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Testing Autofib 2 Without the Fibre Module
Back Illumination
Manually Initialising Fibre Positions
Setting up a Field

Testing Autofib 2 Without the Fibre Module

It is important when testing Autofib 2 without the fibre module, to place a metal object on either the small or large fibre module detection sensor.  This will select the program that is to be run.  If this is not done, then Autofib 2 will inform you that the fibre module is not in place and that it can not enable the power amplifiers.
 

Back Illumination

When testing Autofib 2, it is important to back illuminate the fibres.  There is a test rig available for this purpose.  When back illuminating Autofib 2, the light can be too strong or too dim.  This will cause fibres to be lost by the Autofib 2 control system.  Ensure that the image on the frame grabber monitor is clear and well defined.
 

Manually Initialising Fibre Positions

This is only to be done by engineers who are experienced with the procedure.  This is only done when Autofib 2 has lost a fibre and has been unable to recover it.

• Manually move all fibres to the outer ring position, ensuring that they are lined up with their slots.
• Turn the back illumination on.
• On the engineering terminal in engineering mode, type:
• <wake>.
• <backillum on>.
• <ringallfibres>.  This will update Autofib 2 with the initial postions of all the fibres.
• <loadmodule>.  The Autofib 2 robot can then be seen to search for the fibres and update their physical positions.
• Once the robot has updated all the positions of the fibres, a field setup can be performed.

Setting up a Field

• From the Autofib os/9> prompt, type <chd configfiles>.
• Copy the test file (*.dat) to an executable file (*.fib).  For example, <copy lp.dat lp.fib>.
• Return to engineering mode.
• Type <setup (filename)>, without the .fib extension.  For example, <setup lp>.
• Autofib 2 will test the file and if it is okay it will commence a setup.  If the file is not okay, it will error and remove the .fib file.

Created by Stephen Goodsell sjg@ing.iac.es Last updated 9/01