• Created by Unknown User (iyerv), last modified on Nov 30, 2008

You are viewing an old version of this page. View the current version.

Compare with Current View Page History

« Previous Version 8 Next »

ScanImage control of X/Y & Z position, of either the objective or specimen, requires use of a Sutter Instruments MP-285 controller. Several improvements to the MP-285 interface have been added in ScanImage 3.5.

The improvements are best understood by noting the INI file Rig Configuration section changes:

INI File Rig Configuration Changes
Important New Variables
  • firmware: ScanImage users employ different MP285 firmware types. To identify the firmware used on your MP-285, navigate to Setup->Utilities->Info on the MP-285 controller. If there are 2 letters ('KS', 'SA', or 'WD') preceding the version number, enter those two letters here. If not, the string 'native' should be entered. Correctly entering this variable ensures that the X/Y & Z coordinates are correctly 'calibrated', so that values displayed in ScanImage match the (correct) values on the MP-285 controller display.
Other New/Modified Variables

(warning) These variables should not typically be modified, although they are in the Rig Configuration section

  • posnResolution: ScanImage validates the motor end position following a move (except for those in the midst of a stack acquisition). Occasionally, the end position will not exactly match the entered position. This value specifies, in microns, the smallest difference that will be tolerated without alerting the user.
  • velocityFast/Slow: (Previously below Rig Configuration section) These values specify the 'velocity' of the motor movement employed for long moves (fast) and short moves (slow). Movements during stack acquisitions always follow velocitySlow. Other movements (e.g. entering a new position in one of the X/Y/Z controls) use velocityFast for moves larger than 100um to get within 100um of the final position. The movement always finish using velocitySlow to reach the final position, which helps ensure the correct position is reached. The velocityFast value is roughly in um/second, whereas velocitySlow is in units about half of this. (!)The precise calibration of these 'velocities' is not fully understood. Default values in standard_model.INI have been found to be satisfactory.
Motor Controls

New Controls

Some new controls have been added to the Motor Controls to facilitate stack collection:

  • Stack Start/End: These read-only display controls allow Z positions set via start and end buttons to be seen, and stored even as the current Z position may be updated.
  • Slice Params Obey Start/End: If selected, when either one of the # slices or Z step/slice is adjusted in the Standard Controls, the other parameter will auto-adjust, so the start/endpoints set here remain in effect. For example, the user can vary the Z step/slice and the # slices will auto-adjust based on the distance between the stack start/end. If the checkbox is deselected, any change to the Z step/slice or # slices will clear the stack start/endpoints.
  • No labels