LBA-USB/USB-SP User Guide For LBA-USB and LBA-USB-SP Laser Beam Analyzer For Windows XP Professional ® LBA-USB Software Version 4.84 LBA-USB-SP Software Version 4.83 For Sales, Service or Technical Support Phone: (435) 753-3729 Fax: (435) 753-5231 Service Email service@ophir-spiricon.com Sales Email sales@ophir-spiricon.com Ophir-Spiricon Inc. 60 W 1000 N Logan, Utah 84321 © 2008 Ophir-Spiricon Inc. Manual No. 11295-001 Document No. 11294-001 v4.
Notice Ultracal! is a trademark of Ophir-Spiricon Inc. The Ultracal! processing feature is protected under United States Patent Nos. 5,418,562 and 5,440,338. Windows, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Visual Basic and Excel are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. LabVIEW is a registered trademark of National Instruments. Pentium is registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All rights to the product and any accompanying user guide(s) are reserved by OphirSpiricon Inc. Ophir-Spiricon Inc.
Table of Contents Safety ....................................................................................................................... 8 General Information................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1. Equipment Setup ............................................................................... 15 1.1 LBA-USB/USB-SP Software Installation ........................................................ 15 1.2 Connect the Camera...........
4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 Chapter 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Page 6 Whole Beam Fit Equations ........................................................................ 102 X/Y or Major/Minor Line Fit Equations........................................................ 102 Deviation of Fit ........................................................................................ 103 Correlation of Fit ............................................................................
Table of Figures Figure Figure Figure Figure 1 2 3 4 – – – – Hirose Connector Pin-Out Diagram............................................................ 37 Top Hat Factor ...................................................................................... 106 Convolution Processing .......................................................................... 113 Low-Pass Spatial Filter Convolution Coefficients .......................................
Safety While the LBA-USB itself does not present the operator with any safety hazards, this instrument however is intended for use with laser systems. Therefore, the operator should be protected from any hazards that the laser system may present. The greatest hazards associated with laser systems are damage to the eyes and skin due to laser radiation.
General Information Introduction This manual covers the operation of LBA-USB and LBA-USB-SP products. In some places the two products are shown as LBA-USB/USB-SP to indicate that the material applies equally to both products. In some cases only the abbreviated LBA-USB will be used, but the USB-SP version is implied. Where only one or the other is covered the text will indicate which version is applicable.
A complete LBA-USB/USB-SP systems consists of the following equipment: The Spiricon LBA-USB/USB-SP software An L070, L130, L230, L11058, SP503, or SP620 camera and USB cable A Pentium style or compatible PC with: • USB 2.
USB Camera Specifications Environmental Storage Temperature -10° C to 60° C Storage Humidity 95% maximum (non-condensing) Operating Temperature 0° C to 50° C Operating Humidity 95% maximum (non-condensing) Power Requirements USB 2.0 Power Consumption ~2.5 W, varies with model Physical Weight Approximately 312 g (11 ounces), varies with model Instrument Characteristics Trigger In Rising LVTTL input Max input +3.
Instrument Characteristics USB L070 1/3” Format Spectral Response USB L130 ½” Format 190 – 1100 nm USB L230 1/1.8” Format 190 – 1320 nm Maximum Beam Size 4.7 x 3.6 mm 6.5 x 4.8 mm 7.1 x 5.4 Pixel Spacing 7.40 μm x 7.40 μm 4.65 μm x 4.65 μm 4.40 μm x 4.40 μm Number of Effective Pixels 640 x 480 1392 x 1040 1616 x 1216 Minimum System Dynamic Range 61 dB 59 dB 59 dB Spatial Uniformity ±0.
Instrument Characteristics USB L11058 35mm Format Spectral Response 250-1100 USB SP503U ½” Format 190 – 1320 nm USB SP620U 1/1.8” Format 190 – 1320 nm Maximum Beam Size 20 x 13.5 mm 6.5 x 4.8 mm 7.1 x 5.4 Pixel Spacing 9.9 μm x 9.9 μm 4.65 μm x 4.65 μm 4.40 μm x 4.40 μm Number of Effective Pixels 4006 x 2672 1392 x 1040 1600 x 1200 Minimum System Dynamic Range 59 dB 63 dB 60 dB Spatial Uniformity ±0.5% Frame Rate 3.
How to Use This User Guide Read this user guide before setting up the LBA-USB system. Become familiar with the laser beam analysis theory and acquire a basic understanding of how LBA-USB operates. Insights gained through this review will greatly assist you when operating LBA-USB, performing system configurations, and interpreting LBA results. Chapter 1 provides set up instructions contains general operating procedures.
Chapter 1. Equipment Setup Install the LBA-USB/USB-SP application Connect the camera Launch LBA-USB/USB-SP Configure LBA-USB/USB-SP for your camera Collect data 1.1 LBA-USB/USB-SP Software Installation Important: Do not connect the camera to the computer until after the LBA-USB software is installed. 1. Start Windows. 2. Close all other applications. 3. Place the Spiricon CD into your CD-ROM drive. 4. Windows XP will open a dialog that asks: “What do you want Windows to do?” 5.
1.4 Select the Camera The first time LBA-USB starts you will be required to select a startup configuration file. Select the configuration file that corresponds to the model number of the connected camera. Note: This file name has now become the new default configuration file. This default will remain from one session to the next until a new configuration file is saved or restored. The last loaded or saved configuration becomes the startup default.
Chapter 2. Menus and Dialog Boxes 2.1 File Menu 2.1.1 Load… A saved data file can be loaded into the frame buffer for display and results processing. The native file extension denoting a data file created by LBA-USB is “.usb-data”. If the saved file was generated using Ultracal! processing, then the results obtained when loading and viewing this file type are of high quality. Data files can contain one or more frames of data. Each frame of data is called a Record.
wrap around to the beginning, leaving the last records transferred in the frame buffer. See the Frame Buffer Size paragraph in section 0. In the Start Frame field, enter the location in the frame buffer to begin depositing the file records. Multiple frames will load from that location upward, skipping any locations that are write-protected. Special Frame Numbers The following Frame numbers have special meanings; however they can be saved and loaded in the manner described above.
Enter the desired drive:\paths\ or select Browse... to locate a file to which frame data will be appended or to overwrite an existing file with data contained in the frame buffer. Enter the Start Frame buffer location from which you want to begin saving or appending frame data files. To append frame data to an existing file, indicate a Start Frame position greater than the last frame contained in the existing file.
and delimited by a comma. The summed image contains horizontal data first, and then left to right, followed by a carriage return, and then provides the vertical data, top to bottom. Note: Remember, exported image files cannot be read back into the LBA-USB frame buffer. To save retrievable data files, use Save As... and Load... under the File menu. To export an image, enter the desired drive:\paths\. Select Browse... to locate an existing file or to overwrite an existing file.
The saved configuration file does not include, and thus will not restore data frames, reference frames, gain correction frames, or Ultracal! processing information. These types of frames must be saved and restored separately. Note: Remember to perform an Ultracal! cycle immediately prior to acquiring new data frames.
2.1.7 Generate Gain Generate Gain initiates an automatic Gain Correction calculation cycle. The cycle generates results stored in a gain correction table that will then be used to preprocess all data frames newly acquired from the camera. The gain correction enunciator is located at the bottom of the LBA-USB’s main display screen. If the color of the gain correction enunciator is: GRAY GREEN RED The gain correction processing is turned OFF. The gain correction calculation succeeded and is operating.
What Disables Gain Correction? Gain Correction becomes disabled if certain data collection conditions change from when the Generate Gain operation was first executed. In all cases, these conditions are the result of an operator’s change to the spatial acquisition settings. The disabled condition will occur if changes are made to: The camera or pixel format The size or location of the custom image The lens setting Brightness Gain Shutter 2.1.
2.1.11 Logging… This feature is also available as a button on the toolbar: Using the LBA-USB’s data logging capability, save any of the following to a file: Frame data Numerical results Export log Frame data log filenames include a .usb-data file extension. A frame data log file may be read back into the frame buffer by using the File and Load... menu selections. Numerical results log filenames include an .RLG file extension.
Data, Results & Export Logging Dialog Box Select a Logging Type: To log frames of data, check the Data Logging box and enter the desired drive:\paths\ or click Browse… to locate a file, or to append or overwrite an existing file. To log computed results, check the Results Logging box and enter the desired drive:\paths\ or click Browse… to locate a file, or to append or overwrite an existing file.
of frames accrues. Press Stop! to terminate the log early. The Rate display will indicate the number of frames remaining: Time – Limit the logging process to a specified amount of time. When this option is selected, enter the amount of time during which the log will run. Double-click inside the entry item and enter the time value in the format shown. Logging will commence when Start! is clicked and will terminate when the time remaining expires.
How fast will logging operate? The rate at which frames can be processed and logged to a file depends upon such variables as the: Quantity and types of calculations being performed Type of logging enabled Speed of your disk drive and computer system, etc. We recommend running tests to determine how fast your system can log various forms of data and results, and then using this information as your system benchmarks. 2.1.
5. Statistics Results – Controlled by a set number of frames. If Results Logging and Statistics are both in play, and if one of the Logging features is in control, then statistics results are recorded into the results log file when the logging operation terminates. See Begin and Terminate Logging in section 2.1.11.
2.1.13 Print… Select the information to be sent to the printer within the Print dialog box. Open this dialog box via the File menu. Note: Simply clicking on the print toolbar button immediately produces output based on the last configuration set in the Print dialog box. Check the Beam Image box to print the contents of the beam display window. The printed image contains everything visible in the window, limited only by the resolution and color capabilities of your printer and Windows printer driver.
If Statistics results are enabled: These will not update during the printing operation and thus will show the same values on each frame’s printout. Note: To avoid unnecessary printing, keep the Current Frame Only box checked unless multiple frames are absolutely required. When printing 2D beam images, in either 128 or 16 colors, the dark violet background color converts to a shade of light gray. This may not always be appropriate, as the dark background may prove useful for transparencies, etc.
2.2 Options Menu 2.2.1 Show/Hide the Capture, Display and Aperture Toolbars These three toolbars can be alternately displayed or hidden based on operator preference. The Capture and Display toolbars can be modified to match the operator’s needs. The Aperture toolbar is predefined and cannot be modified by the operator. 2.2.2 Aperture… LBA-USB can display three types of apertures in four different shapes.
Drawn and Displayed apertures can be rendered in four shapes: Circle Square Ellipse Rectangle Auto apertures are always rendered as an ellipse. How to Create a Drawn Aperture Create a drawn (or manual) aperture by using the Aperture dialog box, the Aperture toolbar, or by dragging and dropping the aperture in the 2D display window. Note: Before using the drag and drop method, first select a drawn aperture shape using either of the first two methods.
Drag and Drop Apertures Once a Drawn aperture is enabled from either the dialog box or toolbar, move, resize, and (in the case of an ellipse or rectangle) rotate it. Move the arrow cursor over the display window and press and hold down the right mouse button. This reveals the Drag, Drop and Rotate hot spots of the Drawn aperture. Move the arrow cursor onto one of these hot spots, release the RIGHT mouse button and press and hold down the LEFT button.
If the beam is an off axis ellipse or rectangle, be sure to turn on Elliptical in the Computations... dialog box under the Options menu. Otherwise all drawn beam widths will be computed and displayed on the X and Y-axes. 2.2.
Select the desired camera from the list in the Camera field. If the desired camera does not appear: Verify that the camera is connected to the computer. Verify that the camera has power. (For example, the green LED on the side of the USB camera should be lit.) Try resetting the camera. Disconnect the USB cable, wait 10 seconds, and plug it in again. Close and reopen the Camera dialog box to refresh the list. Contact the Spiricon Service Department for assistance.
Set a Custom ROI (Region of Interest) (LBA-USB-Lxxx model specific) Select this Format option to either further reduce the amount of data collected (thus allowing for faster frame capture rates) or to focus in on a specific region of interest. The format x and y Offsets and Width/Height settings from the previous selection are retained as the starting point for the custom ROI. To set a custom ROI, modify the x and y Offsets to establish the new location of the top left pixel of the ROI.
small amount of virtual memory assigned to the frame buffer is not critical, but a great deal may make you wonder what kind of alien being has just taken over your hard drive. Windows will allocate the frame buffer to real memory first. When it is filled, Windows allocates virtual memory. For this reason, it is a good idea to run LBAUSB with no other applications running in the background. This will free up as much real memory as possible for frame buffer use.
Adjust the Strobe Delay (in milliseconds) to determine the interval between the moment when the exposure begins and the moment when the strobe output pulse initiates. Pixel Scale and Units Enter a vertical and horizontal Pixel Scale value appropriate for your optical system and camera. The pixel scale value is derived from the camera’s detector specifications, or may be user programmable to correspond to the characteristics of your optical system.
Select a Camera (LBA-USB-SP specific) Any USB-SP style camera currently connected to your computer while LBA-USBSP is running, regardless of port, will appear in the Camera drop-down list. If a camera is connected after the dialog is displayed, it may be necessary to close and reopen the Camera dialog box to refresh the list. Note: A camera disconnected after LBA-USB-SP has launched will remain active on the list.
Try resetting the camera. Disconnect the USB cable, wait 10 seconds, and plug it in again. Close and reopen the Camera dialog box to refresh the list. Contact the Spiricon Service Department for assistance. If your camera is surrounded by parentheses and cannot be selected: The camera is currently selected by another instance of LBA-USB-SP running in the same computer. Cameras can only be selected by one LBA-USB-SP instance at one time.
Set a Custom ROI (Region of Interest) (LBA-USB-SP specific) Select this Format option to either further reduce the amount of data collected (thus allowing for faster frame capture rates) or to focus in on a specific region of interest. The format x and y Offsets and Width/Height settings from the previous selection are retained as the starting point for the custom ROI. To set a custom ROI, modify the x and y Offsets to establish the new location of the top left pixel of the ROI.
Photo Diode (LBA-USB-SP specific) When using the optional external Photo Diode probe to trigger the camera you must enable it by checking on this option. The photo diode probe can be connected to the trigger input BNC connector. When properly position, this device can detect the laser flash and cause the camera to trigger. If the laser pulse is long, >100us you do not need to check the Pre-Trigger item. However for short pulses, such as Q-switched YAG’s, you will need to check on the PreTrigger (~1.
In the far lower right hand corner of the main screen display is a Frame edit and spin control: The number visible in the edit control indicates frame number currently displayed. Edit this number by double-clicking and entering a new value, or use the spin control to increment or decrement to the desired frame. We recommend setting the frame buffer to contain as many frames as your Windows environment allows in real memory.
Gamma Correction If the camera employs a solid state CCD or MOS style detector, then its detector responds linearly to monochromatic light. For linearly responding cameras the Gamma setting should be set to 1. Lens Check this box if the camera is fitted with a lens. When enabled, the 2D image orientation is adjusted to depict the image as if the observer is standing and viewing the scene from behind the camera.
Capture Method The Capture panel controls how imaged data is to be acquired and saved into the frame buffer. You must first choose a capture Method, and then subsequent selections need to be made. The capture methods are: Continuous – Configures LBA-USB to continuously acquire new frames of video images from the camera as fast as possible, or at a rate determined by the value in the Interval setting. See the Capture Interval paragraph below.
process. Enter a Number value of “0” to process all frames or all frames subsequent to the Start location. • File – Enter a .scor-data file name or click Browse... to search for a file. Specify the file record number as the Start location and the Number of records to process. Enter a Number value of “0” to process all records or all records subsequent to the Start location. The resulting frames will be placed sequentially into the frame buffer, beginning at the current frame buffer location.
Trigger Type The Trigger panel in the Capture dialog box provides control over when an image is actively captured by LBA-USB. The selected trigger type governs which of the other Trigger settings become active: CW – Select this trigger type if the laser under analysis operates in a continuous wave manner, or pulses at a repetition rate that will appear to the camera as continuous.
When enabled, the precedence for all processing and post processing operations occurs in the following order: 1. Ultracal! Processing (cannot be post processed) 2. Gain Correction 3. Gamma Correction 4. Frame Summing 5. Frame Averaging 6. Reference Subtraction 7. Convolution Although Ultracal! is a processing step, it is important to note the following about Ultracal!: Processing of newly acquired video is not an option in the dialog above. Processing must be enabled from the main screen Menu bar.
Note: This edit control is repeated in the Beam Display dialog box and is available in the Display Toolbar. Reference Subtraction – Activate this option to subtract the reference frame from newly acquired or post processed frames of data. The reference frame location is at Processing hints: • If the Set Reference Source item is set to Current Frame, the data in the currently viewed frame will be copied to the Reference frame.
2.2.6 Capture Toolbar… Select among the options and operations available in this dialog box to determine what buttons appear on the Capture toolbar. The selected functions appear on the toolbar in the order listed. The first four panels (Capture, Camera, Trigger, and Processing) reflect the items found in the Capture dialog box. The Camera panel offers three options for setting video gain, black level, and exposure directly from the toolbar.
Write Protect This tool can be used to write protect any frame currently in the frame buffer. Before clicking on this tool, be sure that the desired frame number is indicated in the frame counter. The frame counter is located in the lower right corner of the main window: When a frame has been write-protected, its location in the frame buffer cannot be overwritten. When new data is flowing into the frame buffer, write protected locations will be skipped.
2.2.7 Computations… Select the types of numerical results to calculate and display in the Computations dialog box. The beam energy can also be calibrated here. Note: In this context, the term energy, represents both Energy and Power. Energy of Beam Calibrate LBA-USB to the energy of the laser under analysis. First measure the energy of the beam using an external measuring device, then enter that value as the Energy of the Beam. Next select the appropriate units in the Energy Units field.
Gauss Height, etc., will be computed in processed digitizer units. Processed digitizer units are called counts, and are dimensionless. In this case, no units will be displayed in the results window. Any non-zero entry causes the displayed results to be reported in the units selected. Fluence results also rely on the Pixel Units entry to complete the energy density definition. A Pixel Unit selection of PX stands for pixel spatial units. The PX unit is dimensionless.
The displayed quantitative results consist of the following: Total energy % in Aperture Peak fluence Min Peak Location, in X and Y Centroid Location, in X and Y Beam Width, in both X and Y or Major and Minor axes Beam Diameter For a detailed discussion of the above items see Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. Beam Width Method The Beam Width Method drop down box determines the technique used to compute the beam width results.
beam widths in the X and Y beam axial directions, or along the computed orthogonal Major and Minor axes of the beam if the Elliptical calculations are enabled. Note: In general, both Clip level settings should add up to 100%. Avoid using clip levels <10%, as this begins to approach the camera’s noise floor, especially if the beam’s peak energy is less than 20% of camera saturation. Percent of Energy (user definable) – This method uses a limited amount of the beam’s energy to compute beam widths.
through the centroid, along the X,Y or Major, Minor axes. See section 4.13 for additional details. Top Hat Select the Top Hat box to display the Top Hat results. Top Hat results include Mean, StdDev, (Std/Mean)%, Min, Max, Top Hat Factor, Effective Area and Effective Diameter. Select one of the following three methods that determine how the Top Hat results are computed: Data – This method includes all data above the Clip% level.
Far-Field – This method requires two measurements of the beam’s widths at two known locations in the beam’s far-field. The difference in size is used to compute the rate of beam divergence in mili-radians. First, collect reference data at the smaller beam width location. Once identified, click Stop! and note the location of the camera in the beam path. Open the Computations dialog box from the Options menu. Check the Divergence box and select Far Field in the drop down box.
Histogram Check this box to generate a histogram of your laser beam’s energy distribution. The histogram graphic and numerical results will appear in its own window of LBA-USB’s main display. The size of each bucket in the histogram is user programmable. Bucket size is based on the integer values produced by the A to D converter. If required, the bucket size will be converted to floating point values to reflect the processing effects of an energy calibration.
To reset statistical data operations turn Statistics off, click OK, and then turn Statistics back on. Or right click in the Results window and click on the Results Statistics item. When collecting Frames or Time limited Statistics, the Rate display will indicate the number of frames to go: or the time remaining: When using Statistics computations in combination with Logging, Block Capture, or Post Processing, refer to section 0. Refer to section 4.23 for additional information. 2.2.
refer only to the dialog box entries. Toolbar button icons will be included in the titles when they exist. Beam View Select either the 2D or 3D radio button for the desired display mode. The 2D/3D button on the toolbar also toggles the beam display. Note: In general, 3D displays run slower than 2D due to the amount of computations involved with generating the wire frame. Cursors Choose to place cursors on either the 2D or 3D display.
Cursor Orientation The Cursors can be orientated to align with either the X/Y axial directions, or with the computed Major/Minor axial directions. Note: Elliptical computations must be active in order to permit the Major/Minor orientations to operate correctly. Otherwise it will revert to the X/Y operating mode. Origin Location The beam display window always includes an X/Y origin from which all other positional data is referenced.
Beam Colors The choice of beam display colors depends on the display mode selected. There are three choices available in both 2D and 3D modes, plus 2 additional choices in 3D mode: Color Bands – 16 colors plus white to indicate intensities at or near A/D converter saturation. Available in both 2D and 3D. Color Continuous – 128 colors plus white to indicate intensities at or near A/D converter saturation. Available in both 2D and 3D.
the bottom of the slider, and maybe add in a little video gain and some frame averaging to quiet the noise. You’ll be amazed at what you can see! Beam Display Select how the beam is displayed without changing how it is processed or how it is stored in the frame buffer. Visually compare the currently selected Beam Display to a beam profile stored in the Reference frame buffer. Or, compare it to the beam with the reference added or subtracted from it.
In 3D, the Reference beam alone appears in the display. It is presented in the Beam Color choice selected. Current-Reference – In 2D, both Cursors and Cursor Profiles must be enabled for this feature to operate. The Current minus the Reference beam appears in the display. A second profile, drawn in light gray, appears in the display. This profile is a projection of the Current beam. All projections are made from the cursor positions. In 3D, the Current minus the Reference beam appears in the display.
Setting active threshold values forces the displayed beam intensities that fall between the two threshold settings to follow the Beam Color selection. Beam intensities that lie below the Lower threshold, or above the Upper threshold, appear in a different color style. Intensities that lie within the threshold region are defined as being “in-bounds.” Intensities that lie outside the threshold region are said to be “out-of-bounds.
Copy Image to Wallpaper When this button is clicked, the currently displayed frame image will be copied to the Desktop Wallpaper. This tool has no real practical application except to provide bored operators with something meaningless to do. Besides, why not proudly display your colorful beam profiles for the entire world to see? 2D Only Beam Display Properties Note: The following Beam Display dialog box items only affect the 2D beam display.
Grid – Add an X/Y grid overlay to the display. The grid scale varies based on the spatial calibration setting. Use the Grid to make rough distance measurements. 3D Only Beam Display Properties Note: The following Beam Display dialog box items only affect the 3D beam display. Wire Frame and Crosshatch – The 3D beam display is drawn as a wire frame. Select these items to draw the wire frame display in only a horizontal direction, or in a crosshatch pattern.
wire density, the slower the draw rate. Select the minimum density that also provides the best view. Note: While performing a Soft Zoom while in 3D mode, the Wire Density rises to the highest resolution possible based on the camera resolution setting. For example, if the camera resolution is 800x600, and the Wire Frame setting is 200x150, when Soft Zoom initializes, the wire frame resolution will increase to 400x300. 2.2.
Launch Beam Stability… from the Options menu to start the program. A new window opens, similar to the window below: Note: LBA-USB must be running, collecting data and not minimized in order for the pointing stability program to collect data.
Main Controls Located in a toolbar in the upper left corner of the main window, the main controls consist of buttons for Start, Pause, Reset, Printer Setup, Print, and Exit Program. Start Press the start button to begin data collection. However, if LBA-USB is not collecting data in the background, then clicking this button will be ineffective.
Strip Chart Controls A sample of data is defined as: Any results computed from a discrete beam image captured from LBA-USB. The beam stability window computes its results based on samples taken from the time Start! is clicked, until the beam display is reset or until the application is closed and restarted. These controls and parameters configure the way beam stability data samples are displayed.
Check Boxes – Specify which results items to graph on the strip chart. One or all of the following may be selected: • Centroid X • Centroid Y • Peak X • Peak Y • Radius Radius Relative to – Modifies the display of radius information. The radius is referenced from either an Origin established in LBA-USB or from the continuously calculated Average Centroid position. Strip Chart Zooming – All strip chart data is plotted on the same horizontal and vertical scale.
camera pixels. To do this return to the main menu in LBA-USB and open the Camera dialog box from the Options menu. From the Camera dialog box, select the camera that matches the detector and then select the Pixel Units to be PX (or pixel units). In the Pixel Scale field enter “1.0” to tell LBA-USB that these pixels are one pixel wide. Before closing the dialog, make sure that the Resolution drop down box is set to 1X. Resolutions other that 1X may be used but this will be discussed later.
the screen capture above we can see that most of the centroids are falling 232 pixels from the left and 247 pixels from the bottom (assuming that the origin is set to Window LL). In order to get this into real world units we would simply multiply the pixel units by the pixel scale of the camera. In the example above, the pixel scale, read from the Camera dialog box, was 13 microns per pixel. Thus the centroid would become roughly: ⎛ μm ⎞ ⎟⎟ = 3024.58( μm) From the left (X) 232.
Capture Resolution Settings – When establishing capture resolutions to settings other than Full and 1X, it is important to note that the peak location scatter plot will not have peak locations on any pixel location in the array. A 4X resolution for example, would have peaks occurring every forth pixel. As a result, the Peak Scatter plot would look like something like this: Note how peak locations seem to fall in a grid like pattern. This is to be expected when capturing every 4th pixel.
If the user desires to decrease the size of the bins, simply click the Inc Bins button and the bins divide in half both vertically and horizontally, creating 4 bins out of each existing bin. Bin size decreases when the program collects the next data point, and previously plotted points will be re-plotted with respect to the new bin size. If the Pointing Stability program is paused, the change will not take place until the program is restarted and the next data point is collected. 2.2.
Slide the mouse pointer along the upper bar and a number (just below the upper bar) indicates which of the 128 color positions is selected. Left-click on a location in the upper bar to place a seed color at that location. The Edit Colors dialog box appears: Either select one of the basic colors from the set on the left or create a custom color using the controls on the right. Click OK to place the selected color in the upper bar.
The factory sets the password. To obtain your password, call the Spiricon Service Department at 435-753-3729 between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm MST. The password will only be given out to the authorized individual whose name appears on the original Purchase Order, the person whose name appears on the completed warranty card, or to an individual who knows the Purchase Order Number used to make the purchase.
Pass/Fail Results Display The following Pass/Fail dialog boxes set the limits for the selected results. When an item is activated, the Pass/Fail screening is active for that particular result. Simultaneously, the manner in which that item appears in the results window changes. While the result remains within limits, its display remains green. When a result item fails the test limit, its display appears red.
circle in terms of its X and Y coordinate in the beam display window, and then the Radius of the circle that contains the centroid. Both the X and Y Centroid location results will change color from green to red should the centroid fall outside this circle. 2.3.3 Elliptical Pass/Fail… Establish elliptical pass/fail criteria within this dialog box: Elliptical Pass/Fail Notes: The Orientation option applies to the major axis inclination of an elliptical beam.
2.3.
2.3.5 Top Hat Pass/Fail… Establish Top Hat pass/fail criteria within this dialog box: Top Hat Pass/Fail Notes: The Top Hat computational results display a value for the Max and Min fluence observed in a Top Hat beam’s energy profile. This result is affected by the Top Hat method employed. The Top Hat Fluence Pass/Fail edit control items are applied to both the Max and Min fluence results.
2.3.6 Divergence Pass/Fail… Establish divergence pass/fail criteria within this dialog box: 2.4 Window Menu Use the Window menu to identify and locate available display and results windows within LBA-USB. Select an available window to restore it to the forefront of the application workspace. 2.4.1 Tile Select Tile to force all LBA-USB child windows to return to their default locations and sizes. 2.
2.6 Ultracal! Menu Action Item Click Ultracal! to begin an automatic camera calibration cycle. An Ultracal! cycle generates a calibration frame that will be used to preprocess all data frames newly acquired from the camera. Note: The Ultracal! process is only applied to newly acquired data frames; it does not apply to data that was acquired prior to an Ultracal! execution, nor is it applied to data from a data file.
Chapter 3. Display Windows 3.1 Main Window Most operators prefer to run LBA-USB maximized to fill the screen. This provides immediate access to as much information as possible. We also recommend operating at a minimum of 1024x768 screen resolution. Increase the resolution if your graphics hardware, monitor and vision support it. The Main Window is divided into five regions.
3.2 Beam Display Window View a laser beam profile in either a 2D or 3D representation. This window may be resized or minimized. The title bar in this window indicates the displayed frame number. 3.2.1 Frame Comment A frame comment can be added to selected frames and saved with the data file and printed as the title for the associated frame(s). Double-click the Beam Display window title bar to open the Frame Comment dialog box. Enter the desired text.
Check the Assign to All frames option to apply the comment to all valid frames currently in the frame buffer. Neither empty frames nor any new frames will be commented. However, the comment will be associated with previously writeprotected frames. Check the Assign to All and Future frames option to apply the comment to all valid frames currently in the frame buffer, and to all new frames acquired during the current session. Empty frames will not be commented.
3.3 Results Display Window This window displays computed results based on the selections enabled in the Computations dialog box. This window may be resized or minimized. The title bar in this window indicates the frame number associated with the current result values. With Statistics results disabled, the Results window fits nicely along the left side of the display area. With Statistics enabled, use the horizontal scroll bar to bring the statistical results into view.
Shortcuts: Minimize this window to deactivate computed results. Double-click within this window to open the Computations dialog box. Right-click within this window to open a convenient Results selection pop-up window. Enable or disable individual results selections, reset statistics results, or save the current results to the clipboard. Note: Copy Results to Clipboard saves all of the numerical results to the clipboard separated by commas in the same order as displayed in the results window.
The center of the soft zooming action assumes the intersection point of the cursors. If the cursors are turned off, the zoom center will be at the approximate center of the current frame. 3.4.2 Panning Pan the light gray soft zoom box across the frame of data. Two scroll bars control panning operations. Adjust the horizontal scroll bar to pan left and right; adjust the vertical bar to pan up and down. 3.5 Tilt and Rotation Display Window This window is only visible when in 3D display mode.
3.6 Histogram Display Window This window is only visible when Histogram is enabled in the Computations dialog box. This window can be minimized and resized. This bar chart provides a fluence histogram of the currently displayed frame of data. Each bar in the display represents a fluence bucket. Each bucket describes a range of quantified fluence values. The minimum bucket size is based upon a single count of the 8/10/12/14/15-bit digitized output of the A to D converter or digital camera.
3.7 Shortcuts A number of shortcuts are available that allow quick access some of the dialog boxes without accessing the menu bar. These shortcuts require placing the mouse in a region of a display window and then clicking either the right or left mouse button. These shortcuts are described below: Access the Computations dialog box – Double-click within the Results window or right-click to open a convenient Results selection pop-up window.
Chapter 4. Computations 4.1 Computational Accuracy Having mastered the skills of acquiring a laser beam's profile with LBA-USB, you may become curious about the accuracy of the quantitative results. The degree of accuracy of the computed results is based primarily on two factors. The first, and most significant, is the correct nulling of the background energy. The second deals with optimizing the presentation of the beam display.
process primarily fix the noise level, most of our efforts concentrate on increasing the signal content. Always try to optimize the beam's amplitude into the camera's dynamic operating range. Whenever possible, use external optical attenuation to bring the beam's peak signal levels into the upper half of the video signal's dynamic range. If optical attenuation results in low signal amplitude, use the camera's video gain control to restore some of the loss.
remain the same, and the camera black level, shading and noise conditions do not change. Since most cameras tend to be a little drifty, we recommend performing an Ultracal! cycle every 10 to 15 minutes, or whenever you think the camera may have strayed. This drift can be observed as changes to the background noise image. Un-illuminated areas appear as gray and dark violet (almost black) random noise.
the energy of the laser. An energy measurement must be obtained using an external measuring device, then enter the energy value here. The value entered must be the total energy of the beam for the frame currently displayed. For accurate results, the beam must fit inside of the current ROI. If a calibrated value of zero is entered, the Total, Peak, Gauss Height(s), and Top Hat results are displayed as processed digitizer values. Any entry other than zero will immediately appear as the Total energy results.
In the case of Percent of Peak, the included pixels are those that are greater than the Clip% level. With Percent of Energy, the included pixels are those that are greater than or equal to the Clip% level. If the 4 Sigma or one of the Knife Edge methods are chosen and the Top Hat calculations are not checked, the clip level is set to 86.5% of energy. If the Top Hat calculations are checked, then an 80% of Peak clip level is set.
4.11.1 D4-Sigma Method From laser beam propagation theory, the Second Moment or 4-Sigma beam width definition is found to be of fundamental significance. It is defined as 4 times the standard deviation of the energy distribution evaluated separately in the X and Y transverse directions over the beam intensity profile.
4.11.2 Knife Edge Method Beam widths are computed using special algorithms that simulate knife-edge techniques. The method employed in LBA-USB borrows from two sources: ISO 11146 Lasers and laser-related equipment—Test methods for laser beam parameters— Beam Widths, divergence angle and beam propagation factor.
4.11.3 Percent of Energy Method LBA-USB measures the lengths of two orthogonal lines that pass through the beam centroid. The beam widths are determined by separately looking out along each line and count all the pixels that are greater than the set clip level. The reported beam widths are the number of pixels greater than the clip level multiplied by the pixel pitch.
4.13 Gauss Fit LBA-USB can perform a least squares bivariate normal equation (Gaussian equation) fit using all of the data when doing a Whole beam fit. Or it can perform two univariate normal equation fits using orthogonal Lines of data through the Centroid Location. With the Elliptical results disabled, the Gaussian fitter may be set to Disabled, Whole Beam, or X/Y aligned. With the Elliptical results enabled, the choices are Disabled, Whole Beam, or Major/Minor aligned.
4.14 Whole Beam Fit Equations The bivariate normal equation is used to fit data in two locked directions, X and Y. The Whole Beam selection assumes the beam is round or elongated parallel to the horizontal or vertical axis.
For the Y or Minor axis: J = J me Where: ⎛ m−m ⎞ ⎟⎟ − 2 ⎜⎜ ⎝ wm / 2 ⎠ 2 J = Amplitude at the point m Jm* = Amplitude at the Gaussian center m = Location of pixel m = M location of the Gaussian center wm* = Width at 1/e² of energy Parameters marked with an asterisk (*) are the variables fitted. M & m are not the same as the displayed Centroid Major and Centroid Minor results. However, they are used to compute those results items.
4.17 Correlation of Fit The Correlation result gives you a relative value for how well the data matches the fitted Gaussian surface. The Correlation is useful in the sense that the result approaches one as the fit to the data becomes better and vice versa. The Correlation gives a relative feeling for how well the data matches a Gaussian surface. However, this result is relative, not absolute. A result of 0.8 tells us the data is a better Gaussian shape than a result of 0.7 and a worse Gaussian than 0.
3. Line Aperture – Use the Top Hat Line Aperture to analyze the data lying along the axes of a Drawn Aperture. As in Area Aperture above this should be limited to regions lying on the upper surface of the Top Hat beam. Except for Top Hat Factor, a separate result will be computed for each axis of the aperture. Use a Drawn Aperture to isolate regions of the beam and compute results over only the orthogonal axes of the aperture, (the clip level is ignored for all but the Effective Area and Diameter results).
4.19 Top Hat Factor The Top Hat Factor provides a numerical measure of quality for a Top Hat beam profile. It is a normalized value that compares your beam profile against a perfect Top Hat--a perfect Top Hat being a beam with vertical sides and an absolutely uniform intensity on the top. A Factor value of 1.0 describes a perfect Top Hat. Examining a plot of a beam’s energy fraction versus its normalized fluence derives the Top Hat Factor.
The equation below describes how the curve of a particular beam profile would be derived from the pixel intensity data. The plot of such a curve is formed by the sum of the product of the number of pixels and the corresponding fluence for each fluence value, in a range starting from the maximum fluence value to the current value.
4.21.1 The Focal Length Method This method is based upon the beam width of a focused beam’s spot size and the focal length of the focusing optic. Divergence results will be computed in the X and Y aligned axes of the beam if Elliptical results are disabled, or for Major and Minor axes beam orientations if Elliptical results are enabled. The Focal Length divergence method provides a means for finding the far-field beam divergence at any point in the beam propagation path.
Position the camera in the beam path to acquire a first, or Reference, beam width. It is assumed that this first sample will be the one nearest the beam waist, and thus the smaller sample width. Next, move the camera a distance further from the beam waist. Note the distance the camera has traveled as the Separation distance. The Divergence result is computed as follows: ⎛ W − WR ⎞ ⎟ divergence = 2 ⋅ tan −1 ⎜ C ⎝ 2⋅S ⎠ Where: WR The width of the beam at the Reference (nearer to the waist) location.
The numbers displayed along the left edge of the Histogram, indicate the lower value of each Bucket. The numbers along the right edge of the display is the total count of the number of pixels that have been placed into each of the Buckets. The length of the drawn bar represents the depth to which the Bucket is filled. Zero count is on the left.
4.24 Frame Averaging The signal to noise ratio of the digitized data can be improved by using Frame Averaging. The amount of the improvement is roughly the square root of the number of frames being averaged. LBA-USB can average a maximum of 256 frames for at best a 16 times improvement of the signal to noise ratio. The amount of improvement is also limited by the noise content of your camera.
4.26 Gamma Correction If your camera has a gamma value less than or greater than 1, LBA-USB can be set to correct for your camera’s non-linear response. Enter the gamma of the camera in the Gamma field in the Camera... dialog box. Each pixel of each new frame of data will be automatically corrected as defined in the equation shown below. An entry of “1.0” disables gamma correction.
The figure below shows a 3x3 neighborhood and convolution kernel.
The tables below give the convolution coefficients (K values) for some of the included low-pass spatial filters.
Chapter 5. ActiveX 5.1 Introduction LBA-USB/USB-SP ActiveX server provides simple control of LBA-USB along with access to frame data, beam display image, results, statistics, and pass/fail indicators. The LBAUSB/USB-SP ActiveX server runs under Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista-32.
2. Open the Visual Basic Editor: On the Tools menu, select Macro, and then select Visual Basic Editor. A new VBA window will open. 3. Reference the LBA-USB ActiveX server: On the Tools menu, select References… Scroll down to LbausbActiveX EXE and select the checkbox to the left of it. 4. For this example, we will use the LBA-USB ActiveX server in a form. Create a new form: On the Insert menu, select UserForm. A form is displayed in a new window. 5.
5. Respond to LBA-USB ActiveX events. In the left list box, select LbausbActiveX. A new subroutine called LbausbActiveX_OnNewFrame() is created. This subroutine is called every time LBA-USB collects a new frame of data. An example Visual Basic project, LbausbActiveXExample.vbp, can be found in “ActiveX\Examples\Visual Basic” directory under the LBA-USB installation directory. 5.2.3 LabVIEW Follow these steps to use the LBA-USB ActiveX control in National Instruments LabVIEW: 1.
5.3 Properties, Methods and Events ActiveX components operate on the PME system, where PME represents: Properties – Think of these as data items Methods – Functions you can call to perform some operation Events – Notification when things happen Properties 5.3.1 AppInfo AppInfo is a two-dimensional array of integer packaged as a Variant. The leftmost dimension is 0 to 31 and the rightmost is 0 to 2.
5.3.2 Running This property indicates the status of the LBA-USB data collection. This property returns TRUE if LBA-USB is collecting data frames. Otherwise, this property returns FALSE. 5.3.3 OperationComplete This property indicates the status of the Ultracal! operation. This bit flag is defined as follows. Ultracal complete 0x0001 Auto Exposure complete 0x0002 Values are added to this property but never removed. Write a 0 to reset this property. 5.3.
5.3.9 CursorX, CursorY, CursorZ These properties provide the cursor x and y location, and the value of the pixel at the cursor. 5.3.10 CrosshairX, CrosshairY, CrosshairZ These properties provide the crosshair x and y location, and the value of the pixel at the crosshair. 5.3.11 CursorDelta This property provides the straight-line distance from the cursor to the crosshair. 5.3.12 EnergyOfBeam This property lets you calibrate LBA-USB to the energy of your laser.
5.3.14 FrameNumber This property is the frame number as displayed in the lower right corner of LBAUSB. 5.3.15 Results This property provides all of the LBA-USB results, except statistics, in a onedimensional array of doubles packaged as a Variant. The results are loaded into the array in the following order: 1. Quantitative 2. Elliptical 3. Gauss Fit – whole beam 4. Gauss Fit – major axis 5. Gauss Fit – minor axis 6. Top Hat – whole beam 7. Top Hat – major axis 8. Top Hat – minor axis 9.
Note the QuantRadius property. This is a new result not displayed by LBA-USB. This result is the distance from the Origin to the Centroid. Since the centroid is already relative to the origin this result is defined as: Radius = (C 2 x × Cy 2 ) The Origin is specified in the Display dialog in LBA-USB. For more information, see Chapter 4. Statistical results for QuantRadius are also provided in the Statistics property array. 5.3.
5.3.19 Top Hat Results These properties provide individual Top Hat LBA-USB results. For more information, see Chapter 4.
The results are loaded into the array in the following order: 1. Number of Samples 2. Quantitative 3. Elliptical 4. Gauss Fit – whole beam 5. Gauss Fit – major axis 6. Gauss Fit – minor axis 7. Top Hat – whole beam 8. Top Hat – major axis 9. Top Hat – minor axis 10. Divergence This is the same order as listed in the sections above under individual results properties (also the same order as displayed in the LBA-USB Results Window).
1. Quantitative There is no test for Peak Location X or Y. The value of both of these flags is always zero. There is no test for Radius so the flag is always zero. 2. Elliptical 3. Gauss Fit – whole beam 4. Gauss Fit – major axis 5. Gauss Fit – minor axis 6. Top Hat – whole beam 7. Top Hat – major axis 8. Top Hat – minor axis 9. Divergence This is the same order as listed in sections 5.3.16 through 5.3.21 above under individual results properties.
Methods 5.3.23 LoadConfig This method causes LBA-USB to load the specified configuration file. This method takes a single parameter that is the file name of the LBA-USB configuration file you wish to be loaded. The file name must contain the full path and file name to the LBA-USB configuration file. You cannot load a configuration while LBA-USB is collecting frames, during Ultracal!, or during Auto Exposure. Be very sure the specified file name is a valid, accessible LBA-USB configuration file.
5.3.25 OpenIndex This method initiates communication between the LBA-USB ActiveX control and LBA-USB. You must call this method, or the Open method, before calling any other method or accessing any of the properties. If you do not call this method, then all the properties will be zero, methods will have no effect, and no events will fire. OpenIndex takes one parameter, which is the index of the application you want to connect to. The AppInfo property can be used to determine which application to connect to.
5.3.28 Ultracal This method is identical to clicking Ultracal! in LBA-USB. This method has no effect if a previous Ultracal! operation is not complete. If LBA-USB is collecting frames of data the Ultracal! cannot start. If there is any other problem, the Ultracal! will not start and LBA-USB will display an error message in the LBA-USB display.
Events All the events can fire each time LBA-USB collects a new frame of data. If you are still processing an event when another frame is collected then the new event is not fired. This is especially true when using LabVIEW. 5.3.30 OnNewFrame This is a generic event fired each time LBA-USB collects a new frame of data. You can read any desired property values while processing this event. During this event you are guaranteed all properties correspond to the same frame of data.
In LabVIEW, the parameter data is part of the Event Data cluster output from the Wait On ActiveX Event VI. Unbundle the Event Data, index the ParamData array, and convert the result using the ‘Variant To Data’ VI. Ultracal.vi contains an example of calling the Ultracal method and responding to the OnOperationComplete event. Example VI’s are packaged in LbausbActiveX.llb, which can be found in the “ActiveX\Examples\LabVIEW” directory under the LBAUSB installation directory. 5.
Windows XP 1. Start DCOMCNFG. From the Start menu select Run…, type dcomcnfg and click OK. 2. Enable DCOM. Click the plus (+) symbol next to Component Services then the plus symbol next to Computers. Right click on My Computer and select Properties. On the Default Properties tab select the Enable Distributed COM on this computer check box. Click OK. 3. Configure the LBA-USB ActiveX server. Click the plus (+) symbol next to My Computer then the plus symbol next to DCOM Config.
Windows XP 1. Copy the LBA-USB ActiveX server. Place a copy of the files LbausbX.exe and LbausbX.tlb on your application computer. These files can be found in the LBAUSB\ActiveX directory of the installation CD or the ActiveX subdirectory under the LBA-USB installation directory on the LBA-USB computer. 2. Register the LBA-USB ActiveX server. From the directory where you copied the files, run LbausbX.exe. The LBA-USB ActiveX server automatically registers itself then stops. 3. Start DCOMCNFG.
5.4.4 Programmatic Remote Access In Visual Basic, you can use the CreateObject function to create an object and specify the remote computer. See the Visual Basic documentation for more information. In LabVIEW, the Automation Open VI contains a Machine Name input terminal where you can specify the remote computer. See the LabVIEW documentation for more information. 5.5 Resolving Problems Start simple. Don’t try to do everything in the first shot.
Index .usb-cfg ........................................... 20 .usb-data ......................................... 18 2D Beam Display .............................. 66 Crosshair ........................................... 66 Cursor Profiles ................................... 66 Grid .................................................. 67 3D Beam Display .............................. 67 Contour............................................. 67 Crosshatch ........................................
Edit Colors........................................ 77 Effective Area ................................. 107 Effective Diameter .......................... 107 Elliptical ........................................... 55 Elliptical Beam ................................ 100 Elliptical Pass/Fail ............................. 80 Energy Calibration Procedure............. 53 Energy of Beam ................................ 52 Equipment Setup .............................. 15 Events ....................................
Beam Image...................................... 29 Results.............................................. 29 Setup ................................................ 30 Toolbar button ................................... 51 Statistics .................................. 58, 110 Stop!................................................ 83 Strip Chart Convolution ....................................... 49 Frame Average .................................. 48 Frame Summing.................................
