Construction of the Full-Scale Tagger Microscope
Preparations for Construction of the Full-Scale Tagger Microscope
Current Work
- Determine an ideal process to assemble components of the fiber splicing unit.
- Optimize and document a reliable, repeatable process for fusing 2mm x 2mm square optical fibers using a fiber splicing unit.
- Work with James McIntyre to develop polishing, gluing, painting, and quality assurance procedures for optical fibers.
- Develop/refine a LabView program that controls a water heater and water pump based on water temperature.
A List of Specifications/Manuals for Items in Lab 405
Net Booter Quick Start Pamphlet
Ultra Black Silicone Adhesive (gasket maker)
Pictures
From Summer 2012:
Preparing for construction.
Just before the shelving was erected.
Construction of the tank to be used in fiber bending.
Testing the strength of the tank.
testing...
Here it is easy to see the bowing from water pressure.
Tank with wooden supports.
Tank with support and insulation. Plumbing and hot water testing are the next goals.
LabView Program
During the summer of 2012, Ben Willis wrote a LabView program that would communicate with a NetBooter and ultimately control a heater and water pump. LabView also plots the temperature of water being heated, and plots the changing temperatures on a graph on the front panel. Before Ben left, he wrote a final report of his work on the program and in the lab in general. I have added a little to Ben's work, mostly housekeeping; deleting some non functioning commands, adding the equation to represent temperature based on voltage, adding an equation for a thermocouple, and connecting with the DAQ. I also plan to make a differential op-amp to allow the DAQ to read the inputs given by the thermocouple. In this way, we will be able to use a thermistor and two thermocouples to control the water temperature in both the straightening pipe and the bending tank.
The front panel of the LabView program.
Part 1 of the block diagram: The majority of this part of the program is to read the output given by the DAQ, translate it to a temperature, and plot the results.
Part 2 of the block diagram: The main purpose of this part of the program is to determine if the temperature read from part 1 is what was specified in the front panel, and to turn the water pump and heater on or off as appropriate.
A view of the LabView front panel that Ben and I created. The voltage and temperature are actual readings/calculations that have been made.
A view of the lab that inspired the thermistor idea. The numbers are a close comparison of the measured data in the previous picture.
Completed Work
- Clean and organize room P405.
- Hot water tank constructed - still awaiting testing
- Splicing unit collars redesigned
- A program was written to automatically control a heater/pump based on the temperature of the water.