BNL, Upton, New York, USA
PDF beamline is a new addition to Diffraction and In Situ Scattering program. Its state-of-the-art end-station gantry system has two detector stages and one sample environment with 3 m travel rated for 200 kg each. Detectors and environment stages move with 300 mm/s. Linear Brushless DC motors are controlled by Geo Brick LV Delta Tau motor-controller. Stages are equipped with absolute encoders and proximity sensors to avoid collisions. Control system slows the stages down when proximity switches are activated and moves 300 mm/s otherwise. A complex controls and safety system with many custom features is required to provide the full functionality of the gantry system and to protect equipment and users. An optics condition module located upstream of the gantry system contain beam defining slits, a fast shutter that is synchronized with detector frame rate, an alignment LASER, and an X-ray Energy Calibration System. The controls system of the OCM supports automatic operation of the ECS followed by unexpected beam dumps to recalibrate the X-ray wavelength. This contribution will discuss the details of the control system design, implementation, challenges, and first user experience.
