CRAnE: A JAS-based Data Acquisition System for Cosmic
Contents
1. java sun com and click on the Downloads link Under the J2SE heading browse the drop down list for Java Communications API JCA 2 0 and click to select it Press Go Follow the instructions to download Unzip the file to some location on your computer Copy the file win32com d11 from the commapi folder to the JRE bin directory this is probably found in a location such as c Program Files Java j2rel 4 1_0x bin Copy the file comm jar from the commapi folder to the JRE 1ib directory Copy the javax comm properties file to the JRE 1ib directory Go to the website http jas freehep org and click the JAS3 link Click the Download link Follow instructions to download JAS3 Find the jas ini Configuration Settings file in the JAS3 folder this is probably found in a location such as C Program Files JAS3 jas ini Open the file After the last line of text in the file enter a new line starting with the capital letter c followed by the file path of the comm jar file copied in Step 2 i e enter a new line that says Cc Program Files Java j2re1 4 1_0x lib comm jar if comm jar is located at c Program Files Java j2rel 4 1_0x lib comm jar Save the changes made to the file B Installing CRAnE e Go to the CRAnE website http www slac stanford edu quarknet crane and follow the downloading instructions or insert the CRAnE CD e Move the crane jar file to the extensions folder for JAS3 this is probably found in a2. 20 2003 http www slac stanford edu quarknet I Semeniuk Astronomy s Phantom Foul Balls Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays Sky amp Telescope March 2003 W Langeveld High Energy Cosmic Rays from Supernovae July 8 2002 http www slac stanford edu vvc cosmicrays crsuper html D Balick QuarkNet Cosmic Ray Detection System Manual Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory July 2001 E Harpell W Langeveld D McShurley S Shapiro J Venuti The CRT an inexpensive cosmic ray muon detector Stanford Linear Accelerator Center SLAC TN 95 1 1995 T Johnson Java Analysis Studio Oct 29 2001 http jas freehep org FIGURES Figure 1 Photograph of a CRT setup JAS3 21D x File Edit View Tupe Run Window Help e 9 BG CRANE x ap welcome pe lt version 1 0 created August 2003 by mireyes amp jdocktor The CRANE Cosmic Ray Analysis Environment program is a plugin to JAS Java Analysis Studio that reads the serial port output from a cosmic ray detector saves the relevant information to a file and piots the data in reattime Operating Instructions 1 Click the Set Configuration button Select the serial port name Check the active channel s Set the bin size an integer number of minutes Edit the default save file name if desired Click the OK button to accept settings 2 Click the Start Data Collection Button Two histograms should appear that
3. from the logic board preserved in its original format The other component is the time in milliseconds from the beginning of data collection that a cosmic ray event was processed by CRAnE This time is annexed to the logic board data line of the corresponding event
4. location such as c Program Files JAS3 extensions III Operation A Configuration Settings To begin using CRAnE open JAS and click on the CRAnE tab to activate the CRAnE main window File Edit View Tuple lO Run Window Help e gt Bo CRANE Welcome Pt Welcome to CRAnE Tides version 1 0 created August 2003 by mireyes amp jdocktor The CRAnE Cosmic Ray Analysis Environment program is a plugin to JAS Java Analysis Studio that reads the serial port output from a cosmic ray detector saves the relevant information to a file and plots the data in realtime Operating Instructions 1 Click the Set Configuration button Select the serial port name Check the active channel s Set the bin size an integer number of minutes Edit the default save file name if desired Click the OK button to accept settings 2 Click the Start Data Collection Button Two histograms should appear that autorefresh 3 When finished click the Stop Data Collection Button 4 Right click on the plot to modifv the aranh properties Start Data Collection Stop Data Collection Set Configuration Double check the following in your set up e The photomultiplier tube bases are switched on check the yellow LED lights e The RS 232 serial port connector ribbon cable is plugged in to the logic board and a serial port of the computer e All other cables are correctly connected e The GPS mus
5. SLAC TN 03 004 August 15 2003 CRAnE A JAS based Data Acquisition System for Cosmic Rays Jennifer Docktor Manuel Reyes Tom Glanzman Willy Langeveld Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Stanford University Stanford CA ABSTRACT Cosmic Ray Analysis Environment CRAnE is a software tool designed to collect and plot data from a cosmic ray telescope CRT connected to a computer serial port As a plugin to Java Analysis Studio JAS CRAnE provides visual displays of incoming cosmic ray rates as they are detected In an effort to make the program user friendly it operates through a graphical user interface This paper describes the features of CRAnE and includes installation and operation instructions in the appended user s manual Work supported in part by the Department of Energy contract DE AC03 76SF005 15 1 Introduction 1 1 HISTORY In the 1990 s efforts were started to design and build a simple and inexpensive cosmic ray detector apparatus for use by high school physics teachers The first such devices were manufactured from materials commonly available at accelerator laboratories and they were simple and safe enough to be used in the classroom setting One program that became involved in building cosmic ray detectors is QuarkNet which is based at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Fermilab 1 The QuarkNet project is an endeavor supported by the National Science Foundation and the U S Department of Energy t
6. all flash of light when a charged particle passes through it Each scintillator panel is connected to a photomultiplier tube by a polished Lucite light guide bonded at each end with optical glue and this segment of the CRT is wrapped in several layers of opaque materials for light shielding 6 The PMTs convert light pulses into amplified electrical pulses which are transmitted to the logic board Attached to each PMT is a base which converts low voltage 5SVDC from the logic board to high voltage for the PMT The logic board has four input channels to receive electrical signals from the PMT base circuit These signals are processed and sent to a serial port for communication with a computer The logic board has the ability to either interpret single pulses from each individual PMT as triggering events or to interpret a coincidence between multiple incoming signals as a triggering event It also has built in temperature and pressure sensors that can send readings to the serial port upon request In addition the logic board has the ability to receive absolute time information from a GPS unit Each CRT consists of two scintillator PMT base paddles held some fixed distance apart on a rotatable arm of ABS plastic affixed to a plastic post supported by a wooden base as shown in Figure 1 The paddles are aligned to generate coincident triggering events when a cosmic ray passes through them A principal classroom experiment with a CRT involve
7. autorefresh 3 When finished click the Stop Data Collection Button 4 Right click on the olot to modify the aranh oronerties Start Data Collection Stop Data Collection Set Configuration Figure 2 Screen shot of CRAnE Average cosmic ray counts per minute detected in 1 minute intervals Counts Per Minute cpm Entries 181 OutOfRange 0 507 Mean 6163 9 487 Rms 3393 5 467 447 427 407 387 367 347 327 30T 287 267 247 2 27 207 gt N 0 0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 6 000 7 000 8 000 9 000 10 000 11 000 12 000 Time since 08 11 03 at 10 37 28 PDT sec Histogram of time intervals between cosmic ray events Entries 153 OutOfRange 27 Mean 65 839 Rms 75 837 Frequency 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 Time interval sec Figure 3 Examples of the graphs produced by CRAnE CRAnE User s Manual N Written by Manuel Reyes and Jennifer Docktor under the direction of Tom Glanzman and Willy Langeveld Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Stanford University August 2003 Version 1 0 Table of Contents I Introduction esssesssesssocesooesoosese IL Installation sccccssssscccseee A Installing Java and JAS3 ccsccsssesssceees B Installing CRANE ccssssscssseccsssesessssceees M QP OT ACIOM 55 50ccsc ince cseicncsvetaccoscens coeancdesueineseasearvecs
8. nsceenss A Configuration Settings ccsssecee i Serial Port ssesisssvesscssssdesceseveosssee ii Channel Selection s sesesoosscscsssesssee iii BIN SiZE og ssese cae sacdcevecdoedeeenioex cvesdeieeveniane iv File Name sivas cscssssvcccasecssecesensseeseiensadsaae B Collecting Data C Graph Options i Plot Display Options sccessceees ii Saving a Plot Image cccsccsssrseees D File Savina gy ovssissevescsavesecesseencesnesessetensoeceesesveessesee AAAWNWIADNAUMMN HB BH W W Vo I Introduction Welcome to the Cosmic Ray Analysis Environment CRAnE User s Manual CRAnE is a software tool developed for use with the cosmic ray telescope CRT It is a plug in to Java Analysis Studio JAS a data analysis system developed at SLAC for use in high energy physics This plugin extends the operation of JAS to include cosmic ray data acquisition This manual provides detailed information on the installation and operation of CRAnE Installation examples are specific to the Windows environment II Installation A Installing Java and JAS3 Step 1 Go to the website http java sun com and click on the J2SE link Click on the J2SE Downloads tab Click on the J2SE 1 4 1 link Download the J2SE v 1 4 1_0x JRE for your computer s operating system Follow the instructions to install the Java run time environment Go back to the website http
9. o educate high school students and teachers about high energy physics and involve them in research 2 The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center SLAC hosted a QuarkNet workshop from June 19 to July 3 2003 during which high school science teachers met with the goal of integrating the experience they received at SLAC into their science courses Throughout one week of the workshop the QuarkNet participants helped to build ten cosmic ray telescopes CRTs that will be used to conduct experiments in their classrooms A photograph of a completed CRT is shown in Figure 1 1 2 COSMIC RAYS The CRT devices are capable of detecting secondary subatomic particles such as muons the charged decay products of pions which are produced when high energy protons from outer space collide with air molecules in the Earth s upper atmosphere and create an air shower 3 The origin of these high energy primary cosmic ray protons is not fully understood but the prevailing theory suggests they are accelerated in the magnetic fields surrounding supernova remnants 4 Muons in particular reach the Earth s surface because they can penetrate large amounts of matter without interacting and have a sufficiently long lifetime 2 Cosmic Ray Telescope CRT In the present design the SLAC QuarkNet CRTs are constructed from scintillators photomultiplier tubes PMTs high voltage converters and a QuarkNet coincidence logic board 5 The scintillator plastic produces a sm
10. s measuring the angular distribution of the cosmic ray flux through the paddles 3 Cosmic Ray Analysis Environment CRAnE 3 1 INTRODUCTION For the purposes of using these CRTs in the classroom it is necessary for the data received from the detectors to be translated into a more manageable and accessible format To this specific end we designed a computer program called Cosmic Ray Analysis Environment CRAnE that acts as a plug in to Java Analysis Studio JAS 7 a data analysis package developed within the high energy physics community CRAnE reads the serial port output of the detectors collects relevant information and saves it as a computer file The program also maintains a plot of incoming cosmic ray rates in real time 3 2 FEATURES CRAnE provides a simple method of configuring and running an experiment with the CRT see Figure 2 It allows the user to start and stop data collection upon request specify a location for the stored data file specify a serial port select the logic board channels in use and set the time interval over which to bin data Once the data acquisition process has begun CRAnE reads the data stream from the serial port selects the data corresponding to cosmic ray events and displays the data in graphical form In version 1 0 the program creates two graphs in real time that analyze the data received from the detector The first graph displays the observed cosmic ray rate vs time The second graph is a his
11. s two paddles so selecting more than two channels at a time will not produce any data The default setting for this feature is channels 1 and 2 selected iii Bin size Another item on the configuration settings popup window is a text field for the bin size in integer minutes This sets the time interval in minutes over which to collect data for the plot of counts per minute detected over time For example a bin size of 5 minutes will collect data for 5 minutes and compute and plot the average number of events per minute during this time interval A new data point or bar is added to the count plot after a bin size time interval passes The default setting for this text field is 1 minute meaning that the graph refreshes with the newly added counts every minute iv File Name The final item on the configuration settings popup window is a text field for the file name This represents the location to which the data processed by the program is saved for future reference CRAnE will only function properly if there is a valid entry in this text field a file by the given name must not already exist and the directory in which the file is to be created must already exist The default setting is a file located in the user s home directory named with the current date followed by Cosmic Data an index and the suffix txt For more information refer to section D File Saving B Collecting Data Start Stop Data Collection Once the configura
12. t remain connected to the logic board at all times Click the Set Configuration button on the CRAnE main window to begin The following window will pop up amp Configuration Settings loj x Serial port comt j Select active channels l V Channel 1 V Channel 2 Channel 3 Channel 4 Set bin size integer minutes Name of saved data file fi 30821 CosmicData1 txt Ea i Serial Port The first item on the configuration settings popup window is a drop down box to select the serial port name The selected item displayed in the text field should correspond to the place that the RS 232 serial port connector ribbon cable is affixed to the computer Choices are determined by the serial ports available on the computer itself and may vary from machine to machine Some examples include COM1 COM2 etc The default setting for this feature is the first item from the list ii Channel Selection The next item on the configuration settings popup window is a set of checkboxes to select the active channels The selected item s should correspond to the channel s connected to the logic board The channels are numbered 1 4 such that when the channels are closest to you channel 1 is on the left and channel 4 is on the right Selecting any number of channels will require that all those channels fire in coincidence in order to trigger an event Any deselected channels will be disabled The present model of the CRT only ha
13. tions have been set press the OK button in the Configuration Settings window Do not close the window by clicking the X in the upper corner doing so will not enable the Start Data Collection button Press the Start Data Collection button Two graphs should open which will update as the logic board receives signals Average cosmic ray counts per minute detected in 1 minute intervals Counts Per Minute cpm Eee 7 18 i so stofRange 50 a Mean 6163 9 Rms 3393 5 48T 467 3 pan a i VI UM 0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 6 000 7 000 8 000 9 000 10 000 11 000 12 000 Time since 08 11 03 at 10 37 28 PDT sec Histogram of time intervals between cosmic ray events Frequency Entiies 153 307 OutOfRange 27 Mean 65 839 Rms 75 837 Time interval sec Upon completion of data collection press the Stop Data Collection button C Graph Options i Plot Display Options Once data collection has ceased the plot display can be edited from options in JAS Right click on the plot area for a list of available options as shown in the following illustration JAS3 File Edit View Tupe Run Window Help CRANE Welcome Bi Paget Average cosmic ray counts per minute detected in 1 minute intervals Entries 200 OutOfRange 0 Mean 50 645 Rms 28 618 v Sho
14. togram of time intervals between consecutive cosmic ray events see Figure 3 In the interest of preserving data for future analysis CRAnE saves the raw information received from the logic board to a file along with the computer clock time in milliseconds from the start of the data acquisition period 4 VERSION 1 0 NOTES In version 1 0 of CRAnE the time processed for a cosmic ray event is the internal clock time of the computer Future versions of CRAnE could acquire a more precise time of data acquisition from the GPS unit in conjunction with the internal clock time of the board In addition version 1 0 is compatible with logic board firmware dated 6 27 03 Firmware output formats are subject to change with each new version CRAnE software will be distributed on CDs and packaged with the CRTs and it will also be available on the Internet for download The CRTs will be distributed to various involved schools and travel between classrooms in the near future on their quest educate students and teachers about cosmic rays and delve deeper into understanding the mysteries of the cosmos 5 Acknowledgments We thank the U S Department of Energy the Office of Science and the SULI program for the opportunity to participate in this research internship We acknowledge Tony Johnson and Max Turri for their help with Java Analysis Studio REFERENCES QuarkNet May 13 2002 http quarknet fnal gov T Glanzman QuarkNet January
15. w Statistics Show Histogram Bars v Fill Histogram Bars Show Error Bars v Draw Lines Between Points v Show Data Points Data Area Border Data Area Background gt Default Plot Layout Plot Propertie Print Plot Copy Plot Save Plot As Print Clear Region Show Regions For example you could deselect the histogram bars and show the data as points and or lines toggle the error bars display statistics modify the axes disable the suppression of zeros change the color scheme print etc Right click on the title area for a list of options for the title space The Print function of the options list is identical to the Print option from the File menu To view and or change the printer settings click File on the menu bar and select Print Setup The Copy plot item on the options list allows you to copy the graph image and paste it as a picture into another environment such as Microsoft Word ii Saving a plot image The Save Plot As selection on the options list produces a window requesting the file save location for the plot The default format is cmg Computer Graphics Metafile but this can be changed to more familiar formats such as gif or jpg from the drop down list D File Saving For each cosmic ray event observed CRAnE writes two pieces of information to the save file The main component is the raw data
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