The 30R-Target Chamber Manipulator

The Target Chamber Manipulator (TCM) system allows users to remotely control the angular positions of multiple detectors in the high vacuum 30R end station of the 1.7 MV tandem Pelletron accelerator. Previously, in order to accumulate data from a surface barrier detector at various angular and radial positions, the vacuum chamber was first filled with 1 atmosphere of dry nitrogen, then opened to atmosphere so that the detectors could be repositioned by hand. Evacuating the chamber required several more hours. The entire process took approximately 6 hours to complete, this added substantial time to those experiments requiring frequent repositioning of the detectors. To mitigate this problem and reduce vacuum failure risks from excessive cycling, a TCM system was designed and built at SUNY Geneseo. The system uses LabVIEW to control stepper motors to move the detectors in the chamber. Prior to the summer of 2022, the TCM software contained a flaw that made detection of the stepper motor position and encoder output inconsistent. During the summer of 2022, improvements to COM port detection and assignment were made to ensure the LabVIEW program would recognize all TCM hardware without user troubleshooting. Additionally, many software bugs were eliminated by removing the braking subsystem entirely and replacing it with automated stepper motor adjustments. Manipulator component prototyping was improved by utilizing resin printing. Resin printing is a form of additive 3D printing that utilizes a photopolymer resin with minimal outgassing properties. The ability to prototype detector mounts and various other vacuum safe components in a relatively short time is valuable. Funded in part by the US Department of Energy through the Laboratory of Laser Energetics.