Six-Axis Target and Detector Control System

The 15-degree end station of the 1.7 MV tandem Pelletron accelerator features a six-axis target and detector positioning system controlled by stepping motors. This system includes three axes (x, y, z) for target position, two axes for target angular orientation, and one axis for detector rotation. The existing target manipulator control system uses manual toggle switches to move each axis. While the z-axis has an adjacent ruler that can be used to determine the axis position, the ruler cannot be seen from the control panel. Furthermore, there is no way to quantify the position of the other 5 axes. To improve experimental repeatability and precision, a six-axis control interface for the existing mechanical hardware is under development. This new control system enables remote operation via a LabVIEW interface system on a control room computer. The computer interface controls two three-axis Trinamic motor control modules (TMCM) and reports final axis positioning to within 0.01 mm for the three linear axes, and within 0.01 degrees for the three rotational axes. Users can also save and restore prior configuration states across all six axes. Also, implementation of this system has been achieved without the need to remove the original physical control system. When a user starts the LabVIEW interface, the program temporarily disables the original system, and then restores the original system when the software is closed. To test the system, a physical model simulating the six-motor system was designed and 3D printed so that all aspects of the behavior can be verified prior to final installation in the Pelletron end station.

*This project is funded in part by a grant from the DOE through the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and by SUNY Geneseo