Thomas Ales
c7eb33891c
The current spin box could not hold a typed value: the 1 Hz status poll read LDS and wrote it straight into the spin box, so the operator's number was replaced by the laser's within a second — before Set could be pressed. The spin box is now seeded once on connect and belongs to the operator after that; the poll's reading goes to a read-back label beside the Set button, so the value about to be sent and the value the laser holds are separate readouts. The write itself was also unverified. Section 6 of the operator's manual: "Commands or set values can be discarded by the controller unintentionally. It is recommended to query the set value after the command is entered to confirm the actual value." set_current_ma() wrote LDS and returned True regardless, so a discarded write looked exactly like a good one. _write_verified() now writes, reads back, and retries up to three times; set_current_ma() and set_frequency_hz() use it, and HeliosWorker reports a refusal on the status line instead of echoing the requested value. Also from the manual, recorded but not acted on: LDS accepts 0-7000 mA (the driver's 2000 mA ceiling is this rig's, not the protocol's), LDF has to be re-sent after LDG changes, and the power-monitor mnemonic is HMP — which this laser does not implement, per the operator. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
118 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
118 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
# Known issues requiring on-rig verification
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Questions that cannot be answered from the code alone. Check these the next
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time the hardware is available; each one gates a small code change.
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## uC480 camera: gain/exposure during active capture
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The driver used to carry an (unused) `_capture_paused` context manager whose
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docstring claimed many IDS cameras return `IS_CANT_COMMUNICATE_WITH_DRIVER`
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(17) or `IS_NO_SUCCESS` (-1) when gain/exposure commands are issued during
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active capture. `set_exposure()` and `set_gain()` never used it, and the
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helper was deleted in the Phase-1 cleanup.
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**Bench check:** with live streaming running, move the exposure and gain
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sliders in `camera_test_app.py` and watch the log for those error codes.
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If they appear, the setters need a stop-live/apply/restart sequence
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(re-create the helper around the two call sites in
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[uc480_camera.py](hardware/uc480_camera.py)).
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## Helios: no output-power query
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`docs/hardware/HELIOS_DRIVER_README.md` documents `driver.get_power_mw()`,
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but `HeliosLaser` has no such method and no output-power mnemonic appears
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anywhere in this repo's protocol notes. `helios_test_app.py` called it
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anyway and raised `AttributeError` into a popup; the button is now disabled
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and the handler reports the gap instead.
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**Answered (2026-09-08):** the mnemonic is `HMP` (Table 6-3, "Laser Power
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Monitor", read-only, 0-5000 mW) — but the table adds "not available on all
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models", and the operator confirms this rig's laser has no power meter. So
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the button stays disabled; what remains is to delete the Power Monitoring
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group from `helios_test_app.py` and drop the power-monitoring claims from
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`docs/hardware/HELIOS_DRIVER_README.md`.
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## Genesis laser: forked protocol implementations disagree
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`hardware/genesis_core.py` and the reference implementation
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`tools/genesis_laser_gui.py` disagree on ADC command bytes, LDD enable
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polarity, shutter semantics, filtering, and scaling. Do not modify either
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until the checklist in [docs/genesis_verification.md](docs/genesis_verification.md)
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has been run on the bench.
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## `lib/ueye_loader.so` — still needed?
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`lib/ueye_loader.c` is an `LD_PRELOAD` shim that dlopens
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`/usr/lib/libueye_api.so` — yet nothing in the repo references it, and the
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vendored SDK copy is `lib/libueye_api64.so.3.82` (a different file). On the
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rig, check whether the camera apps run without the shim; if they do, delete
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`lib/ueye_loader.{c,so}`. Either way, record in SETUP.md where
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`libueye_api64.so.3.82` came from (IDS SDK version) and how the loader is
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meant to be used.
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## Per-angle background: trigger round trip mid-scan
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Every angle now captures its own background, so the scope switches from the
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scan-time logic-AND trigger back to the single-record edge trigger and
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returns to it once per angle (`core/scope_sras.py`:
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`configure_background_trigger` → `capture_background` →
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`configure_scan_trigger`). Before this, that transition happened once per
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scan, with the stage idle and nothing depending on how long it took.
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**Bench check:** run a multi-angle scan and watch the first row after each
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background. If frames go missing at the start of an angle, the 0.2 s settle
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in `configure_scan_trigger` is not enough for FastFrame to re-arm after an
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AVERAGE-mode sequence, and the row-packing warning ("N frames acquired, M
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expected") will say so in the log. Raise the settle rather than the ramp
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buffer — the stage geometry is not what changed.
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## Auto-align: constants that are guesses until the rig confirms them
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`core/auto_align.py` closes a loop over hardware whose gain nobody has
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measured. Three numbers in `AlignSettings`/`TAxisSettings` are reasoned
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defaults, not readings:
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- `probe_steps = 200` — the first move of every search, made only to learn how
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many millivolts a microstep is worth. Too small and each search wastes
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iterations doubling it (the status line says so: "moved N microsteps and the
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DC difference did not change"); too large and the first move overshoots by
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more than the platform should be asked to travel in one go.
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- `max_excursion_steps = 20000` — the per-axis safety limit, measured from
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wherever the axis started. It exists to stop a runaway before the actuator
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reaches its end stop, so it has to be smaller than the real travel.
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- `hold_current_ma = 300` — the run current (600 mA) and microstepping (32)
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are specified; the standstill current is half the run current by analogy
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with the GR axis, and has not been checked against the platform's weight.
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**Bench check:** run one auto-align and read the log. The first search's
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iteration count is the probe verdict — 3 or 4 steps means the probe is about
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right, and a "did not change by 2 mV" line means it is too small. Convert the
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applied corrections into actuator travel and compare against the T-axis
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travel to set the excursion limit. Watch whether the platform holds its tilt
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between the two phases; if it sags, raise the hold current.
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## Auto-align: does the X phase's piston matter, and where is the pivot?
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The X phase moves T1 alone, as specified. T1 is the only axis lying along X,
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so it does tilt the platform along X — but moving one leg of three also lifts
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the platform by a third of the move (`tilt_response(X_TILT)` returns a piston
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of 1/3 alongside the 2/3 tilt). The search nulls the split-detector
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difference, which a piston should not move, so the assumption is that the
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piston is harmless. The piston-free alternative is T1 +1 with T0 and T2 at
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−0.5 each.
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Separately, the procedure assumes the tilt pivot is under the beam: if it is
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not, applying the correction shifts the DC levels at the reference point
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itself, and the Y phase then chases levels that no longer describe the rig.
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The code reports this rather than compensating for it — `AxisResult`'s
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"back at the reference" reading after the X phase is exactly that
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measurement.
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**Bench check:** during an X search, watch DC1 + DC2 (the sum, not the
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difference) on the scope. If the sum moves as T1 moves, the piston is
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changing the amount of collected light and `X_TILT` should become the
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piston-free triple. Then read the X phase's reference residual out of the
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log: more than a few millivolts means the pivot is not under the beam, and
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the Y phase's reference should be re-measured after the X correction instead
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of reusing the operator's original numbers.
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