WATT PILOT
Contents
1. 12 42 acce m 12 4 3 ad TELLE 17 44 Watt 5 18 da LO m 20 4 6 Watt Pilot Control WINGOW arrarrnarrarrnarrarrnnnnarrarrnarrarrnnnnarravrnarrarrnannarravnnarrarenannn 22 4 7 Program preferences CESCHIDLION 1 ccccccecceccseecsecceecceessuessuecsucsseessesseessuessuessness 26 4 8 Motor settings 28 TE GE GR 30 5 WATT PILOT CONTROLLER Ve 31 5 1 Controller specifications nee EEEE EEE EaR ERR 31 NNN 31 6 WRITING SOFTWARE FOR WATT PILOT rnnnennnnennnnennnnennnnonnnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennn 33 6 1 List of supported operating systems for 5 33 6 2 33 6 3 Identifying serial port name rrrrnnrnnnnrnnnnrrnnnrrnnnrr narr narr narr nrrnnanennanrnnarrnnanennsnennn 33 6 4 Serial commands and2. 35 6 5 Software 41 6 6 Serial command usage with National Instruments LabView 43 6 7 Relation between motor position and 856 43 7 WATT PILOT ATTENUATOR DIMENSIONS 1 eere eee nnne 45 www altechna com 4 nm ALTECHNA 7 1 Standard attenuator dimensions esee eene nnne nnne nnn nnn nn 45 72 Big aperture attenuator CIMENSIONS 11ccsccccseccseecsueccneessuessuseseesauessuessueesauesaneees 46 7 3 Watt Pilot controller dimensions assesses nennen nennen nnns 48 8 TROUBLESHOOTING nnunnnnennnnennnnennnnennnnnnnnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennnnnnnnnennnnennnnnnnnnennnnennne 49 8 1 Real laser power does not match shown in 5 6 49 8 2 X Upgrade controller firmware now message 8 6855 49 8 3 Firmware upgrade was unsuccessful or 52 9 LIST TOF TABLES SN 53 NOTES E E 54 www altechna com 3 ALTECHNA 1 INTRODUCTION This user manual is desi
3. ALTECHNA 6 5 Software recommendations There are plenty of applications built for serial port communication Windows XP and full installations of Windows 7 or Windows 8 has native hypertrm exe terminal application which can be launched by typing hepertrm in Run dialog Win key R Linux and OS X users can use free CuteCom http cutecom sourceforge net utility see Figure 18 on page 35 For Windows OS it is recommended to use free tool terminal exe from https sites google com site terminalbpp Figure 19 p 42 Configure terminal exe as follows 1 Select correct com port number see Identifying serial port name on page 33 2 Select correct serial port configuration values see Table 2 on page 33 3 Set Hex checkbox if received characters should also be shown as hexadecimal values 4 Click Connect button 5 Type in command and press Enter key on keyboard Command string pr is sent to device as shown in example picture Look at Serial commands and protocol on page 35 for available commands 6 Watt Pilot response is shown in middle pane Hex representation of all received bytes is shown on the right Controller speed setting is set to 550007 as seen in example screenshot AE ALTECHNA Terminal v1 9b 20 1 JE Brian ioj x D reg 3 COM For Baud rate Handshaking sell IS E c BD e 14400 DT none Help Y 1200 1924
4. ELIIIH W AE ALTECHNA attenuator motor motion 6 6 Serial command usage with National Instruments LabView There is a Serial port control in LabView Add it to your LabView project and set its properties to parameters listed in Table 2 on page 33 Then use commands described in Serial commands and protocol p 35 to control motor use g XX m xx commands for moving and o command for checking if motor has stopped To calculate motor step position for required laser power use formulas shown in in chapter Relation between motor position and laser power on page 43 6 7 Relation between motor position and laser power Transmitted laser power ratio can be in range of 0 0 max attenuation to 1 0 min attenuation According to Malus law waveplate angle can be calculated from ratio cos vratio degrees In order to get motor step position steps from waveplate rotator angle o use relation steps o k r where coefficient k is steps per unit depending on waveplate rotator k 43 333 steps deg for standard attenuator and k 100 0 for big aperture attenuator coefficient r is controller s resolution parameter it must be read from controller using p command or got in Watt Pilot software Options Motor Settings gt Advanced P can be 1 2 default 4 8 16 microsteps per step So motor step position steps using standard
5. C 2400 6 24800 C X N X FF Bags LUMs e 4800 6400 C RTSACTS4ON XOFF RTSonTx inver custom Quit C 5600 6 56000 Settings Set font Auto Dis Connect Time Streamlog custom BR Rx Clear ASCII tablef Scripting Gers E CD AutoStart Script CR LF Stay on Top 3600 1 Graph Remote JOSE BA Heceive CLEAR 5 AutoSeroll _ResetCnt 13 4 Crt 1 E StartLag Stoplog _Reg Resp Len SIISB 1 a 23 d z3z s 55000 vwm ll4 we 36 we ll4 r en l Transmi CLEAR _SendFile n 3 I CR CR LF BREAK GoT RTS Macro Set Macros E CF Send hul Disconnected Rx Tx 2 Figure 19 terminal exe window with p command sent Presets can be configured for frequently used commands Click Set Macros button Macro Settings window will appear Macro Settings E Xx Load gave oldformat Transmit acras top MMe KW n re E Figure 20 Command string presets can be configured by clicking Set Macros button in main terminal exe window Type in string which should be sent and name of this preset Hexadecimal values can be entered with prefix For example command end symbol r 0xOD should be entered as 0D Stop command definition is shown in example Click Save button to save your presets Stop button will appear in Macros pane of main window Press it to stop
6. menu option in control window to give meaningful name to attenuator COM port Each Watt Pilot gets unique serial port name after first enumeration with computer This column shows USB serial port name assigned by Windows COM port name is necessary to know for advanced users who want to use serial commands in their applications See chapter Serial commands and protocol on page 35 for more details about this Status This column shows Connected if attenuator control window is active otherwise it is blank File menu description Connect This opens control window for selected Watt Pilot it does the same as double clicking in device list If only one device is connected during program startup control window will be opened automatically See chapter Watt Pilot Control window on page 22 for information Search For This will force searching for Watt Pilot devices attached to computer It can Devices help if not all devices are detected and listed automatically Close This will close Watt Pilot Selector window but leaves control windows opened if any Exit This will close Watt Pilot Selector window and all control windows too Help menu description User This will open this help file Manual About This will show software version and contact information Please include software version and controller serial number when contacting manufacturer A ALTECHNA 4 5 Calibration In order to correctly cha
7. ALTECHNA WATI PILOT Motorized Attenuator USER MANUAL Rev 3 November 2013 www altechna com mm ALTECHNA WATT PILOT November 2013 Copyright Altechna Ltd All Rights Reserved No part of this manual including the products and software described in it may be reproduced transmitted transcribed stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language in any form or by any means except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purpose without the express written permission of Altechna Ltd ALTECHNA Product warranty or service will not be extended if 1 The product is repaired modified or altered Unless such repair modification of alteration is authorized in writing by ALTECHNA OR 2 The serial number of the product is defaced or missing ALTECHNA PROVIDES THIS MANUAL AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IN NO EVENT SHALL ALTECHNA ITS DIRECTORS EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT SPECIAL INCIDENTAL OR COSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS LOSS OF BUSINESS LOSS OF USE OR DATA INTERUPTION OF BUSINES AND THE LIKE EVEN IF ALTECHNA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL ARE FURNISHED FOR INFORM
8. button will cancel rotation Buttons lt lt and gt gt will continuously decrease increase power Controller firmware must be up to date for these buttons to appear These buttons are not available for controllers with serial numbers beginning with 4ATT If Rotate continuous option in program preferences is set waveplate can be rotated to any angle otherwise waveplate motion is restricted to 0 45 degrees Home button will drive waveplate rotator to home limit switch and back to Home position set in Options gt Preferences Usually this should be executed every time when device is turned on ELIIIH ALTECHNA File menu description Save Current program settings can be saved to file Configuration file includes Calibration all options in Options gt Preferences preset values and calibration offset Run time program configuration files are saved in folder Application data for all users Altechna Watt Pilot Settings Load Program settings can be restored from file Configuration file includes all Calibration X Options in Options gt Preferences preset values and calibration offset Current configuration will be overwritten Show Device This will open Watt Pilot Selector window Selector Close This This will disconnect from Watt Pilot and close active Control window Window Options menu description Calibration This will open Watt
9. Pilot calibration window See chapter Calibration on page 20 for details Preferences This will open program configuration window See chapter Program preferences description on page 26 for details Watt Pilot This will open Rename Device window Use up to 20 characters for Name name Enter new name and click OK to accept Enter new Watt Pilot name list Watt Pilot Figure 11 Rename Device window Motor Settings submenu description Set Safe This option will set waveplate rotator angular velocity to 8 73 deg s with Settings acceleration and deceleration on Such motor settings should be used if Optimized settings causes motor to stall or miss steps Such problems may arise with old worn out attenuators Attenuation from 0 to 100 is changed in 7 seconds These timings apply to Standard small aperture waveplate rotator Set Optimized This will set waveplate rotator angular velocity to 14 076 deg s no N ALTECHNA Settings acceleration and no deceleration This is more faster motion than Safe settings Attenuation from 0 to 100 96 is changed in 3 19 seconds Waveplate turns 360 degrees in 25 6 seconds These timings apply to Standard small aperture waveplate rotator All new attenuators will perfectly work with such option selected Advanced This will open Motor settings window where motor speed can be tweaked It can be used for trouble
10. Profile Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup sje Installing Please wait while Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 is being installed p Downloading dotNET4 exe 2246kB 595 of 41992kB at 748 7kB s 53 seconds remaining HH Mullsart Install system v2 46 Back ext gt 8 After download is finished Microsoft NET Framework 4 Client Profile will be installed wait for it to complete This can take more than 10 minutes on slower machine Ep Microsoft NET Framework 4 Client Profile Setup X Installation Progress FM Please wait while the WET Framework is being installed NET File security verification All Files were verified successfully Installation progress Installing MET Framework 4 Client Profile Gancel A ALTECHNA 9 Setup will finish by installing drivers Click Next to continue PS Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup E x Installation Complete Setup was completed successfully Dd Completed Output folder C Program Files Altechna Watt Pilot Creating schortcuts Create folder C Documents and Settings All Users Start Menu Programs V techna Create folder C Documents and Settings All Users Application Data Altechna Watt Create shortcut C Documents and Settings All Users Start Menu Programs Altechn Create shortcut C Documents and Settings All Users Start Menu Programs Altechn Create shortcut C Documents and Settings All Use
11. calibration goal is completed and Apply button can be clicked to apply changes Further steps are optional but can be set for convenience 5 Calibration result can be verified using buttons in Step 5 panel Usage example click Drive to minimum power button and wait till rotator stops Use buttons 10 and 10 located in Step 2 to ensure if current position is really of lowest power If it is click Apply else select Minimum power in Step 4 again to redefine offset The same can be done with maximum power point Checking both min and max positions in Step 5 makes no sense 6 Non ideality of polarizers and waveplate will cause losses so 100 percent transmission will pass less energy than available and 0 96 transmission actually does not block all radiation Real maximal and minimal transmitted power can be measured while calibrating Watt Pilot in Step 5 These extreme values should be entered in relevant fields of Step 6 For example one uses 1 W laser and 20 mW is measured as minimal power and 0 99 W as maximal power So it is handy to check Use absolute power measurement units put value 0 02 into field Minimum measured value 0 99 into Maximum measured value and write W into Enter ELIT ALTECHNA measurement units to use textbox because measurement units are Watts 7 Click OK button to accept calibration or Cancel to discard If dialog asking to hom
12. mechanical holders Main mechanical components of motorized Watt Pilot are shown in Figure 2 Waveplate mount is designed to fit 1 inch diameter waveplate mount Polarizer holder Depends from optics Step motor Figure 2 Watt Pilot main components Waveplate mount is attached to micro step motor Waveplate is fixed using two mounting rings see Figure 3 Waveplate inside the waveplate holder is rotating around the optical axis of incident laser beam Step motor and waveplate mount are shipped together in one piece Polarizer s are placed into adapter for polarizer s Polarizer s to the mount are fixed using 6 plastic bolts 3 for each polarizer Adapter for polarizer s and waveplate mount are fixed while using M4 screw NOTE Adapter for polarizer s can vary from showed in picture depending from polarizer s type Brewster or Broadband thin film polarizer and operational mode reflection or transmission mode Also big aperture attenuator option is available Watt Pilot can be fixed to an optical table using posts and clamps or to the custom system while using M6 or M4 screw on the bottom and M4 screw on the side See chapter WATT PILOT ATTENUATOR DIMENSIONS on page 45 Aa ALTECHNA 3 1 Optics assembling Figure 3 Assembling the Watt Pilot NOTE Powder free gloves must be worn while mounting optical components Avoid touching or scratching optical surfaces STEP 1 Place polarizers into mechan
13. mode Type this command only when using terminal and manual command entering This is the way to see fundamental settings in eye friendly fashion To get controller settings for software programming use pc command instead This command can be used to ping controller to check if controller is attached to particular COM port If device response to pir string begins with pUSB it means that Watt Pilot is attached and is turned on Return string finished with and OxOD symbols USB 1 a 2 d 3 s 4 wm 5 ws 6 wt 7 r 8 en 9 zr 10 zs 11 1 Boolean 1 or 0 1 if nothing is connected to 15 d SUB connector 2 Integer 0 255 Acceleration value 3 Integer 0 255 Deceleration value 4 Integer 1 65500 Speed value 5 Integer 0 255 Motor motion current value 6 Integer 0 255 Motor idle current value 7 Integer 0 255 Reserved 8 Integer 1 2 4 8 or 6 Micro stepping resolution value full half quarter eight or sixteen 9 Boolean 1 or 0 Motor enable motor is enabled if 1 and motor is disconnected if 0 10 Reserved A ALTECHNA 11 Reserved Response example default controller settings USB 1 a 232 d 232 s 59000 wm 114 ws 36 wt 114 r 2 en 1 zr 0 ZS 0 Show all controller settings separated by semicolon Use this command when programming computer software to read all settings Return string finished with and OxOD symbols 1 1
14. or relocate the receiving antenna e Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver e Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected e Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help ALTECHNA is not responsible for any radio television interference caused by modifications of this equipment or the substitution or attachment of connecting cables and equipment other than those specified by ALTECHNA The correction of interference caused by unauthorized modification substitution or attachment will be treated as responsibility of the user ATTENTION Cellular phones or other radio transmitters are not recommended to be used within the range of three meters of this unit since the electromagnetic field intensity may then exceed the maximum allowed disturbance values according to IEC 61326 1 1 5 Operating and storage conditions For proper Watt Pilot functioning please use assigned controller found in the same package Using unassigned controller might be harmful to the device www altechna com 7 nm ALTECHNA Environmental conditions that must be hold while storing servicing and operating are e Storage temperature should be between 25 C and 60 C Operating temperature is 25 C 10 C Watt Pilot must be protected from humidity dust and corrosive vapors to avoid damaging optical components and electronics e Avoid strong
15. running at constant speed 2 Integer in range of 2147483646 2147483646 Current motor position Hesponse example 3 4437 Use this command to determine if motor has done its movement After issuing any move command poll command in time intervals about 250 ms and decode response If 1 parameter become 0 it means that motor has stopped and is ready for next move command Motor enable Parameter x 1 Motor is enabled 0 Motor is disconnected Reset controller Controller resets in 4 s after issuing this command It is equivalent to power cycle This command can also enter into firmware upgrade mode if firmware upgrade button is pressed All changed settings and position are restored in previous state if ss and or so commands was not issued before reset Then controller starts it sends string USB mode if nothing is connected to 15 pin D SUB connector in front Turn off acceleration Turn off deceleration Save settings of controller Save configuration mentioned in pc command description to controller memory Configuration saved by ss command will be restored on controller power on Write 20 character long name to controller Parameter x 20 characters If x is not 20 symbols then returned name can consist of unreadable characters Please space pad trailing name Show name Returns 20 character string saved by sn command Return 20 character string www altechna com
16. shooting or to find optimal working point between optimal and safe Help menu description User Manual Show this help file About This will show software version and contact information Please include software version and controller serial number when contacting manufacturer 4 7 Program preferences description Preferences window can be accessed by Options gt Preferences menu item in Watt Pilot control window Ps GATT1UID preferences JO x Batate continuous Home position NIE ee rd Automatically execute GO after required power change Iv Automatically execute GO after slider change v Use absolute power measurement unite Measurement units to use Fr Minimum measured value 1 Maximum measured value 10 00 reu v Use absolute measurement units for preset buttons Cancel OF Figure 12 Program preferences window Can be found under menu Options gt Preferences Rotate continuous If checked waveplate can be rotated continuously using lt lt or gt gt buttons in control window This will cause attenuation to change from min to max 8 times in 360 degrees turn This option can be useful to check if current waveplate calibration is set for best contrast ratio possible For example best contrast can be get if using second or third 45 degree slot For this option to appear controller firmware N ALTECHNA must be updated to late
17. start 8 3 Firmware upgrade was unsuccessful or interrupted In case firmware upgrade ended unsuccessfuly due to some reasons cable disconnection program crash usually such error will be thrown then trying to use Watt Pilot EE gt The operation has timed out Figure 28 Error thrown if device firmware becomes corrupted In order to recover follow these steps 1 Close Watt Pilot software 2 Turn off controller using ON OFF switch 3 Press and hold down Firmware upgrade button located inside controller box see Figure 27 on page 51 to find there it is 4 Turn on controller while holding firmware upgrade button pressed 5 Release button after 10 second after power on 6 Launch Watt Pilot software and try to use the device 7 Firmware will be correctly rewritten automatically Device will be ready to use after one minute A ALTECHNA 9 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Controller 5 nnne 31 Table 2 ANNEN hj 33 TER NNN 4 36 A ALTECHNA NOTES ELIIIH X ALTECHNA A ALTECHNA A
18. static electricity and electromagnetic fields www altechna com 8 Anm ALTECHNA 2 OPERATION PRINCIPLE Reflected s polarization laser beam Brewster type Rotating 2 waveplate thin film polarizers Incident laser beam Transmitted p polarization laser beam Figure 1 Watt Pilot operating principle Color differences shows intensity of laser beam Brighter red means more intensive laser beam The motorized Watt Pilot incorporates 2 high performance Brewster type thin film polarizers which reflect s polarized light while transmitting p polarized light Rotating phase retardation of 2 wave plate is placed in the incident polarized laser beam The intensity ratio of those two beams may be continuously varied without alteration of other beam parameters by rotating the waveplate The intensity of either exit beam or their intensity ratio can be controlled over wide dynamic range P polarization should be selected for maximum transmission or high purity s polarization should be reflected when maximum attenuation of the transmitted beam takes place Proper functioning of Watt Pilot requires optimal configuration of optical elements regarding to incident laser beam polarization contrast Higher incident laser beam polarization contrast leads to higher Watt Pilot output polarization contrast www altechna com 9 ALTECHNA 3 WATT PILOT MAIN COMPONENTS Optical components are placed into
19. 6 1914 15 16 14 18 19 10 11 12 19 14 115 116 11 18 119 12 0 21 22 23 24 Character meaning 1 Boolean 1 or 0 1 if nothing is connected to 15 d SUB connector 2 Integer 0 1 2 or 3 Current motor run state 0 motor is stopped 1 accelerating 2 decelerating 3 running at constant speed 3 Integer from 0 to 255 Acceleration value 4 Integer from 0 to 255 Deceleration value 5 Integer from 1 to 65500 Speed value 6 Integer from 0 to 255 Motor motion current value 0 00835x A 7 Integer from 0 to 255 Motor idle current value 0 00835x A 8 Integer from 0 to 255 Reserved 9 Integer 1 2 4 8 or 6 Micro stepping resolution value full half quarter eight or sixteen 10 Boolean 1 or 0 Motor enable motor is enabled if 1 and motor is disconnected if 0 11 Reserved 12 Reserved 13 Reserved 14 Reserved 15 Reserved 16 Reserved 17 Reserved 18 Reserved 19 Reserved 20 Reserved 21 Reserved 22 Reserved 23 Reserved 24 Reserved Hesponse example default controller settings 1 0 232 232 59000 114 36 114 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 Return running state of the motor and current position Return string finished with Ox0A and OxOD symbols 1 2 www altechna com ALTECHNA 1 Integer 0 1 2 or 3 Current motor run state 0 motor is stopped 1 accelerating 2 decelerating 3
20. ATIONAL USE ONLY AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ALTECHNA ALTECHNA ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS MANUAL INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT THIS MANUAL IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO FIRMWARE VERSION LATEST FIRMWARE SOFTWARE AND MANUAL VERSIONS CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM www altechna com Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies and are used only for identification or explanation and to the owner s benefit without intent to infringe www altechna com 2 Anm ALTECHNA THIS PAGE INITIALLY LEFT BLANK ALTECHNA CONTENTS INEFRODUCTION sirens a AEA 6 1 1 Watt Pilot short OCSCHDHON p 6 1 2 General Safety 5 6 NoMEE EEE 6 1 4 Regulation eee 7 1 5 Operating and storage TS H r 7 2 OPERATION PRINCIPLE SUI SENVRERE EE 9 3 WATT PILOT MAIN COMPONENTS erennnennnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnennnnnennnnnennnnnennnnnennn 10 EE GE Se 0 0 RR 11 4 WATT PILOT SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION 1 eee eee nennen nnn 12 4 1
21. ESCRIPTION CuteCom A graphical serial terminal like minicom It 15 almed mainly at hardware developers or other people who need a terminal to talk to their devices It 15 free software and distributed under the GNU General Public License Version 2 which can find in the Tile COPYING Cutecom 15 heavily inspired by Bray for Windows P ackage cutecom 0 22 0 1486 las txz installed root Alvaras home Alvaras cutecom No protocol specified cutecom cannot connect to X server 1 root Alvaras home Alvaras dmesg grep cp210x 515 118805 USB Serial support registered for cp210x 515 118847 cp210x 5 1 1 0 cp210x converter detected 515 355645 usb 5 1 cp210x converter now attached to ttyUSBO 515 355685 usbcore registered new interface driver cp210x 515 355691 cp210x v 09 Silicon Labs CP210x RS232 serial adaptor driver 1196 500459 cp210x ttyUSBO cp210x converter now disconnected from ttyUSBO 1196 500493 cp210x 5 1 1 0 device disconnected 1202 112687 cp210x 5 1 1 0 cp210x converter detected 120 usb 5 1 cp210x converter now attached to ttyUSBO r oot Alvaras home Alvaras Figure 18 Finding Watt Pilot serial port under Linux Screenshot is taken on Slackware Linux 13 37 32 bit OS In the picture above we can see that one Watt Pilot cp210x device is assigned to ttyUSBO port There is also shown installation command for CuteCom package which is easy to u
22. Menu gt All Programs gt Altechna gt Watt Pilot gt Watt Pilot Watt Pilot Selector window will appear At least one device must be displayed in the list If the list is empty please check USB cable power connection and ON OFF switch it must be in ON position Green LED near power switch must be active if power is OK Click File gt Search For Devices to refresh For more information about Watt Pilot Selector window see section Watt Pilot Selector window on page 18 Select Watt Pilot from a list and click File 2 Connect Program will update controller firmware if necessary Usually this process is automatic and does not require any action just wait until Firmware upgrade was successful message appears If problems arise with firmware update see Firmware update on page 30 and TROUBLESHOOTING on page 49 V ALTECHNA Once connected to Watt Pilot dialog will popup informing that no calibration file is found for new attenuator Initial startup E X Settings file not found Please calibrate waveplate offset before using attenuator Do you want to calibrate it now Figure 4 Dialog box shown if Watt Pilot calibration file is not found Select Yes calibration window will appear Use instructions in section Calibration on page 20 to setup calibration After calibration is done Watt Pilot control window will appear Use slider to select and set required power See section Watt Pi
23. advanced users only Firmware file hex Browse for hex file Waiting for button press DE Dont disconnect USB cable Aa ALTECHNA 3 Press and hold firmware upgrade button located under small hole on controller s front panel This must be done in one minute otherwise process must be restarted Firmware upgrade button is marked by yellow arrow in the picture below It can be accessed with teeth stick for example STEP DIR INTERFACE FE 00000000 CGY Figure 27 Firmware upgrade button location inside Watt Pilot controller 4 Hold Firmware upgrade button pressed until confirmation about release will be displayed in Firmware Upgrade window as shown below Usually button must be held pressed up to 15 seconds Process status is displayed above progress bar ag Firmware Upgrade JO x COM4 bATT233D Please release Firmware upgrade button on controller box Writing Firmware 5ATT v13 hex Cancel Manually choose hex tile for advanced users only Firmware file hex Browse for hex file Waiting for button press Writing Dont disconnect USB cable 5 Now wait till Firmware upgrade was successful message appears It will take up to 1 minute to complete 6 Click OK in Firmware upgrade complete message box Firmware Upgrade window N AN ALTECHNA will close and Watt Pilot control window will
24. al usage Default is unchecked Overwrite Enable Input option is used in Step Dir mode only If checked voltage level on Enable pins 3 and 11 in DB15 connector is ignored and motor is enabled or disabled depending on selection to the right Ask document Watt Pilot User manual for advanced users from supplier Overwrite Dir Input option is used in Step Dir mode only If checked voltage level on Dir pins 2 and 10 in DB15 connector is ignored and motor direction is set depending on selection to the right Ask document Watt Pilot User manual for advanced users from supplier Motor current settings Setting motor current higher than default can cause permanent damage to motor or controller so current changing sliders are disabled by default In order to activate them please enter string I understand without quotes in security text field Motion current is used when motor rotates waveplate so it must be higher than standby current Standby current is used when motor idles Additional STEP DIR current slider is present for controllers with serial numbers beginning with 4ATT or newer controllers with outdated firmware version This current drives motor continuously when controller operates in Step Dir mode and motor is enabled by Enable signal on DB15 connector or by enable overwrite command Motor current is cut off completely if enable signal is lost In analogy with this Motion and Standby current values are
25. as 0 degrees Figure 6 Calibration window Calibration procedure 1 Click GO button in section Step 1 and wait till motor stops This will drive waveplate holder to hardware zero limit switch This will allow accurate homing from control window Homing is needed after power loss during motion and will eliminate any accumulated position error ELTIIII Ae ALTECHNA 2 Check checkbox in Step 2 if using Big aperture waveplate rotator See pictures below Standard rotator Step 2 Big aperture rotator Step 2 checkbox must be unchecked checkbox must be checked Figure 7 otandard and Big aperture waveplate rotators 3 Rotate waveplate by using buttons in section Step 3 and measure laser power after the attenuator Number on the buttons represents motor moving distance measured in stepper motor steps and rotation direction One step equals to 0 0115 degrees for standard waveplate rotator and 0 005 degrees for big aperture attenuator using default settings It is advisable to search for lowest power max attenuation position because usually it can be spotted more easily and accurately Power meter is not necessary for relative coarse power attenuation min power can be found using visualizer 4 Select appropriate option in Step 4 when minimum or maximum power is found Angular offset is recalculated and shown in Step 7 field every time Step 4 selection is clicked At this moment main
26. at does not meet requirements only USB drivers will be installed Click Yes to continue Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup E Ed op Windows XP Service Pack 3 or above is required to run Watt Pilot software Only serial port drivers will lt r be installed so you will be able to control Watt Pilot by sending commands via serial port continue setup A ALTECHNA 3 Installation window will appear click Next to continue IP Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup Welcome to the Watt Pilot 2010 Setup Wizard This wizard will guide you through the installation of Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 It is recommended that you dose all other applications before starting Setup This will make it possible to update relevant system files without having to reboot your computer Click Mext to continue 4 Click Next Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup Program Version History Change Log v2 0 1 0 2013 09 13 Updated user manual WATT PILOT Manual September 20 13 pdf Updated firmware v13 Added numeric power meter display in main window Added menus in main and selector windows Added calibration settings backup and restore support Added Status collumn in Watt Pilot Selector list Added option to automatically execute GO command after required power change Ardded Home button in main window Added email message generation for quick feedback Click on scrollbar arrows or press Page Down to review t
27. attenuator with default unchanged from purchase settings can be calculated as steps cos Vratio 43 333 2 where ratio is required transmission 0 0 1 0 43 333 is step per degree for standard attenuator and 2 is default resolution multiplier Usually arccosine function acos found in programming packages operates with radians so degrees must be converted to radians Real relation between ratio and steps used in Watt Pilot software is calculated using following C methods Returns step position to be passed to g steps command ratio double in range 0 0 to 1 0 public Int32 GetStepPositionFromRatio double ratio return GetStepPositionFromDegrees GetAngleFromRatio ratio stepsPerUnit 43 333 for standard attenuator or 100 0d for Big aperture attenuator resolution 1 0d 2 0d 4 0d 8 0d 16 0d depending on controller settings public Int32 GetStepPositionFromDegrees double degrees A ALTECHNA double steps degrees stepsPerUnit resolution return Int32 steps converts ratio 0 0 1 0 to waveplate angle in degrees ratio double in range 0 0 to 1 0 public double GetAngleFromRatio double ratio double angle Math Acos Math Sart ratio 180 0 2 0 Math Pl return angle Angular offset between waveplate and waveplate rotator is important so degrees parameter in GetStepPositionFromDegre
28. be used are shown in a table below Table 2 Serial port parameters Baud rate Handshaking otop bits 6 3 Identifying serial port name First step to control Watt Pilot using serial port and commands would be to find out which serial port is assigned for device This can be seen in Watt Pilot Selector window list see section Watt Pilot Selector window on page 18 In case only drivers were installed no Watt Pilot software itself see Computer requirements on page 12 serial port name could be checked in Windows Computer manager Right click on My Computer 1 select Manage 2 Computer manager window will appear Click on Device Manager under Computer Management tree 3 and look for Ports COM and LPT 4 Each connected and powered on attenuator appears as Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge Serial port name Serial port name is shown in parentheses as seen in the picture below A ALTECHNA m Computer Management E 1 x Im Ble Acton View Window Help Computer Management L Er Explore I System Tools 18 Search Event Viewer H Computer Disk drives EH Ez Display adapters H DVD CD ROM drives E Local Users and G Hdi Performance Logs a Shared Folders Map Network Dr Disconnect Mete i Device I H a Human Interface Devices Storage IDE ATA ATAPI controllers Sen
29. d To 5 Storage a IDE er controllers gg Remova i H Imaging devices Cut Disk Defraamefite H E Jungo Copy el Disk Management Keyboards DES Services and Applicati EE f j Mice and other pointing devices Create Shortcut HB Modems Delete i Monitors Rename Network adapters NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator Properties i l rd INE io NN EI Ports COM amp LPT PAY Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge COM32 Cw Silicon Labs CP210x USB to jge COM39 Processors Es P on sm sl ITE ello Figure 17 Finding Watt Pilot serial port name using Windows Computer Manager Third way to identify Watt Pilot is to open each serial port and send p command If attenuator is present on that port it will send back string starting with USB as listed in Serial commands and protocol on page 35 If device is not present no bytes will be received or received string will not begin with USB Serial port read timeout can be set to 50ms to speed up scanning process This method is universal and can be used with any operating system Read next chapters about serial port parameters and command list Linux users can find Watt Pilot port by executing command root dmesg grep cp210x ELIIIK ALTECHNA root Alvaras home Alvaras installpkg Downloads cutecom 0 22 0 1486 1as txz Verifying package cutecom 0 22 0 1486 las txz Installing package cutecom 0 22 0 1486 las txz PACKAGE D
30. e will appear answer Yes for correct device operation 4 6 Watt Pilot Control window This window is used to change laser power after Watt Pilot attenuator Calibration procedure must be finished before correct attenuator operation Main components of this window are described below 1 Watt Pilot name and serial number Output power level is always shown as percentage because it is directly related File Options Help to waveplate angle i 1st Watt Pilot GATT101D a 2 Power meter panel Shows output power alue at which attenuator is currently set to Power also can be shown with absolute measurement units if correctly set in program preferences 6 Preset buttons instantly change required power Upper indicator represents actual Min max 4 Enter required power ower level og dog dog d p 8080 88 8 38 8308 p level here in percent Click _ GO to set 3 Move lower slider to 0 10 3 00 5 05 J52 change required power Se foe oe 5 Absolute required power level Click GO button to Enter required value field is used to set power apply it mW 2 05 level using known units if E correctly set in program 10 This will NW Home gs gt EEE preferences waveplate to Home position set by calibration process and preferences 9 Hold this button to constantly decrease power 9 Hold this button to 7 Click GO to apply power lev
31. el which is shown in text boxes 8 Immediately stops Watt Pilot rotation constantly increase power Figure 8 Watt Pilot Control window Currently laser power is set to 5 05 mW or 50 of full calibrated range Measurement units are available because absolute minimal and maximal power values are set in program preferences during calibration process Watt Pilot name and serial number is shown on each attenuator control window caption Watt Pilot can be renamed by Options Watt Pilot Name menu option Name is convenient if more than one device is used in the same system Name length can be up to 20 characters and is saved into controller memory Serial number is unique for All ALTECHNA each Watt Pilot controller and cannot be changed as it is used to identify hardware at low level Please include serial number if contacting developers Power meter panel always shows existing power after the attenuator Percentage range is from O 96 to 100 96 of transmission Zero percent means that waveplate occurs at 45 degrees angle beam polarization is rotated by 90 degrees and is maximally attenuated Display reading 100 means that waveplate is rotated at minimum attenuation maximum transmission angle Figure 9 Power meter panel Left Use absolute power measurement units checkbox is set in Options gt Preferences right checkbox is unset If Use absolute power measurement units checkbox is set in Optio
32. ends only on controller firmware version not related to hardware revision It will pop up if controller has firmware version prior to v8 released on August 22 2012 These dialogs will newer show up again once firmware is updated Upgrade process cannot be interrupted Do not disconnect USB attenuator or power supply cables do not shutdown the computer Do not use other devices while flashing If upgrade is interrupted or unsuccessful go to the end of this troubleshooter point to recover Follow these steps to update firmware manually 1 Answer Yes when asked about update dialog is shown in Figure 26 Firmware Upgrade window will appear Click Upgrade Firmware button ELIIIOI ae ALTECHNA ler Rescan serial ports co M4 SATT 2330 In order to update controller s firmware follow these instructions 1 Click Upgrade Firmware button below 2 Press and hold Firmware upgrade button on Watt Pilot controller box until this text dissappears Manually choose hex file for advanced users only Firmware file hex Browse for hex file 2 Progress bar on lower part of the window begins to fill now program is waiting for user to press Firmware upgrade button which is located inside controller box Proceed to next step I Firmware U pgrade Hescan serial ports COMA SAT T233D Connecting waiting for user button press Cancel Manually choose hex file for
33. es double degrees should be adjusted accordingly to offset before passing ALTECHNA 7 WATT PILOT ATTENUATOR DIMENSIONS 7 1 Standard attenuator dimensions ELIIIIH X ALTECHNA nn Vf Figure 22 Mechanical drawings of Watt Pilot standard attenuator continued All dimensions shown in millimeters 7 2 Big aperture attenuator dimensions Figure 23 Whole view of big aperture attenuator ELIT AE ALTECHNA 50 0 21 0 Figure 24 Mechanical drawings of Watt Pilot big aperture attenuator All dimensions shown in millimeters www altechna com ALTECHNA 7 3 Watt Pilot controller dimensions Figure 25 Waitt Pilot controller dimensions ELIIIIH ALTECHNA 8 TROUBLESHOOTING 8 1 Real laser power does not match shown in software Click Home button in Watt Pilot Control window This eliminates angular error which can occur if power is lost during waveplate motion 8 2 Upgrade controller firmware now message appears Sometimes Watt Pilot software will show dialog asking whether to update firmware Upgrade controller firmware now X 2 Controllers you are trying to connect 5ATT233D firmware is not up to date v3 Do you want to lt r upload latest firmware v13 now Figure 26 Dialog asking whether to update firmware This will appear if controller firmware cannot be updated without user interaction and dep
34. f firmware upgrade process crashed See TROUBLESHOOTING on page 52 If necessary STEP DIR INTERFACE connector can be used to control Watt Pilot with microcontroller via UART or Step Dir pulses Ask supplier for more details if custom solution is needed Figure 16 Controller rear view Controller power supply socket Plug dimensions outer diameter 5 5 mm GND central pin diameter 2 1 mm 12 V Watt Pilot requires 12 VDC 2 A power supply ON OFF switch Green led indicates that controller is ON MOTOR connector 9 pin D SUB female Connect it to Watt Pilot attenuator A ALTECHNA 6 WRITING SOFTWARE FOR WATT PILOT 6 1 List of supported operating systems for USB drivers In order to communicate with Watt Pilot USB drivers are necessary These are available for more operating systems than Watt Pilot software Virtual USB Com port drivers can be installed on Windows 2000 32 bit Windows XP 32 bit Windows Server 2003 32 bit Windows Vista 32 64 bit Windows Server 2008 32 64 bit Windows 7 32 64 bit and Windows 8 32 64 bit There is no need to install any drivers on modern Unix like Linux MAC operating systems Watt Pilot is automatically recognized and installed as ttyUSB device after connecting it to computer You can check which serial port is assigned in your UNIX machine with command root dmesg grep cp210x 6 2 Serial port parameters Serial port parameters to
35. firmware comes with Watt Pilot installer file Confirmation message will appear after update is completed click OK and program will continue as usual lf firmware upgrade window is different than shown here see TROUBLESHOOTING chapter on page 49 Aa ALTECHNA 5 WATT PILOT CONTROLLER 5 1 Controller specifications Watt pilot controller is bipolar stepper motor driver with specifications listed in Table 1 below Table 1 Controller specifications Open loop operation no external position feedback encoder Driver have overheating and over current 2A protection Step Dir pulses Device can be operated by Computer software via USB port Microcontroller via UART connection One limit switch can be connected and used only for Limit switch homing Advanced controller feature is STEP DIR INTERFACE connector which enable attenuator to be positioned using step and direction TTL pulses or UART instead of USB not only computer based applications Ask supplier for more details if custom solution is needed Position feedback 5 2 Controller connections Watt Pilot front and rear connectors are shown in the pictures below UNIS S Ust DASS INTERFAGE I TR ETER 00000000 W OULA Figure 15 Controller front view USB connector is used to control Watt Pilot with computer ELIIII A ALTECHNA Firmware upgrade button is hidden under small hole highlighted by arrow Used to recover i
36. gned to help to install and operate Watt Pilot Before installing and operating Watt Pilot please read installation and operation instructions carefully Safety instructions must be read carefully If there are any questions about contents of this manual please contact info altechna com Altechna reserves the right to update contents of this manual without any notification 1 1 Watt Pilot short description Motorized Watt Pilot is a computer controlled laser beam attenuation device It attenuates free space laser beam pulse continuously without introducing additional energy fluctuations Watt Pilot is controlled by computer via USB 1 2 General safety requirements Motorized Watt Pilot is designed to operate in conjunction with laser system All applicable rules and regulations for safe operation of lasers must be known and applied while installing and operating Watt Pilot The customer is solely responsible for laser safety while using Watt Pilot as standalone device or integrated into system The customer must consider protective measures While assembling or operating Watt Pilot do not stare at the direct or scattered laser light even with safety goggles All parts of the body must be kept away from the laser radiation While adjusting laser beam through Watt Pilot laser power must be kept as low as possible Hazardous laser radiation can increase while optical components or instruments are used in combination with Watt Pilot Appropriate eye p
37. he entire text Mullsoft Install system v2 46 em ALTECHNA 5 Select installation directory and click Next to begin installation I Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup Ioj x Choose Install Location Choose the folder in which to install Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 p Setup will install Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 in the following folder To install in a different folder click Browse and select another folder Click Install to start the installation Destination Folder Space required 10 0MB Space available 19 3GB Install system v2 46 z Back Install Cancel 6 Watt Pilot software requires Microsoft NET Framework 4 Client Profile or higher version to be installed Setup will offer to download it choose Yes if you have active internet connection Choose No to download it from http www microsoft com en us download details aspx id 17113 and install it manually You should choose No if you wish to install any newer version of framework or do not have a working internet connection This dialog will not appear if framework is already installed Download size is 42 Mbytes I Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup A WattPilot requires Microsoft Net framework 4 Client profile or higher to be installed Do you want to NED download and install Microsoft Net framework v4 0 Client profile download size is 42 MB A ALTECHNA 7 Setup will download Microsoft NET Framework 4 Client
38. ical adapter Polarizers must face each other with surfaces coated with dielectric coating Dielectric coating is marked with an arrow so you have to put the polarizers with the arrows on the sides facing each other Then fix polarizer s with the plastic bolts use all 3 plastic bolts to fix one polarizer NOTE Do not tighten up the bolts too much since it can bend the polarizer and thus distort the laser beam STEP 2 Put the wave plate into attenuator between two mounting rings as shown Be sure that wave plate is immobilized tightly STEP 3 Attenuator consists of two mechanical parts User should assemble both mechanical parts together STEP 4 Use fixing screw to tighten both parts together ELIIIIHM A ALTECHNA 4 WATT PILOT SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION 4 1 Computer requirements Free USB port Watt Pilot is compatible with USB 1 1 USB 2 0 and USB 3 0 Computer administrator rights only for installation Windows XP sp3 32 bit Windows Server 2003 sp2 32 bit Windows Vista sp1 32 64 bit Windows Server 2008 32 64 bit Windows 7 32 64 bit Windows 8 32 64 bit Microsoft Net framework 4 0 redistributable installs automatically 4 2 Software installation 1 Check for and download latest Watt Pilot software installer package from http www altechna com product_details php id 824 2 Run downloaded Watt Pilot Setup exe installation file In case you are installing on operating system th
39. le internal step counter reaches 400 Then send m 1000 to move 1000 steps clockwise Now motor stands in 600 position Set coordinate counter to specific value ALTECHNA Parameter x Integer number Can be positive and negative Place notation x can be in range of 2 147 483 646 2 147 483 646 for negative Example 625 set coordinate to 625 Now send so to save position to controller Hesets coordinate counter to O Stop motor smoothly if it is currently running This is preferred command to stop motor instead of b Brake movement immediately This command stops motor but step counter accuracy can degrade using watt pilot Go to hardware zero position and reset step counter Use this command to return waveplate to its home position determined by zero position switch Then motor stops controller stores O in coordinate counter and saves this value oet motor micro stepping resolution Parameter x 1 Motor is driven in full steps mode Waveplate holder turns once in 15600 steps for standard attenuator or 36000 for big aperture x 2 Half step mode Waveplate holder turns once in 31200 steps Quarter step mode Waveplate holder turns once in 62400 steps 4 8 Eight step mode Waveplate holder turns once in 124800 steps 6 Sixteen step mode Waveplate holder turns once in 249600 steps Higher micro stepping levels demonstrate better position accuracy and no motor resonance It I
40. lot Control window window on page 22 if more information is needed 4 4 Watt Pilot Selector window Watt Pilot Selector window contains a list of currently connected and powered attenuators This window is used to choose device to work with if there are several controllers connected to single computer Functions of this window are described in the picture below IP Watt Pilot Selector File Help ist Watt Pilot 6ATT101D 2nd Watt Pilot GATT155D ard Watt Pilot BATT233D COM4 Figure 5 Watt Pilot Selector window It is displayed every time program is started There are three devices attached to PC in shown screenshot Double click listed attenuator to open control window for it Columns description Name It is useful to give meaningful titles for each Watt Pilot because they will be easily recognized if more than one is used in the same system For example name can be set to 1st Harmonic WP and another attenuator can be named as 2nd Harmonic WP New name is saved into controller internal memory so it will be visible even if connected to another computer Name length is restricted to 20 characters maximum Waitt Pilot can be renamed from Watt Pilot control window Options gt Watt Pilot Name menu option A ALTECHNA Serial This column shows unique Watt Pilot controller hardware serial number It is Number Used to identify hardware at low level Use Options gt Watt Pilot Name
41. m computers perspective each command is ended by byte r Enter key press usually sends this symbol in most of terminal programs Command and command parameter is separated by space symbol 0x20 For example typing such string 3000 in terminal application and pressing enter key on the keyboard will drive waveplate rotator to absolute position of 3000 steps Here g 0x67 is a command space 0x20 is a separator and 3000 0x33 0x30 0x30 0x30 is a command parameter which corresponds to 3000 steps All sent bytes in hexadecimal will be 0x67 0x20 0x33 0x30 0x30 0x30 OxOD including command end symbol r or Enter key press New command can be sent after 50 ms There is no command acknowledge in protocol so 50 ms delays between commands must be inserted Otherwise command misinterpretation can occur See table below for command list Table 3 Serial commands list Move motor by x steps Parameter x Integer number Can be positive motor turns clockwise and negative motor turns counterclockwise Place for negative notation x can be in range of 2 147 483 646 2 147 483 646 Example m 1000 to move 1000 steps clockwise and m 1000 to move 1000 steps counterclockwise Go to absolute coordinate Parameter x Integer number Can be positive and negative Place notation x can be in range of 2 147 483 646 2 147 483 646 for negative Example g 400 motor turns whi
42. nge output power software needs to know at what angle A 2 waveplate is It can be fixed in any angle with respect to rotator It is known that waveplate is positioned at 45 degrees at highest attenuation point and 0 degrees at zero attenuation The purpose of calibration is to obtain angular offset between A 2 waveplate and rotator hardware zero position when one of these two conditions is met Calibration window is opened automatically on first use of Watt Pilot or can be found in menu Options gt Calibration in Watt Pilot control window Make sure that attenuator is correctly aligned before calibrating Ps GATT101D calibration Bl x Step 1 Drive waveplate rotator to home limit switch GD Step 2 Select if you have Watt Pilot with waveplate CA gt 25 mm Step 3 Rotate waveplate by using buttons below and measure laser power after attenuator Search for lowest or highest power Go to Step 4 when such position is found x 1000 100 10 1 10 100 1000 gt gt Current waveplate rotator position is 1800 steps 20 769 deg Stop Step 4 Current waveplate rotator position is at Drive to minimum power Drive to maximum power Use absolute power measurement units Minimum measured value 0 00 mW Enter measurement units to use mW Maximum measured value 100 0 mw Click Apply to apply changes New offset angle calculated automatically 2423075832 deg Previous offset w
43. ns gt Preferences or during calibrating numeric display showing mW becomes active Absolute power reading is converted from percentage value with respect to minimal and maximal measured power using power meter Correct min and max power values must be set in program preferences or calibration windows Lower slider changes power from 0 96 to 100 96 in 0 25 96 steps Values in lower numeric fields will alter according to slider position There is a triangle shaped marker above lower slider which shows power currently set in real time the same as power meter panel displays Both options Automatically execute GO after must be selected in Options gt Preferences if power should be set immediately after slider move Otherwise click GO button to actually set power Enter required value 9e field is used to manually enter percentage of Watt Pilot transmission Decimal point symbol is dot two decimal places can be used Valid range is 0 00 96 100 00 Option Automatically execute GO after required power change must be selected in Options Preferences if waveplate should rotate automatically after value of this field is changed Otherwise click GO button to actually set power Absolute required power field is available if Use absolute power measurement units option is set in Options gt Preferences or Options gt Calibration Decimal point symbol is dot Valid range is from Minim
44. rotection must be worn at all times Electrical safety requirements must be complied while assembling and operating Watt Pilot 1 3 Symbols sections marked with this symbol explain dangerous situations that can result as personal injury or death Always read the associated information carefully before performing indicated procedure ATTENTION Paragraphs preceded by this symbol explain hazards that could damage the instrument and connected equipment or may cause loss of data www altechna com 6 nm ALTECHNA This manual also contains NOTES and HINTS written in this form 1 4 Regulation The following statement applies to the products covered in this manual unless otherwise specified herein The statement for other products will appear in the accompanying documentation These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can create radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference with radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures e Reorient
45. rs Desktop Watt Pilot Ink Output folder C Program Files Altechna Watt Pilot Create shortcut C Documents and Settings All Users Start Menu Programs techn Create shortcut C Documents and Settings All Users Start Menu Programs Altechn Created uninstaller C Program Files Altechna Watt Pilot uninst exe Completed Hullsaft Install System ve 46 S Cancel 10 Click Finish to end installation Program cannot be opened if only drivers were installed see step 2 for details i Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup loj x Completing the Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 Setup Wizard Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 has been installed on your computer Click Finish to dose this wizard W Run Watt Pilot 2 0 1 0 a A ALTECHNA 11 Watt Pilot software icon will appear on All Users desktop and All Users start menu 12 Connect waveplate rotator to Watt Pilot controller 13 Connect Watt Pilot and PC via USB cable 14 Plug in Watt Pilot power supply jack and AC adaptor to wall outlet 15 Windows will detect new hardware Wait until windows configures new device i Found New Hardware Ix i Found New Hardware Ix CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller Your new hardware is installed and ready to use 16 Device installation is now complete launch Watt Pilot program using Watt Pilot icon on desktop 4 3 Program first run Launch Watt Pilot program using Watt Pilot icon on desktop or from Start
46. s advisable to use half stepping operation mode Set motor current then it is idles This removes motor heat Some amount of current must be left in order to keep position accuracy Parameter x Integer number in range of from 0 to 255 Motor current can be calculated using such equation 0 00835x A Set motor current then it moves Parameter x Integer number in range of from 0 to 255 Motor current can be calculated using such equation 2 0 00835x A Set acceleration Parameter x www altechna com ALTECHNA Integer number in range of from 0 to 255 1 is the lowest acceleration and 255 is the highest O turns off acceleration Turning on acceleration helps to increase position repeatability Set deceleration Parameter x Integer number in range of from 0 to 255 1 is the lowest deceleration and 255 is the highest O turns off deceleration Turning on deceleration helps to increase position repeatability Set maximal motor speed Parameter x Integer number in range of from 1 to 65000 or 1 64000 as accessed from Watt Pilot software Watt Pilot waveplate rotation angular speed can be calculated using such formula 14400000 78r 65535 x Here angular waveplate rotation speed degrees per second r micro stepping resolution 1 2 4 8 or 16 Controller advances motor per one step in time intervals equal to T 65535 x 8 us Show controller settings related to USB
47. se terminal application with GUI 6 4 Serial commands and protocol Watt Pilot is a slave device according to computer and computer is a master device That means that PC sends data requests to attenuator and attenuator must respond Watt Pilot itself will never send data to computer without request except of two cases if Report zero position command zr setting is set also string USB ModeWn is sent upon controller Start if controller starts in Command mode Watt Pilot controller writes all received bytes to internal buffer If it receives carriage return symbol or r in C denotation 13th symbol in ASCII table or OxOD in hex device will try to parse received bytes as a command string and will execute it Attenuator echoes back every byte it receives back to computer except for r Symbol echoing is essential for users who literally type commands in terminal window This enables user to see what data is sent to device because not all terminal programs has a text field where sent symbols are shown n 0x0A symbol is treated like all other symbols A ALTECHNA Watt Pilot will respond to byte r by sending additional data if command requires it Additional data is terminated with r n symbols Termination symbols n are essential for users who literally type commands in terminal window These symbols are not visible but they format received data window text so it looks organized Fro
48. so one motor step can be physically divided into 1 no microstepping 2 half microstepping 4 8 or 16 microsteps That means that standard waveplate rotator can have resolution of 15600 31200 62400 124800 or 2496000 steps per full turn Big aperture waveplate holder can have 36000 72000 144000 288000 576000 steps per full turn resolution No microstepping can cause motor resonance problems The higher the resolution the ELIIIIM AE ALTECHNA smoother and quieter motor is but motor torque and speed will decrease Half stepping resolution is used as default Step frequency Motor step frequency so waveplate angular velocity can be changed 8000000 65535 n in range of 1 64000 Waveplate angular velocity degrees second is equal to 360 kr attenuator Resolution divider r can be 1 2 4 8 or 16 as mentioned earlier in Resolution description Safe step frequency is 759 4 Hz optimized step frequency is 1224 2 Hz but can be tweaked for best performance where n is integer Step frequency f Hz can have discrete vales such as f Parameter k is 15600 for standard attenuator and 36000 for big aperture Accelerate and Decelerate If this option is set motor gradually accelerates till maximum frequency is reached or decelerates till stop This can help to solve stall problems on worn out mechanics but causes motion to last longer These options should be unchecked for norm
49. st This option is not available for controllers with serial numbers beginning with 4ATT Home position Power can be set to max or min power after Home button clicked Automatically execute GO after required power change This allows waveplate to rotate automatically if required power was changed by editing values in numeric fields Automatically execute GO after slider change This allows waveplate to rotate automatically if required power was changed by moving the slider Automatically execute GO after required power change must be checked for this options to be enabled Use absolute power measurement units Setting this will enable power to be measured with absolute measurement units Minimum and maximum power values must be known for this option to work This setting can also be changed in Calibration window Measurement units to use Alphanumerical string can be entered here to represent measurement units Default is mW but can be changed to uW if working with micro watts Minimal and Maximal power meter reading These fields must be filled with minimal and maximal measured power values Decimal separator symbol is dot These values will appear as available power range in main window Use absolute measurement units for preset buttons If this is set preset button values are shown as absolute power values otherwise preset button values mean of transmitted power Option Use absolute power mea
50. surement units must be set for this option to be enabled Preset button values are recalculated automatically with respect to min and max measured power A ALTECHNA 4 8 Motor settings description Motor settings can be accessed from Watt Pilot Control window by Options Motor Settings gt Advanced These settings are for advanced users only Security passphrase for motor current controls is I understand Ij Motor settings for GATT101D E hrase found in user manual section Motor 1 2 Half Steps 0 0115 deg Step Motion Current 0 35 A Step Frequency 1224231 122 1 5211 7Hz Step Dir Settings Overwrite Enable Input Enabled Overwrite Dir Input Clock Wise a I Motor settings for 5ATT233D General Settings v Motor Enabled 1 2 Half Steps 0 0115 deg Step Step Dir Settings Overwrite Enable Input Read Settings Figure 13 Motor settings window a Controller with latest firmware and serial number beginning with 5ATT or GATT Optimized settings are applied b Controller with outdated firmware or serial number beginning 4ATT applied Safe settings Passphrase understand is entered in security field so motor current can be adjusted Motor Enabled checkbox If unchecked no current flows through the motor windings Default is checked Resolution Stepper motor can be driven in microstepping mode
51. um measured value to Maximum measured value set in program preferences Option Automatically execute GO after required power change must be selected in Options Preferences if waveplate ELIO ALTECHNA should rotate automatically after value of this field is changed Otherwise click GO button to actually set power Preset buttons can be used to quickly set predefined output power Left click on any of them and appropriate value will appear in 4 or 5 text boxes If Option Automatically execute GO after required power change is selected in Options gt Preferences waveplate will rotate automatically otherwise click GO button to actually set power In order to edit preset values right click on any preset button Edit Preset Buttons window will appear Edit Preset Buttons Figure 10 Edit Preset Buttons window Currently preset values are 0 25 50 75 10096 of transmission because checkbox is unchecked Otherwise all values would represent absolute power in user selected units Option Use absolute measurement units for preset buttons will be enabled only if measurement units are correctly configured in Options Preferences If checkbox is set clicking on preset button will update Absolute required power field 5 else Enter required value 96 field 4 will be updated with value displayed on button GO button Click to set power rotate waveplate STOP
52. used for controllers with serial number SATT or GATT so third slider is hidden Third slider should be used only by advanced users and does not relate to watt pilot attenuator directly Default motion current is 0 95 A for standard and big aperture attenuators standby current is 0 3 A by default Write settings button Click this button to save configuration into controller memory Currently displayed settings will be reloaded after controller power cycle If this button is not used previously saved changes will be loaded after controller restart ELIIIH ALTECHNA Read settings button This will load configuration from controller 4 9 Firmware update Once connected Watt Pilot software checks firmware version on device and updates it if necessary Progress bar will popup informing user that firmware update is in progress and one must wait until flashing process is finished I Firmware Upgrade lol x Connecting Writing TT Dont disconnect USB cable Firmware upgrade complete 1 Firmware upgrade was successfull Figure 14 Normal firmware update process finish is indicated by Firmware upgrade complete message It will take up to one minute and requires that user do not disturb update process This process is not cancellable Do not disconnect USB or power supply cables do not shutdown the computer This window can appear after Watt Pilot software is updated because latest
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