Software/Zaber Console/Sensor Logger Tab

The Sensor Logger tab

The Sensor Logger tab in Zaber Console assists with automating simple move-and-measure experiments when using supported sensors. A Zaber device is moved in defined increments until a certain threshold of the sensor is read. The sensor readings and position are recorded at each movement increment. Please note this tab will no longer be receiving any feature updates; the recommended solution is now to write your own program outside of Zaber Console using the Zaber Motion Library and whatever library is provided by your sensor manufacturer.

Supported Sensors

The following sensors are supported:

Manufacturer	Model	Instrument Type
Loadstar	DI-1000	Force Sensor
Loadstar	DI-100	Force Sensor
Loadstar	iLoad	Force Sensor
Loadstar	DQ-1000U	Force Sensor

Setup

Press the + symbol in the Tab Dock and select Sensor Logger to view this tab If the Sensor Logger tab is not already displayed in the Tab dock, click on the + symbol (shown to the right) to add it. Make sure that the the measurement instrument is compatible and connected, and that the serial port it uses is not currently opened by any other applications.

Movement

Sensor Logger movement controls Select the Zaber stage you are using in your experiment in the device list section at the top of the Zaber Console window. Use the controls in the "Stage Movement" section of the Sensor Logger tab to set up the motion plan for your experiment. You can specify a start position, stop position, and movement increment in whatever units are applicable to the stage you have selected. When you run the experiment, the device will first move to the start position, and then it will move by the specified increments, stopping after each move to record the sensor reading, until either it reaches the end position or the experiment is aborted. The stage will remain at its final position when the experiment ends. The rightmost control in this section allows you to set a settling time for the end of each move. Enter a number of seconds here. The tab will wait this amount of time between reaching the end of an incremental move and recording the sensor reading. This is useful if your experimental setup is not rigid and needs time to either catch up or stop vibrating following a move. Note that these incremental movements are made using the stage's default speed. If your experiment is velocity sensitive you should go to the Settings tab and tweak the device's maximum speed setting before running your experiment.

Automatic Stop

Sensor Logger automatic stop controls An option is to have the Sensor Logger automatically halt your experiment when the sensor reading crosses a threshold. This is useful to avoid damage to your experimental setup. To use this feature, check the "Automatically stop" box in the "Stage Movement" section, and set up the threshold and comparison type. You can elect to end the experiment when the sensor reading either climbs above or falls below a number that you enter. To do so, change the setting in the drop-down next to the number box. You can also optionally halt all stages instead of just the selected one, and you can optionally use the emergency stop command instead of the normal stop command. We recommend using the normal stop command unless there is a strong reason to use the emergency stop. When the experiment is halted by the threshold trigger, the stage will remain at the position where the sensor reading crossed the threshold, and if you are logging the data, this position and reading will be the final entry in the output file. The experiment will also end automatically if your stage rejects a command; for example, if it tries to move past either end of its travel.

Sensor Connection

Sensor Logger connection controls This is where you establish the connection with your data sensor. Select a serial port and baud rate, and then press the "Connect" button to attempt to detect your sensor. There is an auto-detect option in the baud rate drop-down list, which will attempt to determine what baud rate the sensor is using. When the sensor is successfully detected, its name will appear next to the "Connect" button; you will be able to use the "Tare" button to zero the sensor. Live data from the sensor will then appear in the Sensor Data section of the tab.

Recording Data

Sensor Logger logging controls Sensor Logger example output To have your experimental data recorded to a file, check the "Save results" box in the "Data Logs" section of the tab. Click the "Browse" button to select a folder to save the files to. You can also enter a name in the "Base File Name" box that will be used as the first part of the name of the file created. The date and time of the experiment will be appended to this to complete the file name. With "Save results" enabled, at the end of each experiment, the log of sensor reading versus stage position will be recorded to a new output file in the CSV (Command-Separated Value) format. Once you have created a file, you can click the "Open Last Results" button to launch that file in whatever program you have associated with .csv files in Windows. An example is shown to the right.

Running Experiments

Once you have everything ready, press the "Start Experiment" button in the bottom left section of the tab. The selected stage will move to the start position and begin the experiment. Press the "Abort Experiment" button if you want to end the experiment early; otherwise, it will end automatically.