I'm working with a marking machine that has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser and a Scanlab RTC4 controlling a Scanlab scanhead. Everything is working pretty well, though I still have lots to learn. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't figured out yet is to issue a command to the laser over the PC's serial port at the beginning and end of each marking job. Specifically, I want to send the command to put the laser in run mode at the beginning and standby mode at the end. Is there any way to do this?
Hi Kevin,
there is an interface available that gives the possibility to link a laser controller to the project which can be used to send commands to a laser. Currently only the interface exists but no related plug-in that could handle commands to be sent. That's simply because nobody requested it until now ;-)
So we would add a generic serial interface plug-in for controlling the laser for you. So what would you need exactly:
- a possibility to choose and configure the serial port - a possibility to send a freely configurable ASCII (?) command to the laser at the beginning and end of a marking cycle - what additional commands could be useful/imaginable here?
Kind regards
Jim
On 28 January 2013 at 10:48 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I'm working with a marking machine that has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser and a Scanlab RTC4 controlling a Scanlab scanhead. Everything is working pretty well, though I still have lots to learn. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't figured out yet is to issue a command to the laser over the PC's serial port at the beginning and end of each marking job. Specifically, I want to send the command to put the laser in run mode at the beginning and standby mode at the end. Is there any way to do this? _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc
Jim,
That would be great. Right now I open a terminal emulator and type the commands by hand. There are a few commands needed to get the laser ready after being powered on and then one command before and after each mark. I can imagine it being useful to have the ability to read and act on the response from the laser, but that is not a requirement.
Here are the commands needed at power on to turn on the laser in standby mode
c1:2560 [set diode current to 25.6A] m3 [set system to standby mode] d1 [turn on diode]
before each mark, I send the command
m0 [set system to run mode]
and after each mark
m3 [set system to standby]
Commands that produce a response which could be useful include
?c1 [returns diode current] ?t1 [returns diode actual temperature] ?x31 [returns diode set temperature] ?x61 [returns diode hours] ?p [returns laser power (on some systems)]
I'm not much of a coder, but I am more than happy to test and report my findings.
Kevin
On 1/27/2013 10:24 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Hi Kevin,
there is an interface available that gives the possibility to link a laser controller to the project which can be used to send commands to a laser. Currently only the interface exists but no related plug-in that could handle commands to be sent. That's simply because nobody requested it until now ;-)
So we would add a generic serial interface plug-in for controlling the laser for you. So what would you need exactly:
- a possibility to choose and configure the serial port
- a possibility to send a freely configurable ASCII (?) command to the laser at
the beginning and end of a marking cycle
- what additional commands could be useful/imaginable here?
Kind regards
Jim
On 28 January 2013 at 10:48 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I'm working with a marking machine that has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser and a Scanlab RTC4 controlling a Scanlab scanhead. Everything is working pretty well, though I still have lots to learn. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't figured out yet is to issue a command to the laser over the PC's serial port at the beginning and end of each marking job. Specifically, I want to send the command to put the laser in run mode at the beginning and standby mode at the end. Is there any way to do this? _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
Kevin,
thanks for the feedback.
Currently we're thinking about implementation of a generic laser controller plug-in where you can set these commands manually. When no reaction on the lasers response is necessary this would work without problems.
Just for my personal interest: what laser are you using? May be it worth to have a laser type specific plug-in too...
Kind regards
Jim
On 29 January 2013 at 04:56 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
Jim,
That would be great. Right now I open a terminal emulator and type the commands by hand. There are a few commands needed to get the laser ready after being powered on and then one command before and after each mark. I can imagine it being useful to have the ability to read and act on the response from the laser, but that is not a requirement.
Here are the commands needed at power on to turn on the laser in standby mode
c1:2560 [set diode current to 25.6A] m3 [set system to standby mode] d1 [turn on diode]
before each mark, I send the command
m0 [set system to run mode]
and after each mark
m3 [set system to standby]
Commands that produce a response which could be useful include
?c1 [returns diode current] ?t1 [returns diode actual temperature] ?x31 [returns diode set temperature] ?x61 [returns diode hours] ?p [returns laser power (on some systems)]
I'm not much of a coder, but I am more than happy to test and report my findings.
Kevin
On 1/27/2013 10:24 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Hi Kevin,
there is an interface available that gives the possibility to link a laser controller to the project which can be used to send commands to a laser. Currently only the interface exists but no related plug-in that could handle commands to be sent. That's simply because nobody requested it until now ;-)
So we would add a generic serial interface plug-in for controlling the laser for you. So what would you need exactly:
- a possibility to choose and configure the serial port
- a possibility to send a freely configurable ASCII (?) command to the laser
at the beginning and end of a marking cycle
- what additional commands could be useful/imaginable here?
Kind regards
Jim
On 28 January 2013 at 10:48 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I'm working with a marking machine that has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser and a Scanlab RTC4 controlling a Scanlab scanhead. Everything is working pretty well, though I still have lots to learn. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't figured out yet is to issue a command to the laser over the PC's serial port at the beginning and end of each marking job. Specifically, I want to send the command to put the laser in run mode at the beginning and standby mode at the end. Is there any way to do this? _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc
For my purposes, sending commands without processing any response is perfectly fine. I can imagine a high production environment wanting to take more control of the laser system though.
I'm working with a 15 year old Rofin-Sinar RSM-103D which has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser inside. It's diode pumped and is rated for 3W average power. It's Q-switched with a ~8nS pulse width which results in a peak power around 25KW at a 10KHz pulse rate. Fairly impressive for it's size and marks stainless easily. I've even managed to cut aluminum foil and mark copper (very very slowly). I may try extra-cavity doubling the laser to get 532nm which should be much more effective on copper - half the power, but 100X the absorption.
Anyway, most Spectra Physics lasers use the same or similar RS-232 commands so this should be useful even with more modern machines. I'm pretty sure most current, diode pumped lasers will have some level of control over a serial (or USB) port.
FWIW, I run a one-person company called Starlight Photonics and make my living selling laser stuff on eBay as seller id Junktronix. I'm hoping to contribute to the project by expanding on the RTC configuration section of the documentation which assumes familiarity with the RTC and is still quite confusing to me.
Kevin
On 1/28/2013 10:00 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Kevin,
thanks for the feedback.
Currently we're thinking about implementation of a generic laser controller plug-in where you can set these commands manually. When no reaction on the lasers response is necessary this would work without problems.
Just for my personal interest: what laser are you using? May be it worth to have a laser type specific plug-in too...
Kind regards
Jim
On 29 January 2013 at 04:56 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
Jim,
That would be great. Right now I open a terminal emulator and type the commands by hand. There are a few commands needed to get the laser ready after being powered on and then one command before and after each mark. I can imagine it being useful to have the ability to read and act on the response from the laser, but that is not a requirement.
Here are the commands needed at power on to turn on the laser in standby mode
c1:2560 [set diode current to 25.6A] m3 [set system to standby mode] d1 [turn on diode]
before each mark, I send the command
m0 [set system to run mode]
and after each mark
m3 [set system to standby]
Commands that produce a response which could be useful include
?c1 [returns diode current] ?t1 [returns diode actual temperature] ?x31 [returns diode set temperature] ?x61 [returns diode hours] ?p [returns laser power (on some systems)]
I'm not much of a coder, but I am more than happy to test and report my findings.
Kevin
On 1/27/2013 10:24 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Hi Kevin,
there is an interface available that gives the possibility to link a laser controller to the project which can be used to send commands to a laser. Currently only the interface exists but no related plug-in that could handle commands to be sent. That's simply because nobody requested it until now ;-)
So we would add a generic serial interface plug-in for controlling the laser for you. So what would you need exactly:
- a possibility to choose and configure the serial port
- a possibility to send a freely configurable ASCII (?) command to the laser
at the beginning and end of a marking cycle
- what additional commands could be useful/imaginable here?
Kind regards
Jim
On 28 January 2013 at 10:48 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I'm working with a marking machine that has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser and a Scanlab RTC4 controlling a Scanlab scanhead. Everything is working pretty well, though I still have lots to learn. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't figured out yet is to issue a command to the laser over the PC's serial port at the beginning and end of each marking job. Specifically, I want to send the command to put the laser in run mode at the beginning and standby mode at the end. Is there any way to do this? _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
Kevin,
thanks for your information. A new software version that includes the laser controller should be available during next few days (I'm assuming you're using windows?). Since it is no official/full release it will be a bit experimental but should do the job.
Regarding the manual: you are right. Currently the documentation assumes a user has read the RTC manual before and therefore is familar with the requested parameters and settings. The existing RTC description mainly focuses the HMI part of the software package. So any sugestion/feedback/contribution to extend the description is welcome!
Kind regards
Jim
On 30 January 2013 at 03:25 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
For my purposes, sending commands without processing any response is perfectly fine. I can imagine a high production environment wanting to take more control of the laser system though.
I'm working with a 15 year old Rofin-Sinar RSM-103D which has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser inside. It's diode pumped and is rated for 3W average power. It's Q-switched with a ~8nS pulse width which results in a peak power around 25KW at a 10KHz pulse rate. Fairly impressive for it's size and marks stainless easily. I've even managed to cut aluminum foil and mark copper (very very slowly). I may try extra-cavity doubling the laser to get 532nm which should be much more effective on copper - half the power, but 100X the absorption.
Anyway, most Spectra Physics lasers use the same or similar RS-232 commands so this should be useful even with more modern machines. I'm pretty sure most current, diode pumped lasers will have some level of control over a serial (or USB) port.
FWIW, I run a one-person company called Starlight Photonics and make my living selling laser stuff on eBay as seller id Junktronix. I'm hoping to contribute to the project by expanding on the RTC configuration section of the documentation which assumes familiarity with the RTC and is still quite confusing to me.
Kevin
On 1/28/2013 10:00 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Kevin,
thanks for the feedback.
Currently we're thinking about implementation of a generic laser controller plug-in where you can set these commands manually. When no reaction on the lasers response is necessary this would work without problems.
Just for my personal interest: what laser are you using? May be it worth to have a laser type specific plug-in too...
Kind regards
Jim
On 29 January 2013 at 04:56 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
Jim,
That would be great. Right now I open a terminal emulator and type the commands by hand. There are a few commands needed to get the laser ready after being powered on and then one command before and after each mark. I can imagine it being useful to have the ability to read and act on the response from the laser, but that is not a requirement.
Here are the commands needed at power on to turn on the laser in standby mode
c1:2560 [set diode current to 25.6A] m3 [set system to standby mode] d1 [turn on diode]
before each mark, I send the command
m0 [set system to run mode]
and after each mark
m3 [set system to standby]
Commands that produce a response which could be useful include
?c1 [returns diode current] ?t1 [returns diode actual temperature] ?x31 [returns diode set temperature] ?x61 [returns diode hours] ?p [returns laser power (on some systems)]
I'm not much of a coder, but I am more than happy to test and report my findings.
Kevin
On 1/27/2013 10:24 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Hi Kevin,
there is an interface available that gives the possibility to link a laser controller to the project which can be used to send commands to a laser. Currently only the interface exists but no related plug-in that could handle commands to be sent. That's simply because nobody requested it until now ;-)
So we would add a generic serial interface plug-in for controlling the laser for you. So what would you need exactly:
- a possibility to choose and configure the serial port
- a possibility to send a freely configurable ASCII (?) command to the
laser at the beginning and end of a marking cycle
- what additional commands could be useful/imaginable here?
Kind regards
Jim
On 28 January 2013 at 10:48 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I'm working with a marking machine that has a Spectra Physics T20-BL10-106Q laser and a Scanlab RTC4 controlling a Scanlab scanhead. Everything is working pretty well, though I still have lots to learn. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't figured out yet is to issue a command to the laser over the PC's serial port at the beginning and end of each marking job. Specifically, I want to send the command to put the laser in run mode at the beginning and standby mode at the end. Is there any way to do this? _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc
I've spent some time trying to figure out the configuration of BeamConstruct to suit my YAG laser. My laser has built-in first pulse suppression so I run it in YAG mode 1 with LASERON wired to the 'gate' input and LASER1 wired to the q-switch trigger input. Power is adjusted by changing the q-switch pulse rate and / or by RS-232 commands to control the pump diode current.
I'm have some questions:
- in RTC Definition, there are 2 parameters which I'm not clear on, Stand By Frequency and Stand By Length. Best I can tell, these are only used in CO2 mode. Can you tell me if they have any affect in YAG mode?
- in Pen Settings:General - Power is only used for lasers where power is controlled by the RTC output defined in RTD Definitions 'Power Output' (such as lamp pumped YAG lasers with an analog power control signal) - Frequency - not sure what this does. It does not seem to affect the q-switch rate
- Pen Settings:Laser - Pulse Length -> Q-switch Pulse Width - First Pulse -> FirstPulseKiller Length - Half Period - This does not seem to affect the q-switch pulse rate. I think it may only apply to CO2 mode? - Stand-By Pulse Width - also seems to be CO2 specific - Stand-By Frequency - CO2 specific?
My biggest question right now is which setting actually controls the q-switch pulse rate (on the LASER1 pin of the RTC card). The performance of my laser varies dramatically with pulse rate so I need to set it for each different material I work on. I think it should be the 'half period' setting, but I have not seen any change in performance with this set to widely different values.
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I'm not that familar with RTC4 but I'll try to answer your questions here (and do some more investigation with our RTC specialists).
The stand by parameters are used for CO2 and Laser Mode 4 (which is some YAG/Fiber laser mode). That's why we use it as general parameter and don't have it assigned to CO2 only. For several YAG-types this is useless. These frequencies are emitted at LASER1 output.
The Q-Switch frequency is controlled by the "Frequency" parameter in pen settings and is emitted at LASER1 output too. So when changing the pen frequency you should see a change in frequency/pulse width at LASER1. If that does not work for you, please send me an example project so that we can try to reproduce the problem here using your settings.
Regarding the power: yes, you are right, this is used only when you have wired your laser for being controlled by the scanner card.
Kind regards
Jim
On 04 February 2013 at 12:11 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I've spent some time trying to figure out the configuration of BeamConstruct to suit my YAG laser. My laser has built-in first pulse suppression so I run it in YAG mode 1 with LASERON wired to the 'gate' input and LASER1 wired to the q-switch trigger input. Power is adjusted by changing the q-switch pulse rate and / or by RS-232 commands to control the pump diode current.
I'm have some questions:
- in RTC Definition, there are 2 parameters which I'm not clear on,
Stand By Frequency and Stand By Length. Best I can tell, these are only used in CO2 mode. Can you tell me if they have any affect in YAG mode?
- in Pen Settings:General
- Power is only used for lasers where power is controlled by the RTC
output defined in RTD Definitions 'Power Output' (such as lamp pumped YAG lasers with an analog power control signal)
- Frequency - not sure what this does. It does not seem to affect
the q-switch rate
- Pen Settings:Laser
- Pulse Length -> Q-switch Pulse Width
- First Pulse -> FirstPulseKiller Length
- Half Period - This does not seem to affect the q-switch pulse
rate. I think it may only apply to CO2 mode?
- Stand-By Pulse Width - also seems to be CO2 specific
- Stand-By Frequency - CO2 specific?
My biggest question right now is which setting actually controls the q-switch pulse rate (on the LASER1 pin of the RTC card). The performance of my laser varies dramatically with pulse rate so I need to set it for each different material I work on. I think it should be the 'half period' setting, but I have not seen any change in performance with this set to widely different values.
Kevin _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc
Thanks Jim,
I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but the pen frequency is defineltly setting the q-switch rate now. I took the cover off the DB-9 cable to make sure I'd wired it correctly - maybe LASER1 was shorted to the case.
Some time soon, I will write up my notes on each of the configuration fields that I know about. Perhaps this would make a good addition to the manual or even better, a help screen in the software :)
Kevin
On 2/3/2013 10:31 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Hi Kevin,
I'm not that familar with RTC4 but I'll try to answer your questions here (and do some more investigation with our RTC specialists).
The stand by parameters are used for CO2 and Laser Mode 4 (which is some YAG/Fiber laser mode). That's why we use it as general parameter and don't have it assigned to CO2 only. For several YAG-types this is useless. These frequencies are emitted at LASER1 output.
The Q-Switch frequency is controlled by the "Frequency" parameter in pen settings and is emitted at LASER1 output too. So when changing the pen frequency you should see a change in frequency/pulse width at LASER1. If that does not work for you, please send me an example project so that we can try to reproduce the problem here using your settings.
Regarding the power: yes, you are right, this is used only when you have wired your laser for being controlled by the scanner card.
Kind regards
Jim
On 04 February 2013 at 12:11 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I've spent some time trying to figure out the configuration of BeamConstruct to suit my YAG laser. My laser has built-in first pulse suppression so I run it in YAG mode 1 with LASERON wired to the 'gate' input and LASER1 wired to the q-switch trigger input. Power is adjusted by changing the q-switch pulse rate and / or by RS-232 commands to control the pump diode current.
I'm have some questions:
- in RTC Definition, there are 2 parameters which I'm not clear on,
Stand By Frequency and Stand By Length. Best I can tell, these are only used in CO2 mode. Can you tell me if they have any affect in YAG mode?
- in Pen Settings:General
- Power is only used for lasers where power is controlled by the RTC
output defined in RTD Definitions 'Power Output' (such as lamp pumped YAG lasers with an analog power control signal) - Frequency - not sure what this does. It does not seem to affect the q-switch rate
- Pen Settings:Laser
- Pulse Length -> Q-switch Pulse Width
- First Pulse -> FirstPulseKiller Length
- Half Period - This does not seem to affect the q-switch pulse
rate. I think it may only apply to CO2 mode? - Stand-By Pulse Width - also seems to be CO2 specific - Stand-By Frequency - CO2 specific?
My biggest question right now is which setting actually controls the q-switch pulse rate (on the LASER1 pin of the RTC card). The performance of my laser varies dramatically with pulse rate so I need to set it for each different material I work on. I think it should be the 'half period' setting, but I have not seen any change in performance with this set to widely different values.
Kevin _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
Follow us at Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/openapc _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org