1. Sample Changer Robot (at PX beamlines)
Elke Zimoch
EPICS Workshop
2008

2. Why using a Sample Changer Robot?
Reliability
Shorter mounting time (than average user)
Never tired
Reduced beamline access by users
Automation
Mail-in crystallography and remote access to beamlines
On the way to full automatic crystallography
… interesting new technology …
… do not tell this to the financial department

3. Robot Setup - Schema as complete system available from IRELEC
Sample Dewar
Robot Controller
Robot
Console
IOC
TCP/IP
User GUI
EPICS
VAL3 – Robot Language
Tcl/Tk
StreamDevice
from Stäubli company

4. Robot Setup – Real World
Beamline
Beam
Sample Mount
Position
Sample
Dewar
Controller

5. Programming Details Where to put the details of movement?
Into the IOC:
Flexibility: the robot can perform any movement remotely
(do you want this?)
Feedback needed over network
Into the Robot Controller:
Language optimized for six axis robot (all this vector and matrix algorithms)
Programmer defines what the user can do (pre-defined movements)

6. Medm Screen (for experts)
pre-defined robot
commands
Environment
settings
Start pre-defined
movements
=> Too complicated for beamline users

7. User GUI Select a cassette 2. Select a sample (from this cassette)
Click here
2. Select a sample
(from this cassette)
Click here
3. Mount this sample
(previous mounted samples
will be unmounted first)
Click here

8. Beamline Environment 1. Hardware:
Stable repeatable environment needed (absolute coordinates)
Beamline State Machine ESCAPE (in testing)
in the meantime: Scripts to move to „Robot Mount Position“
Laser Distance Sensor
2. Users:
Robot included into Radiation Protection System
(no user access during Robot movement)

9. Conclusion
3 robot systems from IRELEC for PX beamlines installed (1 in Operation, 2 in Test Phase)
Main Problems in hardware (icing) not in software
Stäubli Robots provide an easy way to interface to external control systems like EPICS
2 more Stäubli Robots installed at other beamlines (Tomography and Material Science)
Next step: no sample holder any more, the robot puts the sample into the beam for measurement (“Plate Screening” already tested at SLS)

10. Movie …

11. More Movies …