Motion Tables
LAYOUT OF FTBF
The Fermilab Test Beam Facility is located on the West side of Meson Detector Building. The MTest and MCenter beam lines enter the building from the south, and while the MCenter line passes through the entirety of the building (dividing in into East and West), the MTest line comes to completion within the building. The facility was designed for the constant occupation of multiple users.
Click on a picture for a larger image.
Table 2B
Table 2B is the upstream movable die cart in Section 2B. It has a capacity of 1500 pounds, and a platform measuring 4ft x 3.5ft. The entire cart is driven by a worm gear attached to the floor. The cart has two speeds in both vertical and horizontal directions. There are manual boxes for controlling both movements inside the enclosure, mounted on the concrete shielding blocks. The cutoff for this table is on those boxes. The automated controls inside the control room will override the manual controls.
The control panel for automated motion is in the rack next to the FTBF DAQ computer in the MTest Control Room. (Used for both motion tables) To turn the display ON just pull the Emergency Off button out. This turns on an alignment laser in the enclosure. The laser needs 15 minutes to warm up before the position numbers become accurate. If it needs to be reset for any reason, just push in the crash button and pull it out again. The position of the tables is determined absolutely, so there will be memory of their current location after power out.
The display will come up with an option for horizontal or vertical motion of either of the tables. It is a touch sensitive screen, so just press the motion you want to control. The next screen will show the current position, and will have jog buttons, limit switch displays, and a 'GO TO' entry point. If you just want to jog the table and watch the motion, then turn the video display above the control panel to view the table you are interested in, push the jog button in the direction you want to move, and let go when you are satisfied in the position. The limit switch buttons will light up when you have reached a limit.
If you find the read back seems to get confused and reports impossible numbers, reset the system by hitting the crash button and pull it out again.
If you want to go to a set position, then press the number value below the 'GO TO' button (don't press the Go TO button yet!). That will bring up a key pad where you can enter the desired position to within tenths of a millimeter. Then hit the RETURN button to bring you back to the main page. Hit the GO TO button if you are satisfied and the table should go to the desired location.
If there is ever any question of safety, please crash the power button on the control panel (if you are in the control room) or on the control box (if you are in the enclosure).
Table 2C
Table 2C is the downstream table in Section 2 with a small platform measuring 3sqft or 92cm x 92cm. for both horizontal and vertical motion. It is rated for approximately 500 lbs. It usually sits inside the MT6.2C hut, but it can be moved as desired. The emergency stop button is mounted on the table, but there are no manual controls inside the enclosure for this table. This table has continuous variability in speed.
The control panel for motion is in the rack next to the FTBF DAQ computer in the control room. (Used for both motion tables). To turn the display ON just pull the Emergency Off button out. If it needs to be reset for any reason, just push in the crash button and pull it out again. The position of the tables is determined absolutely, so there will be memory of their current location after power out.
The display will come up with an option for horizontal or vertical motion of either of the tables. It is a touch sensitive screen, so just press the motion you want to control. The next screen will show the current position, and will have jog buttons, limit switch displays, and a 'GO TO' entry point. If you just want to jog the table and watch the motion, then turn the video display above the control panel to view the table you are interested in, push the jog button in the direction you want to move, and let go when you are satisfied to the position. The limit switch buttons will light up when you have reached a limit.
If you find the read back seems to get confused and reports impossible numbers, reset the system by pushing the Emergency Stop button and pull it out again.
If you want to go to a set position, then press the number value below the 'GO TO' button (don't press the Go TO button yet!). That will bring up a key pad where you can enter the desired position to within tenths of a millimeter. Then hit the RETURN button to bring you back to the main page. Hit the GO TO button if you are satisfied and the table should go to the desired location. For this, downstream table, you can also change the velocity in a similar fashion.
If there is ever any question of safety, please crash the power button on the control panel (if you are in the control room) or on the control box (if you are in the enclosure).
Table 1A
Table 1A is located in Section 1, within the climate-controlled 1A hut. It consists of two tables, a larger, hydraulically controlled base for coarse vertical movement in and out of the beam, and a small, upper platform with horizontal and vertical fine control movement. The small, upper platform is 30 inches long, by 10 inches wide. The larger table underneath is 72 inches long by 25 inches wide. There are 23 inches of clearance when both tables are at their highest points, and 43 inches of clearance at their lowest.
The smaller platform can either be controlled via the rack-mounted control box in the Alcove Control Room, or through a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. The control panel for automated motion is in the rack next to the computer in the Alcove Control Room. It is important to note that if you command the table to move to a certain location through the control box, the Excel Spreadsheet will not detect the movement. You would have to re calibrate the machine by sending it to "home" using Excel to get accurate positioning. If the CPU button on the control box is on, then the Excel Spreadsheet will override the control box. The position of the tables are determined absolutely, so there will be memory of their current location after a power outage.
On the control box there is an option for horizontal (X) or vertical motion (Y) for the smaller of the tables, so press the motion switch you want to control. To move the table up, flip the switch to the left and to move the table down, flip the switch to the right. If you just want to jog the table and watch the motion, then turn on the video display above the control panel to view the table you are interested in, push the jog button in the direction you want to move, and let go when you are satisfied with the position.The limit switch buttons will light up when you have reached a limit. Be aware that vertical movement (Y) is significantly slower than moving horizontally. It takes 8 seconds to move a mm horizontally, and a minute to move a mm vertically.
To use the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet, you must first turn off the control box. At this point it can be aligned professionally using the hand wheels to center the detector in the beam. You can then power on the control box and turn on CPU control so that the mortars are locked. It will be your choice whether you would like to zero this alignment by putting zero into B25 (left/right) and B26 (up/down). Lets say you would like to move your detector to the left 10 cm from that alignment for some reason- you would have to click on B25 and multiply -283.67x100 to move 100 mm to the left. Lets also assume you don't have access to the motion table because the beam is on and you're receiving data that doesn't make sense. If you would like to make sure it's not an alignment issue, you would have to "home" horizontally or vertically in either direction before the beam is actually on (it would be easier to do so horizontally), write down that number, "go to" a specific alignment in that same motion then "home" again to make sure that value is the same as before to a hundredth of a mm.
