Motorized stages, Piezo stages
Presented by Sun-Uk Hwang
2009-03-30
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Nanoscale Simulations Lab
Motorized Stage (MCAPI)
www.thorlabs.com

Reference: Motion Control Application Programming Interface
MCAPI Reference Manual Revision 3.4
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[2]
Specifications
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[3]
Sample Specimen Control
Sample specimen control:
Focusing, translation
4.45um bead
Sample specimen mounted to
motorized stage
Motor
Focused by moving stage
Objective lens
CCD
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[4]
Motorized Stage API
PC
mcapi.h
mcapi32.lib
Motorized Stage
API
PCI Interface
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[5]
Motorized Stage Basic Function List

Functions
 MCOpen()
 MCGetConfiguration()
 MCGetPositionEx()
 MCMoveRelative()
 MCIsAtTarget()
 MCClose()
MCOpen()
MCGetConfiguration()
MCMoveRelative()
MCGetPositionEx()
MCIsAtTarget()
N
Y
MCClose()
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[6]
Example code
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[7]
Motorized Stage (APT)
Motorized Actuators
MT3/M-Z8
www.thorlabs.com

Reference: APT System Software Developer Support Motor control
Programming
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[8]
Specification
MT3-Z8
Value
Travel
0.47" (12 mm)
Maximum Vertical Load
10 lbs (4.5 kg)
Maximum Horizontal Load
20 lbs (9 kg)
Orthogonality
<2 mrad
Runout
150 µrad
Bearing Type
Ball on Hardened V-Grooves
Motor Type
DC Servo (Z812)
Motor Drive Voltage
12 V
Maximum Recommended Current
80 mA
Lead Screw Pitch
1.0 mm
Calculated Resolution
29 nm
Feedback
Hall Effect Encoder
Encoder Counts per Revolution of Lead Screw
34,304
Planetary Gear Head Ratio
67:1
Limit Switches
Electromechanical
Speed Range
0.050 to 3.0 mm/s
Recommended Controller
TDC001
[9]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Motorized Stage Active X control
PC
mgmotorctrl1.h
mgmotorctrl1.cpp
Motorized Stage
USB communication
Active X
control
MT3/M-Z8
[10]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Controller for Motorized Stage
• Ideal Controller for Z8 Series Actuators
• Control via Overlay or Computer
• Compact Footprint
 The TDC001 is the DC Motor Controller of our T-Cube Family. This single channel
controller features a control panel on top, which offers Move/Jog buttons to move the
actuator's leadscrew in discrete steps and a Velocity Potentiometer to move the
leadscrew at various velocities. The TDC001 can be connected to a computer using
USB 2.0 and controlled via Thorlabs' APT software.
[11]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Motorized Stage Basic Function List

Functions
 StartCtrl()
 SetVelParams()
 SetJogStepSize()
 MoveJog()
 StopCtrl()
StartCtrl()
SetVelParams()
SetJogStepSize()
MoveJog()
Find Target?
Y
StopCtrl()
[12]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
N
Example code
•
•
Active X control using MFC application (Reference : VC++(2003) APT Tutorial)
Select the MFC Application item
[13]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Example code (cont’d)

Insert the ActiveX Control in the dialog box
[14]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Example code (cont’d)

Add variable m_Motor1 that will be used to access the Motor Control
[15]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Example code (cont’d)

Set the serial number and call the StartCtrl() function
[16]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Example code (cont’d)

Motion control of the motorized stage (1)

Call the Move home of the motor at Button1
[17]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Example code (cont’d)

Motion control of the motorized stage (2)

Call the absolute move of the motor at Button1
[18]
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
NI DAQ, Nanopositioner

Reference:
NATIONAL INSTRUMENT, “NI-DAQ 7, DAQmx C Reference Help ”, 2004
NATIONAL INSTRUMENT, “DAQ, 6534X User Manual”, 2001
nPoint, “C-300 Series Controller Manual”, Version 1.2, 2005
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[19]
NI DAQ ?
 NI DAQ (National Instrument Data Acquisition)
: Collecting and measuring the same kinds of electrical signals with
analog-to-digital and/or digital devices plugged into a PC, and
possibly generating control signals with digital-to-analog and/or
digital devices in the same PC.
PC-BASED DATA ACQUISITION
Figure referred to www.ni.com

Two libraries for NI DAQ
- Traditional NI DAQ, difficult to understand and implement
- NIDAQmx: new library, easy to understand and implement
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[20]
PCI-6534 DAQ Device
www.ni.com
PCI - 6534





32 (5 V TTL/CMOS) digital
input/output lines
20 MHz (80 Mbytes/s) maximum
transfer rate
8, 16, or 32-bit transfers
Start and stop triggering, pattern
and change detection
32 MB onboard memory per data
path (group) (NI 6534 only)
NI-DAQ driver simplifies
configuration and measurements
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST


Operating Systems
•Windows 2000/NT/XP/Me/9x
• Mac OS 9*
Recommended Software
• LabVIEW
• Measurement Studio for Visual

Other Compatible Software
• Visual Basic
• C/C++
 Driver Software (included)
• NI-DAQ
[21]
NI-DAQmx Key Concepts

Task: A task is a collection of one or more channels, timing, triggering, and other properties
that apply to the task itself. Conceptually, a task represents a measurement or generation you
want to perform.

Channel: Virtual channels are software entities that encapsulate the physical channel. The
physical channel can be configured as data output channel or data input channel.

Timing, Triggering: The timing section explains clocks. The triggering section goes over
the triggers such as a Start Trigger and a Reference Trigger, Analog Edge Trigger, Digital
Edge Trigger.

Buffer: A buffer is a temporary storage in computer memory for acquired or to-be-generated
samples.
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[22]
Basic NI DAQmx Functions for PCI-6534 Device

Task Configuration/Control: DAQmxCreateTask (), DAQmxStartTask(),
DAQmxStopTask(), DAQmxClearTask, DAQmxIsTaskDone (), etc.

Channel Creation: DAQmxCreateDOChan(), DAQmxCreateDIChan()

Timing: DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming()

Write: DAQmxWriteDigitalU8(), DAQmxWriteDigitalU16(), DAQmxWriteDigitalU32()

Read: DAQmxReadDigitalU8(), DAQmxReadDigitalU16(), DAQmxReadDigitalU32()
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[23]
DAQ Flowcharts
Finite Sample Writing to DAQ device
Finite Sample reading from DAQ device
DAQmxCreateTask
DAQmxCreateTask
DAQmxCreateDOChan
DAQmxCreateDIChan
DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming
DAQmxWriteDigitalU16
DAQmxStartTask
DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming
DAQmxStartTask
DAQmxReadDigitalU16
DAQmxStopTask
DAQmxStopTask
DAQmxClearTask
DAQmxClearTask
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[24]
Example code (data output)
Include “nidaqmx.lib” in the project setting
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[25]
Example code (data input)
Include “nidaqmx.lib” in the project setting
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[26]
Nanopositioner Control by NI-DAQ
www.nPoint.com,
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[27]
Data Flow for Nanopositioner Control
Programming using
DAQ API
Input data
Feedback data
PCI-6534
Generating &
collecting data
Tilt mirror
20bits(524287)
10V
Digital controller
Transferring data
Objective positioner
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
3D laser focal point control
[28]
Timing diagram of digital controller
PCI-6534 card has 2 external clock ports and 2 trigger ports for synchronization of data transfer with
external devices. According to the timing diagram of the external device, clock and trigger signals of
PCI card should be set well using DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming() and DAQmxCfgDigEdgeStartTrig()
functions for proper operation of external devices.
Output: Data is outputted on falling edge of REQ1 and rising edge of STARTTRIG1 from PCI card
to the nPoint interface
Input: Data is inputted on falling edge of REQ2 and rising edge of STARTTRIG2 from the nPoint
interface to PCI card
Input
Output
Timing diagram of nPoint digital controller
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[29]
Time Delay of DAQ Device
It takes long time to update new control data to DAQ device if a number of sample
points are used.
41667 points/sec
2083 points/sec
In real time applications where the control data changes with time by user input, this
makes undesirable (discontinuous) motion.
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[30]
Detailed Analysis of NI-DAQ Time Delay


CPU-RAM-PROGRAM-OS (1): Elapsed time to generate control data
in RAM
RAM-TO-PCI-BOARD (2): Elapsed time to transfer control data to PCI
board

PCI-BOARD-TO-AMP (3): Elapsed time to transfer control data from
PCI board to the controller

AMP-PCI BOARD-RAM (4): Elapsed time to retrieve feedback data

The sample points are sent in 24us interval.

Elapsed times are increasing with increased
number of points.

Elapsed time (3) is not a delay. This is the
time nanopositioner move.

Total time delay = (1)+(2)+(4)

Elapsed time (4) is very small

Elapsed times (2),(1) is critical parameters
in total time delay.
Input data
Feedback data
Programming using
DAQ API
Generating &
collecting data
Tilt mirror
Transferring data
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
Objective positioner
[31]
Number of sample points with minimum time delay
minimum time delay

1~4 sample points give minimum time delay.

Therefore, control data composed of a number of sample points can be transferred by 4
samples at a time to minimize time delay in real time applications.
(0.6ms/4 points  6666 points/sec)
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[32]
Example code
Include “nidaqmx.lib” in the project setting
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[33]
Control data is being transferred by 4 samples at a time
Save input data in the feedback data memory
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[34]
Clock and trigger signal setting for data output
Clock and trigger signal setting for data input
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[36]
MCL motorize stage
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[37]
MCL piezo stage Basic Function List
MCL_InitHandle()

Functions
 MCL_InitHandle()
 MCL_GetProductInfo()
 MCL_GetCalibration()
 MCL_SingleWriteN()
 MCL_SingleReadN()
 MCL_ReleaseHandle()
MCL_GetProductInfo()
MCL_GetCalibration()
MCL_SingleWriteN ()
MCL_SingleReadN()
Satisfied?
N
Y
MCL_ReleaseHandle()
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[38]
Example code (Connect/disconnect)
Include “MADLib.lib” in th project setting
bool MCLControl::Connect()
{
unsigned long axis;
/* Prior to calling any other device function MCL_InitHandle() should be called */
handle = MCL_InitHandle();
if(handle == 0) {
//Cannot get a handle to the device\n";
return false;
}
void MCLControl::Disconnect(){
/* MCL_ReleaseHandle()
should be called before the program exits */
MCL_ReleaseHandle(handle);
}
/* Fills a structure with information about the NanoDrive */
MCL_GetProductInfo(&pi, handle);
/*Loop 3 times.
Check if X is valid.
Check if Y is valid.
Check if Z is valid.
*/
for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
{
/*Checks if an axis is valid*/
if((pi.axis_bitmap & (0x01 << i)) == 0)
continue;
/*Move a valid axis to 50% of its range of motion*/
axis = i+1;
cal[i] = MCL_GetCalibration(axis, handle);
}
connectionFlag = true;
return true;
}
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[39]
Example code (write/read)
Include “MADLib.lib” in th project setting
void MCLControl::SetPos(int axis, double position){
//position values are should be in the range of 0 to 200 um
if(connectionFlag == true){
if(axis > 0 && axis < 4){
if(position >= 0 && position <= cal[axis-1]){
MCL_SingleWriteN(position, axis, handle);
pos[axis-1] = position;
}
}
}
}
double MCLControl::GetPos(int axis){
return MCL_SingleReadN(axis, handle);
}
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[40]
Example code (function write)
Include “MADLib.lib” in th project setting
void CMCLRampWaveform::ramp_waveform_generator(int acquisition)
{
/*Simple example of synchronous waveform acquisition.
-MCL_Setup_LoadWaveFormN loads the position control waveform to the axis
-MCL_Setup_ReadWaveFormN sets some internal values in the NanoDrive
-MCL_TriggerWaveformAcquisition triggers both waveforms simultaneously
-MCL_Trigger_LoadWaveFormN
*/
…
error = MCL_Setup_LoadWaveFormN(axis_index+1, datapoints, milliseconds, waveform, handle);
if(error != MCL_SUCCESS)
goto FAIL;
…
if( acquisition == true )
{
error = MCL_Setup_ReadWaveFormN(axis_index+1, datapoints, milliseconds, handle);
}
…
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[41]
if( acquisition != true )
error = MCL_Trigger_LoadWaveFormN(axis_index+1, handle);
else
error = MCL_TriggerWaveformAcquisition(axis_index+1,
datapoints, waveform, handle);
printf("Waveform Functionality Tested Successfully\n");
/*Print the waveform data points.*/
if( acquisition == true )
{
FILE* file_ptr;
file_ptr = fopen("babo.txt","w");
for(i = 0; i < datapoints; i++)
fprintf(file_ptr, "%d:\t%f\t%f\t%f\n", i,
waveform_command[i], waveform[i], waveform_command[i]-waveform[i]);
fclose(file_ptr);
}
}
DEPT. MECHATRONICS, GIST
[42]