point. The Name channel will record the Volume Set Point. Simple Controller: Used to define a controller channel that uses a simple semiproportional/deadband algorithm. PID Controller: Like a simple controller, sets an analog output based on a process variable (housekeeping channel) so as to control the process channel at a specified set point. The analog output is determined via a proportional integral derivative (PID) function. Note that up to 10 PID loop controllers can be configured. If more than 10 are defined in the configuration, the 11th and higher will generate errors. Follower: Used to define a Follower Analog Output channel, such that the voltage output is proportional to a Housekeeping data channel value. Manual: Used to define a new channel that is logged and the value of which is user-specified, but which does not correspond to an analog output channel. This channel can be set by the operator manually to record an experimental parameter that changes during an experiment. The user can set this channel to record an experimental parameter that changes rarely during an experiment. It can also be set by a CCL command so as to record a value from a remote system. Sequences can also be used to manipulate these Manual channels, as is done when the Auto-Sampler option is enabled. Some of these Controllers also create a new logical channel, which is named in New Channel Name, described below. All analog output channels are configured as single-ended. Note that the software displays information for one Controller at a time. To see information about additional Controllers, use the scrollbar at the bottom of the Controller window, or use the Index control in the upper left. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 54

55 Users can add and delete Controllers using the Insert Before, Insert After, and Delete buttons. For each defined Controller, the user must enter some or all of the parameters below. Parameters that are not relevant to a particular type of Controller are grayed out. Controller Parameters Definitions of the Controller Parameters are given below. Note that parameters may be grayed out if they are not required for the selected Controller Type. Type: This parameter is used to define the type of Controller channel that is being created Direct Setpoint, Simple Control, etc. (See previous page for definitions of these types.) For a general-purpose analog output channel that is not a flow, a control loop, or a Follower, select Direct Setpoint. This type implies that the analog output is the scaled set point, with no additional influence from other channels. Name: This is the name given to the Analog Output channel in engineering units. Note that if the Controller channel is configured to convert a Volume Flow Set Point to a Mass Flow output for a Mass Flow Controller, then this name is applied to the Mass Flow Set Point. A second channel will also be recorded to the data stream with a name specified by New Channel Name, and this second channel will contain the Set Point in Volume Flow that the user actually enters. A similar second channel is created for a Volume Flow Controller that uses a Mass Flow Set Point. Note that the actual voltage value that is output to the Analog Output channel is not recorded directly for these Flow Controllers. When a Simple Controller or PID Controller is used, a second Channel is created that records the actual voltage Set Point that is sent to that Controller's Analog Output channel. This is necessary, since these control loops need to know the previous voltage Set Point as well as the desired Set Point relative to the Process Variable Channel. New Channel Name: This parameter defines the name of the new channel that some controller Types create. For Mass Controller, Volume SP: A new channel is created for the set point in Volume flow. The user interacts with the new channel i.e., when the program is running, the user changes this channel's value to change the controller. The channel specified by Name, Dev, and Channel is the physical channel in Mass flow. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 55

56 The new channel stores the new set point flow, not the actual voltage value that gets output to the to the analog output channel. For Volume Controller, Mass SP: A new channel is created for the set point in Mass flow. The user interacts with the new channel, and the channel specified by Name, Dev, and Channel is the physical channel in Volume flow. The new channel stores the new set point flow, not the actual voltage value that gets output to the to the analog output channel. For Simple Controller and PIDs: A new channel is created for the Voltage output sent to the physical channel, which is associated with the specified Device and Channel. This is necessary since these control loops need to know the previous voltage set point as well as the desired set point relative to the Source channel. However, the channel specified by Name is the set point that the user interacts with. For Types that do not create a new channel, this parameter is grayed out. Initial SetPoint: This defines the value of the Controller channel when the program first starts, in the units that the operator uses to define the Set Point. Thus if the channel is defined as a Mass Controller with a Volume Set Point, this parameter will have units of Volume Flow. Range: This specifies the output range in Volts that the analog output channel will be configured to use for Direct Controllers, Flow Controllers, Simple Controllers, PID Controllers, and Followers. This should be as large as necessary to span the required voltages, but as small as possible to maximize resolution. Note that the 6036E board sometimes used for Housekeeping only has 0 to 10V and -10 to 10V ranges. Nonetheless, even when a 6036E is being used, this parameter will often be set to 0 to 5V range. The software limits the output voltage to this range, which is useful since the flow meters and valves used often have a 0 to 5V range. Dev and Channel: These parameters determine which National Instruments Device and Channel are used for the Controller channel. Device names can be determined from within the Measurement and Automation Explorer. Device names are typically a string such as Dev2, and Device numbers start at 1. Channel numbers typically start at 0. Min Change: For Flow Controllers, this parameter defines the minimum change to the Set Point that is required before the analog output channel will be updated. If this is set to 0, the output channel is always updated to the current Set Point value. However, for a channel such as a Mass Flow Controller with Volume Flow Set Point, giving this parameter a small positive value will ensure that small fluctuations or noise in pressure or temperature don't continuously move the Flow Set Point around. This parameter is used for Direct Controllers and Flow Controllers. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 56

57 Slope Offset: These parameters are used for Flow Controllers and Followers. They define a linear conversion from engineering units to Voltage. Thus this parameter has units of Volts/Flow (or Volts/Engineering Units). For Flow Controllers, the Slope has the same flow units as the hardware controller itself. (E.g. for a Mass Controller with Volume Set Point, the Slope would have units of Volts/Mass Flow.) For PID controllers, this Slope is used to calculate the voltage output for a Manual SetPoint when in Manual mode, and its inverse is used to calculate an effective Manual Setpoint from the calculated PID output voltage when in Control Loop mode. Start up: This parameter is used for Simple Controllers and PID Controllers. These Types of Controllers can be switched between Manual mode and Control Loop mode while the program is running. In Manual mode, the user enters a Set Point in units of the output channel (Volts for Simple Controllers, engineering units of the control channel for PID Controllers). The analog output is then set directly from the specified Set Point. In Control Loop mode, the user specifies the Set Point in the engineering units of the Process Variable and the control algorithm is used to set the analog output. The Start-Up parameter determines which mode the Controller starts in. Pressure Ch: Mass Controller/Volume SP and Volume Controller/Mass SP types, this parameter defines the Housekeeping channel that is used as the reference pressure for converting Set Points between Mass and Volume Flows. Temperature Ch: For Mass Controller/Volume SP and Volume Controller/Mass SP types, this parameter defines the Housekeeping channel that is used as the reference temperature for converting Set Points between Mass and Volume Flows. This dropdown list and the Pressure Ch are populated with all the Housekeeping channels. Process Var Ch: This parameter is used to define the source (process variable) channel to be used with Simple Controller, PID, and Follower channels. Note that this dropdown list is populated with all the Housekeeping channels, not just the Analog Input channels. Thus a Follower channel could be defined that uses any channel as its source, including calculated concentrations, for example. Deadband: This parameter defines the Deadband when comparing the Process Variable to the Set Point. The difference between the Process Variable and Set Point must exceed this Deadband before the output to the channel is changed. This parameter is only used for Simple Controllers. Step Size (V): This parameter defines the Step Size in Volts that is taken if the Deadband between the Process Variable Channel and Set Point is exceeded. (Note that if the difference between the Process Variable Channel and Set Point is more than 5 times the Deadband, then this Step Size parameter is multiplied by 5 to give a semiproportional control.) This parameter is only used for Simple Controllers. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 57

58 Initial Set Point (V): This parameter defines the initial output Set Point, e.g. the starting voltage put out on the D/A channel initially. This parameter is only used for Simple Controllers. Kc: This parameter specifies the Proportional Gain Kc for PID Controllers. Ti (min): This parameter specifies the Integral Time in minutes for PID Controllers. Td (min): This parameter specifies the Derivative Time in minutes for PID Controllers. Min SP: For PID controllers, this parameter specifies the minimum Set Point in Engineering Units that the program is allowed to set the output to. Inside the program, this value is converted to Volts by using the Slope and Offset. This value is ignored if Max SP is set to 0. Max SP: For PID controllers, this parameter specifies the maximum Set Point in Engineering Units that the program is allowed to set the output to. Inside the program, this value is converted to Volts by using the Slope and Offset. This parameter and the Min SP are ignored if Max SP is set to 0. Note that the output is also limited by the Range parameter. Note that all analog output channels used for Controllers are configured as singleended. Note on Set Point Conversions When calculating a set point conversion, a standard temperature of ºK is used, as is a standard pressure of mbar. The Temperature channel is assumed to be in ºC, and the Pressure channel is assumed to be in mbar. Note on Timing The controller channels are calculated and updated by the main control program, not by the housekeeping program, and are thus updated at the cycle rate of the main program. They use the most recent values of housekeeping data in the calculations, and their resulting values are transmitted back to the housekeeping program for recording. Hence the housekeeping channel values recorded at time t(n) will be used at time t(n + delta) to calculate Controller channel set points, and these set points will be recorded in the housekeeping data file at time t(n + 1). DOC-0092 Rev E-4 58

59 Flow Meters The Flow Meters parameters allow you to create additional housekeeping channels that rescale a measured, physical volume or mass flow meter into a virtual mass or volume flow meter. They can also be used to create a new virtual channel that is simply a multiplicative scaling of an existing channel. To insert a flow meter, press the green Insert button and enter the parameters below. To delete a meter, press the red Delete button. After editing Flow Meters, you must click on Save Changes and Restart Program for changes to take effect. Flow Meter Parameters Virtual Meter: This is the name assigned to the newly created channel. Physical Meter: This drop-down list selects which existing housekeeping channel is used as the source of the flow measurement. Pressure and Temperature: These are the reference pressure and temperature, respectively, used for converting between mass flow and volume flow or vice versa. You can select these parameters from a drop-down list of housekeeping channels. Scale Factor: This parameter is used with the Re-scale Type to determine how the physical meter channel is scaled to calculate the virtual meter channel. Type: This parameter determines the type of conversion that creates the virtual meter. There are three options: 1.) Converting a physical mass flow meter to volume flow 2.) Converting a physical volume flow meter to mass flow 3.) Multiplying the physical meter channel by a scale factor Conversions When calculating conversions, a standard temperature of ºK is used, as is a standard pressure of mbar. The Temperature channel is assumed to be in ºC, and the Pressure channel is assumed to be in mbar. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 59

60 Note on Timing Each flow meter channel that is defined on this tab is calculated for each housekeeping cycle. The calculated values correspond directly to the physical meter value for the same cycle of housekeeping data Alicat Flow Controller The Alicat Flow Controller is an optional feature. The SP2 program supports one Alicat Flow Controller. In order for this Flow Controller to be functional, the user must define the parameters below. The Name parameter is prepended to the set-point channel and to the housekeeping channels (pressure, temperature, and flow) read back from the Alicat. For instance, if you enter Alicat FC in the Name field, the Alicat-related channels will be named as follows: Alicat FC Set Point (vccm) Alicat FC Read (vol) Alicat FC Read (mass) Alicat FC Temp. (C) Alicat FC Pres. (mbar) Full Scale is used to define the full scale flow for the Alicat Flow controller being used. Units should be set to the native units of the Alicat Flow Controller (e.g., sccm). The program does not do any rescaling between units, but only uses the Units parameter as a suffix to the Alicat channel names. Enable/Disable is used to select whether or not the program includes the Alicat Flow Controller. If the switch is set to Disable, no Alicat channels will appear among the housekeeping channels. Com Port defines which serial port is used to control the Alicat Flow Controller. Flow defines the initial set point that the Alicat is set to. Units of this parameter are the native units of the Alicat model being used Laser & A.S. Sub-Tab SP2-D has new laser board, so laser defaults to disabled. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 60

61 The Laser & A. S. sub-tab allows the user to specify settings related to the laser and Auto Sampler. The tab is shown in Figure 27. Figure 27: Config Tab Laser & A.S. Sub-Tab Laser Controls Enable/Disable Laser Control determines whether or not the program will attempt to talk to the laser. If this is set to Disable Laser Control, no channels will be acquired over the laser serial interface or included in housekeeping, no laser control will be available from within the SP2 program, and all the other laser parameters are ignored. Note that for the software Laser Control to work, the laser must be configured to be in remote control mode. See the laser controller manual for more information. Com Port selects which serial port of the computer is connected to the laser. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 61

62 Current defines the default current setting that the laser is set to when it starts up. Temp defines the temperature in degrees C that the Laser TEC is set to when the program starts the laser. If laser control is enabled, then the program can control the laser in several ways. When the program starts, it will set the Laser Current to the Current value and will set the Laser TEC Temperature to the Temp value. The laser can be controlled manually from the Control tab of the program. Controls are available to turn the laser on or off and to set the current and temperature. Commands can also be used to control the laser. Start Laser and Stop Laser commands start and stop the laser. To set Laser Current and Laser Temp to other values, use the Set Channel command. See Appendix D for details. These commands are available through the remote control command interface (CCL commands), through Alarms, and via Sequences Auto Sampler Controls The Auto Sampler Controls appear on the right side of the screen. They will be grayed out if the system is not configured with an Auto Sampler. The Auto Sampler option allows the SP2 to interface with and control a CETAC AXS-520 Auto Sampler. Enable/Disable Auto Sampler determines whether or not the program will attempt to talk to the Auto Sampler. If this is set to Disable A-S Control, the SP2 program will not attempt to communicate with the Auto Sampler and will not record any channels related to the Auto Sampler. Com Port selects which serial port of the computer is connected to the Auto Sampler. Columns defines how many columns of samples are in one tray of the Auto Sampler. Columns are the number of samples from left to right in one tray (see Figure 28). Rows defines how many rows of samples are in one tray of the Auto Sampler. Rows are the number of samples from front to back in one tray (see Figure 28). DOC-0092 Rev E-4 62

63 Figure 28: Auto Sampler with Space for 12 Rows and 5 Columns of Sample Vials Columns and Rows are used by the program in two ways. When the Auto Sampler is initialized, the Tray Size is set automatically to the product of Columns and Rows. This allows the Auto Sampler to find each sample correctly. Also, within the SP2 program, samples are numbered starting at Column 0, Row 0, proceeding down the first column from the first row to the last row, then going to Column 1, Row 0, and proceeding down the second column, and so forth. The number of Columns and Rows is therefore used to determine the sample numbering across all the trays. Note that these Auto-Sampler parameters define the physical Auto-Sampler for the program. Before the Auto-Sampler can be used in a meaningful way, additional Manual Control Channels and Sequences must be defined. The additional Control Channels will normally have already been defined by DMT, but are documented in section for reference. Default sequences for the Auto Sampler include A-S Rinse, A-S Home, Auto Sampler, Turn A-S Pump Off, and Turn A-S Pump On. If any of these sequences are missing, contact DMT for assistance. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 63

64 Auto Sampler Cell Numbering Note that within the SP2 program, Rows, Columns, and Sample Numbers all start at 0. The first sample is Sample Number 0, located at Column 0 (X axis, across the CETAC from left to right) and Row 0 (Y axis, from the back of the CETAC to the front). See Figure 29. Figure 29: Auto Sampler Cell Numbers for a 5 x 12 Vial Tray Alarms & Timers Sub-Tab The Alarm parameters control not only when alarms get generated but which actions are taken as a consequence of alarms. Users can add and delete alarms using the Insert and Delete buttons to the right of the alarms. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 64

65 Alarms Parameters Name is used for the alarm name. This name is useful for clarity, so that the operator knows the purpose of the alarm. It is also used programmatically to refer to the alarm so that its threshold can be changed by a Sequence, CCL command, or another alarm. Channel determines which of the housekeeping data channels is used for the alarm comparison. Condition selects which logical condition is applied to the selected channel: <, <=, =, <> (not equal), >=, or >. Threshold defines the value that the channel will be compared to when determining if an alarm is true or not. Hysteresis allows the alarm to be configured such that small amounts of noise near the Threshold value will not continually set and clear the alarm. For the < and <= commands, once the alarm has been triggered, the value of the channel must go above [Threshold + Hysteresis] before the alarm can turn off. For the > and >= commands, the value of the DOC-0092 Rev E-4 65

66 channel must fall below [Threshold - Hysteresis] before the alarm can turn off. For = and <> commands, Hysteresis is ignored. Action defines what action will be taken when the alarm transitions from false to true. In addition to this action, the transition will also be noted in the log file. (When an alarm transitions from true to false, the transition is logged but no other action is taken.) For a complete list of actions, see Appendix D. Note that most of the Actions are not inherently bi-directional. That is, when an alarm goes from true to false, the opposite action is not executed. E.g. a Turn Laser Off Alarm will not turn the laser back on when the alarm becomes false. Note also that not all Actions will use all of the listed parameters. Min Time specifies the minimum amount of time in seconds that the alarm condition must be met before the alarm is set to true. Set this to 0 to have an alarm work as soon as the condition is detected. If Min Time is set to a larger value, short excursions past the alarm condition will not cause the Action to be executed. Note that when an alarm condition is met but the minimum time has not yet elapsed, the Alarm goes to it Warning state, indicated by a Yellow alarm color. Set Value and Target Channel are used by the Set Channel and Add to Channel actions to allow an output channel to be set to a new value if an alarm becomes true. Target Channel is also used by the Set Ch to Manual and Set Ch to Control actions. Sequence is used by the Start Sequence and Stop Sequence actions. This parameter specifies which sequence should be started or stopped when the alarm becomes true. Target Alarm is used by the Set Alarm Thresh Action action to change the threshold of an Alarm to the value specified by the Set Value parameter. The Set Value parameter is also used by several other Actions to specify the numeric value that the Action uses. These include Set n Minutes Filter, Set Out of m Min., 1 Out of Every n, Set Primary Thr., and Set Secondary Thr. Examples of How to Set Parameters for Alarms Example 1: Name: Auto Data Record Channel: Elapsed Time Condition: > Threshold: 60 Hysteresis: 0 DOC-0092 Rev E-4 66

67 Action: Start Writing Data Min Time: 0 Set Value: 0 Sequence: n.a. Target Channel: n.a. This alarm will cause the program to begin writing data to a file after the program has run for 60 seconds. Example 2: Name: Laser Overheat Channel: Laser Temp (V) Condition: >= Threshold: 40 Hysteresis: 1 Action: Set Channel Min Time: 5 Set Value: 0 Sequence: n.a. Target Channel: Laser Power Switch This Alarm will cause the program to turn the laser off if the Laser Temp becomes greater or equal to 40 for more than 5 seconds. This Alarm will not become False until the Laser Temp falls below 39. If it is desired that the Laser come back on automatically at that time, it would be necessary to define another Alarm using the < Condition and the Set Channel Action. Example 3: (default Alarm) Name: Alarm Alert Channel: Error Condition: <> Threshold: 0 Hysteresis: 0 Action: Alert Min Time: 0 Set Value: 0 Sequence: n.a. Target Channel: n.a. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 67

68 This default alarm causes an alarm to be true whenever an error is logged. This ensures that the Alarm Status indicator at the top of the main program display turns red each time an error occurs. This alerts the user to the error condition even when the program is not displaying the Status tab. Example 4: Name: Reduce Laser Curr Channel: YAG Crystal Temp Condition: > Threshold: 35 Hysteresis: 0 Action: Set Channel Min Time: 60 Set Value: 2000 Sequence: n.a. Target Channel: MonI_PumpLaser This alarm reduces the laser current to 2000 if the YAG Crystal Temp rises above 35 ºC for more than one minute Timers Timers are virtual channels within the SP2 system used to count time. Any number of Timer channels can be defined. The only parameter for a Timer channel is its name. Each Timer starts with a value of 0 when the SP2 program starts and counts up in units of seconds. A Timer can be set to any value using the Set Channel button on the Control tab, or using a Sequence, Alarm, or CCL action. When set to a new value, it will start counting up from there immediately. Most often, Timers will be created so that Sequences can act according to time elapsed from specific events. Note for Auto Sampler users: The A-S Timer channel needs to be created before the AS Sequence Generator can work properly. See section DOC-0092 Rev E-4 68

69 6.5.9 Calculations Sub-Tab Figure 14 shows the important components of the Calculations sub-tab. Figure 30: Config Tab Important Components of Calculations Sub-Tab Available Calculations and Defined Calculations provide a mechanism for including additional calculated channels. This feature is useful for users who want to employ algorithms and equations that are not included in the SP2 software. Each item listed in Available Calculations is a LabVIEW VI stored in C:\DMT\SP2 Support\Calculations. Each of these VIs must adhere exactly to the pattern defined by DMT for it to function properly in the SP2 software, and VIs must be written in LabVIEW For more information on how to create a new Calculation, open the Demo Calculation.vi in LabVIEW Double-clicking on an Available Calculation adds it to the list of Defined Calculations, which will be used when the SP2 system runs. Click on a Defined Calculation to DOC-0092 Rev E-4 69

70 highlight it and display its parameters in the box below. The parameters contain the name of the calculation, a description (which is stored on the actual calculation VI), and a list of Input and Output Channels. The Input Channels are selected from a list of all the SP2 channels. The Output Channels are given names and will be added to the list of channels in the SP2 output file. Note that each Available Calculation can only be added once to the Defined Calculation. To duplicate a calculation so that it can be reused with different input channels, copy the calculation VI in C:\DMT\SP2 Support\Calculations and make a new copy with a different name. Calculated Channels are virtual channels, the values of which are calculated from the current values of other channels. To enter or remove Calculated Channels, use the Insert and Delete buttons. Each Calculated Channel has a Name and a Formula. The Name is how the channel is referred to in the SP2 system. The Formula is simple algebraic text that can incorporate any number of other channel names. An example Formula is shown below. Appendix F contains a complete list of functions available for use in calculated channels. Note that the Calculated Channels are calculated in the order in which they appear in the Calculated Channels array. For one Calculated Channel to refer to another, the referenced Calculated Channel must appear earlier (higher) in the list than the channel making reference to it. To calculate an average temperature based on several measured temperatures, the following formula could be used: (Top Temp (C) + Middle Temp (C) + Bottom Temp (C))/3 Note that the text entered in the Formula parameter does not include the Calculated Channel Name or an equals sign. Five nominally unassigned Global Variables are available. The first of these is named Num to Avg and is used by the Channel Averager.vi calculation VI. The Num to Avg global specifies the number of points that are averaged together to create a new averaged-value channel. The remaining globals (Global 2 to Global 5) can be used by other Calculation VIs for any purpose desired. They provide a way to pass simple configuration information from the main configuration to the Calculation VIs. The array named All Channels is for reference when creating Calculated Channels. It lists all the channels currently defined in the SP2 system. These names can be DOC-0092 Rev E-4 70

71 highlighted with the mouse, then copied (CTRL-C) and pasted (CTRL-V) into the Calculated Channels Formulas. For examples showing to how to create a calculation and how to import a predefined calculation, see sections 4.1 and 4.2, respectively Communication Sub-Tab The Communications sub-tab provides ways to configure three different communications mechanisms that the SP2 software can optionally use: OSDS Format: allows the user to specify protocols for streaming in data from an arbitrary external device. For example, this feature can be used to have an aircraft-navigation system feed in data to the SP2 computer over an Ethernet connection or serial port. It can also be used to stream in data from other DMT instruments and instruments commonly used in the atmospheric sciences. Streaming Channels: allows one to send SP2 Housekeeping data over a serial or UDP port to other systems. Common Command Language (CCL) Support: provides a way for the SP2 software to receive commands from other systems over a serial port. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 71

72 Figure 31: Config Tab Communication Sub-Tab OSDS Format The SP2 streams in and parses data according to specifications given in OCC Streaming Data System (OSDS) format files. OSDS is a module for reading streaming data from a wide variety of sources. You may specify a predefined OSDS Format File or edit the format and save it to a new OSDS Format File. Leave the OSDS Format File blank to ignore the OSDS input completely. See for details on OSDS. The parameters listed in the gray OSDS Format table are also described in C:\DMT\SP2 Support\OSDS\OSDS Description.doc. Note that changes made to the OSDS Format will not be effective until the OSDS Format has been saved to a file, the OSDS Format file selection has been saved to the SP2 configuration file, and the user hits Restart Program. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 72

73 Load OSDS Format allows you to select a preconfigured OSDS format file to be used by the SP2 software. By default, the SP2 system stores these files in the C:\DMT\SP2 Support\OSDS\OSDS Format Files directory. When the Load button is clicked, the software will open this directory and allow you to select an OSDS format file. Another way to load an OSDS file is to click on the Folder icon next to the OSDS Format File label. OSDS Format File lists the currently loaded file. Save OSDS Format saves any changes made to the OSDS parameters to a file. You must save to the OSDS file before changes will be effective. Saving just the SP2 configuration file is not sufficient Streaming Channels Streaming Channels is an array that contains the SP2 data channels to be streamed out. The box to the top left of the array shows the element in the array that is currently displayed in the top row. Arrays begin with element zero. The arrows to the left of this box, or the scroll bar to the right of the channel list, are used to move forward or backward in the array. To add a channel to the end of the data stream, click on the first empty box after the currently listed channels. This will bring up a list of available SP2 channels, from which the desired channel can be selected (Figure 32). DOC-0092 Rev E-4 73

74 Figure 32: Selecting a Channel for Inclusion in Streamed Output Data Use the green and red buttons to insert and delete rows in the array. Port determines the serial port or UDP port number used for Streaming Output Data, if there are any. If this is set to 0, no data are streamed. Streaming data are sent at the same rate as the cycle time for housekeeping. Baud Rate determines the Baud Rate used by the streaming output data over a serial port. The other serial port settings are fixed at 8 Data Bits, 1 Stop Bit, and No Parity. This parameter is ignored if Bus is set to UDP. Bus is used to determine if the Streaming Data is sent out a Serial port or by UDP over Ethernet. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 74

75 Common Command Language Support CCL Com Port determines the serial port number used for communicating with the SP2 via the Common Command Language. If this is set to 0, no port is opened for CCL commands and communication is disabled. Further information about CCL communication appears in Appendix E Sequences Sub-Tab The Sequences sub-tab is displayed below. Figure 33: Config Tab Sequences Sub-Tab Sequences are configurable sequences of events that can control the SP2 system in a wide variety of ways. The left-most list on the window, Sequences, displays the names of the Sequences that have been defined. Use the buttons below it to add new Sequences or delete existing ones. New sequences will be placed relative to the highlighted sequence. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 75

76 The second list, Steps, shows the Steps that are defined for whichever Sequence is highlighted in the first list. These Steps are identified by their Labels. Use the buttons below the Steps field to add new Steps or delete existing Steps. New steps will be placed relative to the highlighted steps. The Sequence Name parameter displays the name of the Sequence that is currently highlighted in the list to the far left. The Sequence Name can be edited in this control. Do not use special characters like dashes in Sequence Names, as these will generate a LabVIEW error. Log Each Stop/Don't Log determines whether a Log File entry will be created as each step of the Sequence is executed. Enabling this option can make the Log File fairly verbose, but can be useful for debugging or for keeping a record of when certain actions were taken. The Create Switch/No Switch parameter determines whether the Sequence being edited will have an operator switch present on the Control tab of the SP2 window (Figure 34). Creating a switch is an easy way to give manual control over a Sequence. However, Sequences can also be started and stopped by Alarms, CCL Commands, or other Sequences. Figure 34: Example Sequence Switch on Control Tab The Sequence Step parameters display the definition of whichever Step is currently highlighted in the Steps list. For definitions of Step parameters, see section below. Include Exit Step/No Exit Step allows the user to specify an Exit Step to be run each time the sequence stops. Exit Step parameters are defined in section below. For more information on Exit Steps and their possible uses, see section 1.5. Export Sequence allows one to save the currently highlighted Sequence in a small.seq file. Import Sequence will read a Sequence in from a.seq file. Import and Export can be useful for sharing Sequences between instruments or configuration files. Note: Make sure imported sequences match your version of the SP2 software. Older sequences may not work with updated software. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 76

77 Step Parameters The Sequence Step parameters display the definition of whichever Step is currently highlighted in the Steps list. The Label is an optional identifier. Although the Label is not required for each Step, giving every Step a meaningful, unique Label greatly increases the readability of the Sequences. In addition, some sequence actions like Goto and Log require a Label as an input parameter. Hence any Step that one of these Actions refers to must have a unique Label. If more than one Step has the same name, the Sequence Engine will use the first appropriately named Step that it can find. Note that Sequences can only refer to Steps within themselves, not to Steps within other Sequences. Thus having unique Labels for all Steps across all Sequences is not strictly necessary, but can improve clarity. The Action defines what the Sequence Step will do, assuming that the Condition is met. Most Actions only require a subset of the available parameters. Only those parameters that are relevant to that Action will be shown. Below are a few example Actions: Wait (Value): waits n seconds before executing the next Sequence Step, where n is defined by the Value parameter. Note that n may contain a fractional second, though the Sequence Engine is not accurate in its timing to better than about 0.2 seconds. Restart Files: starts new Data, Housekeeping, and Log files and makes a new archive copy of the Configuration file. If midnight has passed, it starts a new date directory. Goto: jumps to the Step of the same Sequence defined by the Target Label parameter. Goto cannot be used to jump into another Sequence. Log: writes the Sequence Label to the Log File with a time stamp. In this case, the Label may be rather lengthy in order to convey adequate information. Set Channel: sets the value of the channel specified by Target Channel to the Value parameter. Only control channels and Timers can be selected as a Target Channel. Start and Stop Laser: turns the laser on and off. For a complete list of available actions and their definitions, see Appendix D. Actions that start with A-S are used to control the Auto Sampler. Some Auto Sampler functions are also controlled by using the Set Channel Action. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 77

78 Note that different actions require different parameters. Hence, the parameters listed in the Sequence Step control box will change depending on the type of action you select. Condition determines the condition that must be True for the Step to execute. If this Condition is set to True, the Step will always execute. False prevents the Step from ever executing. Other Conditions are used with the current value of the Condition Channel in comparison to the Threshold parameter. Thus if the Condition is <, and the Threshold is 5.0, the Step will only be executed if the current value of the Target Channel is less than 5.0. If the Condition is not met, the Sequence will step directly to the next Step with a minimal delay of about 20 ms. Source is used by certain Actions that require a channel to supply a value. These Actions include Wait (Channel), Copy Channel, Add Channels, Subtract Channels, Multiply Channels, and Divide Channels. For these last four mathematical operations, the Target is used as the first operand, the Source is used as the second operand, and the result is put into the Target Channel. Thus Divide Channels will take the Target Channel value and divide it by the Source Channel value, and save the result in the Target Channel. Target Channel is used by Set Channel, Increment Channel, Add To Channel, Set Ch to Manual, and Set Ch to Control Actions to determine which channel to act on. Sequence is used by the Start Sequence and Stop Sequence Actions to determine which Sequence to act on. Note that any number of Sequences can be running at any time. Target Label is used by the Goto Action to determine where the Sequence should jump to. Value is used by the Wait (Value), Set Channel, and Add To Channel Actions. Note that Value can have precision of less than one, allowing waits of less than 1 second, for example. However, the accuracy with which the program will time Waits of less than 1 second is marginal. For an example of how to use the Config > Sequences tab, see section Utility Tab The Utility tab provides space to display additional utilities associated with the SP2 software. These utilities are accessed via the Utilities menu. Figure 35 shows the Utilities tab display after the SP2 Data Reader Program has been loaded. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 78

79 Figure 35: Utility Tab SP2 Data Reader Program The Utility tab is often used to view previously acquired data in playback mode, via the Data Reader, Housekeeping Reader, and Log Reader. The Auto Sampler Sequence Generator and Sequence Editor utilities assist users in creating, loading and saving sequences. Additional information about SP2 utilities is provided below. Other utilities may be added to the SP2 program in the future. All utilities have a STOP button that terminates the utility Auto Sampler Sequence Generator The Auto Sampler Sequence Generator provides an easy way to generate auto sampler sequences. A basic auto sampler sequence is provided (see the Sequence Preview), which the user can then customize using the controls on the main part of the screen. When the user modifies these controls, the Sequence Preview will update the steps DOC-0092 Rev E-4 79

80 automatically. Users who want to create more complex auto sampler sequences can start with the Sequence Generator utility, save the sequence, and then load it into the Sequence Editor utility to incorporate more complex actions. Before running the Sequence Generator, make sure that the start-up SP2 configuration file already has Start Sample #, End Sample #, and Samples Left Controller channels defined (on the Config > Flow tab.) All three should have Manual for the type, and beginning and ending sample numbers can be set as initial set points for Start and End Channel in the Sequence Generator. Samples Left is used as a variable storage to determine when the sample sequence is finished, and the user should never need to modify it. In addition to ensuring that the three Controller channels are defined, make sure the A-S Timer channel is defined. If this channel is created, it will appear near the bottom of the channel list on the Control tab; if it is not created, go to the Alarms & Timers sub-tab of the Config tab and add a Timer channel named A-S Timer. Select these four channels with the controls on the left side of the Utilities tab, as shown in Figure 36. (If the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator does not appear on the Utility tab, click on the Utilities menu item and select Auto Sampler Sequence Generator. ) DOC-0092 Rev E-4 80

81 Figure 36: Utility Tab SP2 Auto Sampler Sequence Generator Sequence Name determines the name of the sequence. (Do not forget to fill this in. It is easy to overlook.) Depth indicates the z-axis sampling depth in millimeters. A typical value is 130 mm. Note: If a value larger than the Auto Sampler can support is used, the Auto Sampler z- axis will not move down when commanded to. Checking Start New File for Every Sample will begin a new SP2 output file each time the auto sampler switches samples. Checking Include Delay Before Writing Data instructs the program to wait before writing data to the output file. If this box is checked, the system will delay file writing for the number of seconds specified in the Delay Time field. This is useful for letting the sample flow through all the tubing connecting the Auto Sampler, pump, and nebulizer to the SP2, so that the SP2 doesn't acquire data until the new sample is introduced into the SP2 inlet. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 81

82 Checking Include Max Sample Time Condition instructs the auto sampler to apply a sampling time limit specified by Max Sample Time. Note that the Channel Condition, if included, could result in a sample time less than this limit. If Include Channel Condition is checked, the system will continue acquiring data from the sample until the condition specified by the Condition, the Condition Channel, and the Condition Threshold is true. In Figure 36, for instance, the action will only get executed if Num in File > Note that if both Include Max Sample Time and Include Channel Condition are checked, they are logically ORed. I.e., the sequence will move on to the next sample when either condition is true. Both of these parameters function as constraints on the number of samples. If Include Rinse Between Each Step is checked, the auto sampler probe will be rinsed between each sample. The duration of the rinse is the number of seconds specified in Rinse Time parameter. When the A-S sequence stops, the A-S should: determines what the auto-sampler should do after the sequence stops. This action will get executed if the user stops the sequence using the Config tab control or if the sequence runs through to its natural conclusion. This action will not get executed if the sequence is interrupted through a Restart Program command, however. Log Each Step / Don t Log specifies whether each executed step of the sequence will be recorded in the log file. While such recording can create extremely long log files, it can be useful for debugging purposes. Create Switch/No Switch determines whether the sequence will have a button on the Control tab. These buttons are useful in starting and stopping sequences, so this control should be set to Create Switch for frequently used sequences. Off Switch Label displays the label that the Control tab sequence will display when the button is off (i.e., the label shown when the button is pressed to turn the sequence ON). You can type a label for the button here, e.g., Press to Start New A-S Sequence. On Switch Label displays the label that the Control tab sequence will display when the button is on (i.e., the label shown when the button is pressed to turn the sequence OFF). You can type a label for the button here, e.g., Press to Stop New A-S Sequence. Save Sequence to a File allows the user to save the specified sequence to a *.seq file. Sequences are saved in the C:\DMT\SP2 Support directory. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 82

83 Pressing Add to Current Config means the sequence will be added to the current configuration file. This makes the sequence available for use within the program immediately without having to restart the program. The Sequence will then appear on the Control tab (if a switch has been created for the Sequence) and on the Sequences tab. Note that it will not appear on the Config > Sequences tab, however. This is because the Config tab was loaded previously, before the new Sequence was included in the configuration. To view the new configuration, go to the Config > Program tab and press the Load Start-Up Config button. Underneath the Sequence Preview display is the Sequence Step display. Sequence Step provides additional information about the currently highlighted step in the sequence. Note that this information is not editable. Some parameters displayed in Sequence Step can be modified using the controls in the main part of the screen. Note: If you edit an existing sequence and then press Add to Current Config, the software will save the modified sequence with the same name as the original. There will thus be two sequences with the same name. It is recommended that you change the name of the modified sequence or delete the original sequence to avoid confusion. For an example of how to create a sequence with the Auto Sampler Sequence Generator, see section SP2 Data Reader Program The data reader program (Figure 35) displays previously acquired particle data. This program can be loaded by clicking on the Utilities menu item and selecting Data Reader. Once the Data Reader is active, users load an *.sp2b file by clicking on the Read a File button and then navigating to the desired location. The window to the right of this button displays the currently loaded file. # of Particles shows the total number of particles recorded in the file, while the Particle to Graph control allows the user to select the number of the particle that should be displayed. To change the particle number, type a new number into the field or use the arrows on the left side. When using this control, Update Speed should be set to Manual. The Data Reader can also progress through the particles automatically. To use this feature, select the speed using the Update Speed slider control. The reader will display each particle sequentially. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 83

84 The graph in the center of the window displays particle-data channels with respect to time. Clicking on the green buttons to the lower-right of the graph selects or deselects channels for display. Time Stamp lists the time since midnight LOCAL time when the current particle was acquired. (All particle events obtained within one data buffer will have the same Time Stamp.) Trigger is marked with an X if the channel served as a particle-event trigger. Saturation is marked with an X if the channel signal saturated the detector. Eight particle statistics are reported for each data channel. More details on these calculations are given in Appendix B. Integrated Area Peak Height Fit Amplitude Fit Position Fit FWHM Fit Offset Chi^2/Amp^2 Iterations Area under the peak Measured peak height in A/D counts Peak height when peak is fitted to a Gaussian curve Peak height fit position in point number Peak fit full width at half max The peak fit offset The chi-squared distribution divided by amplitude squared The number of iterations for the Gaussian fit to converge The red STOP button in the upper right of the display stops the execution of the Data Reader SP2 Housekeeping Reader The housekeeping reader (Figure 37) displays previously acquired housekeeping data. This program can be loaded by clicking on the Utilities menu item and selecting Housekeeping Reader. Users can then load an *.hk file by clicking on the Read a File button and then navigating to the desired location. The window to the right of this button displays the currently loaded file. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 84

85 Figure 37: Utility Tab SP2 Housekeeping Reader The two slider controls in the upper right of the display control what subset of the data is displayed. The slider on the left controls the start time, while that on the right controls the end time. The X Channel control at the bottom center of the window allows the user to select which channel is used as the x axis channel. Normally this is a time channel, but other channels can be selected to create other x-y plots. The control in the bottom left corner allows you to select the first housekeeping channel to be graphed. This channel appears in black, with a scale on the left y-axis. The control in the bottom right allows you to select a second housekeeping channel to be graphed. The right y-axis shows the scale for this channel, which is graphed in red. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 85

86 To view only one channel, set both the bottom left control and bottom right control to the same channel SP2 Log Reader The Log Reader displays the contents of SP2 log files. This program can be loaded by clicking on the Utilities menu item and selecting Log Reader. When this utility is loaded, it automatically loads the current log file. In this mode, the log file display will continuously be updated as new entries are made in the log file. If the Read a File button is pressed, an older log file can be read in, in which case the log file display is static. Figure 38: Utility Tab SP2 Log Reader DOC-0092 Rev E-4 86

87 6.6.5 Sequence Editor The Sequence Editor is shown in Figure 39. The buttons on left allow the user to read and save sequence files. The user can also make these files available within the SP2 program by clicking Add to Current Config. If this is done, the new Sequence will be immediately available in the SP2 program, but will not appear on the Config > Sequence tab until the configuration is reloaded. Figure 39: UtilityTab SP2 Sequence Editor The Log/Don t Log switch specifies whether each individual step in the sequence should be recorded in the log file. While recording each step can be useful for debugging purposes, it also generates a very long log file. Create Switch/No Switch determines whether the sequence will have a button on the Control tab. These buttons are useful in starting and stopping sequences, so this control should be set to Create Switch for frequently used sequences. Sequences that are only called programmatically (by other sequences or by alarms) can have this set to No Switch since they do not need a switch. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 87

88 Off Switch Label displays the label that the Control tab sequence button will display when the button is off (i.e., the label shown when the button is used to turn the sequence ON). You can type a label for the button here, e.g., Press to Start New A-S Sequence. On Switch Label displays the label that the Control tab sequence button will display when the button is on (i.e., the label shown when the button is used to turn the sequence ON). You can type a label for the button here, e.g., Press to Stop New A-S Sequence. To create a new sequence, first fill in the Sequence Name. Do not use special characters like dashes, as these will generate a LabVIEW error. Next, use the Insert buttons to add steps. Once you click on Insert, you will be able to name the step and specify an action in the table below. To specify an exit step that the sequence should take whenever it finishes or the user stops it, set the exit step switch to Include Exit Step. Then, in the last row of the table, fill in the desired information for the step. For instance, if you would like the exit step to send the Auto Sampler probe to the Home position, you might set the parameters below as follows: Exit step: Condition: Action: Go Home True (this will enable the Action control, and instruct the program to always execute the exit step) A-S Home For an example of how to use the sequence editor, see section DOC-0092 Rev E-4 88

89 Appendix A: Revisions to Manual Rev. Date Rev No. Summary Section B Updated manual to reflect new SP2 software All C Updated screen shots Updated Config > Program tab descriptions Updated Config > Communication tab descriptions Inserted CCL appendix D Updated manual to reflect version 4.2 of the software All E Updated Control tab and Config > Program tab screenshots to reflect SP2-D laser control Updated channel names to reflect switch to SP designations for set point channels All 5 Appendix E 6.2, Throughout Updated Alarm examples to reflect SP2-D laser control E-1 Updated definitions for Reserved5 Reserved8 in *.sp2b files E-2 Clarified use of the SET CHANNEL command to control the SP2-D laser Appendix C Appendices D and E E-3 Clarified timeline of file format Appendix C E-4 Updated laser wavelength ranges for incandescent channels Appendix C DOC-0092 Rev E-4 89

90 Appendix B: Gaussian Fit Calculations In the Data Reader program, the particle peaks are fit to Gaussian curves using a nonlinear fitting routine based on the routine supplied with LabVIEW by National Instruments. These curves are not displayed in the graph, but the program uses them to estimate peak parameters such as height, width, and position. These measurements from the Gaussian curves also appear beneath the graph. The SP2 Fit Peaks.vi initiates the Gaussian fitting. This VI 3 loops through each of the channels (up to 8) for each event, and for each channel, calls the Fit Gaussian Peak.vi. The Fit Gaussian Peak.vi performs two main steps: 1.) Estimate Gaussian Parameters.vi is called to make initial guesses of the Amplitude, Position, Offset, and Peak Fit Full Width at Half Max (FWHM). Without accurate first estimates, the fitting routine takes many more iterations, and quite often diverges. 2.) Nonlinear Lev-Mar Fit-Modified.vi then does the actual least squares fitting, often performing 4 to 10 iterations. Estimate Gaussian Parameters.vi finds the peak estimates by first estimating the offset by averaging the last four points in the array. To find the FWHM, the array is first scanned for its largest value. The offset is subtracted from this, yielding the estimate of the amplitude. This amplitude is divided by two, and the positions within the data of this value are found by searching once from the front of the data forwards, and once from the end of the array backwards. The difference between these two positions gives the estimated FWHM. The Nonlinear Lev-Mar Fit-Modified.vi is a modified version of a routine created by National Instruments. In addition to programming it specifically to handle the Gaussian curve, it has been modified for improved performance. The main improvement involved making a single call for an entire array of points to the sub-vi that calculates a Gaussian curve rather than calling it once for each point. Other minor modifications were made to increase performance, including removing functionality that was not needed for this application. Overall, this version runs 20% to 40% faster than NI s. 3 VI stands for Virtual Instrument; LabVIEW routines are *.VI files. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 90

91 Appendix C: Output File Channels The SP2 program generates several output files: 1.) *.sp2b files, which contain raw SP2 data. 2.) *.hk files, which contain values for the housekeeping channels 3.) *.log files, which contain the error and event logs 4.) A *.ini file, which contains configuration settings. Files are stored in a date-stamped folder (YYMMDD) in the directory specified on the Acquisition tab (a sub-tab under the Config tab). By default, this data path is C:\DMT\SP2 Data. See below for information about the names and contents of these files. *.SP2b File *.sp2b files names contain the same date stamp as a folder, plus a suffix indicating the file number for that day. E.g., x001.sp2b indicates this is the first data file taken on April 27, The *.sp2b file contains spectra data in binary format. The settings in the SP2 software s Acquisition tab (under the Config parent tab) determine the *.sp2b file size and data points per particle event. For each data point, the system records the channels listed below. (Channels vary depending on whether the instrument uses a four-channel 6110 board or an 8-channel 6133 board.) Data File Format The *.SP2b file consists of sets of data records, with one record per particle event. The structure of each record is given below. Note that some fields store actual data such as particle and time statistics, while others store information about other data fields. Fields that store data about other data fields are shaded in gray. Field Data Type Description Data_No_Elts_1 32-bit Integer (I32) The number of elements in dimension 1 of the Data array. Dimension 1 is the data points per particle. This value is typically 100 or 180 for DMT, but it can vary. Data_No_Elts_2 32-bit Integer (I32) The number of elements in dimension 2 of the Data array. Dimension 2 are the channels that are DOC-0092 Rev E-4 91

92 Field Data Type Description recorded for each data point, e.g. scattering, incandescent, etc. The value of Num Elts D2 will be 4 for 6110-board systems and 8 for 6133-board systems. Data 2D array of 16-bit integers (I16s) The SP2 data for each data point. Flag Unsigned 16-bit number (U16) This is a binary-coded integer that holds the following information: Bits 0 to 3 indicate whether channels 0 to 3 were each saturated (value = 1) or not (value = 0). Bits 4 to 7 indicate which of channels 0 to 3 (if any) were the trigger channel for the event. Bits 8 to 11 indicate saturation for channels 4 to 7, and bits 12 to 15 indicate if any of channels 4 to 7 were the trigger channel. Time Stamp Single Precision Real See Time Data section. Reserved1 Single Precision Real Reserved for future use. Event Index Single Precision Real Time/10000 Single Precision Real See Time Data section. Time Remainder Single Precision Real Reserved5 Single Precision Real Reserved6 Single Precision Real See section Reserved7 Double Precision Real Reserved8 Double Precision Real Spare_No_Elts_1 32-bit Integer (I32) The number of elements in dimension 1 of the Spare array. Spare Array 1D array of Single Prec. Reals Reserved for future use Reserved5 Reserved8 Note: In version 4.26 of the software and later, these channels store the settings for the following parameters found on the Config > Acquisition tab: Reserved 5: Write Data x Minutes Reserved 6: Out of x Reserved 7: 1 of Every x Reserved 8: Scatter/All Particles, where 1 corresponds to Scatter and 0 corresponds to All Particles See the following figure for clarification. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 92

93 Figure 40: Parameter Settings Stored in Reserved Channels, as Shown on the Config > Acquisition Tab In earlier versions of the software, Reserved5 Reserved8 are unused Board Channels Scattering: The amplitude of the particle s scattered light. Wide-Band Incandescence: The amplitude of the particle s incandescence in the nm range. Narrow-Band Incandescence: The amplitude of the particle s incandescence in the nm range. Split Detector: A channel used in estimating the peak height in a particle event. In theory, the scattering signal should follow a Gaussian curve, with the peak height providing an estimate of particle size. However, since particles may contain non-black carbon material that burns off at high temperatures, the scattering signal can diverge from this curve as the particle size diminishes. The split detector is used to reconstruct the theoretical curve, thus providing a particle size estimate. Note: The split detector channel is generated by SP2 hardware, but DMT does not provide support for post-processing analysis of this channel. DOC-0092 Rev E-4 93