Scanlab RTC6 PCIe Board - Laser Control; Enabling, Activating and Switching Laser Control Signals

RTC6 boards
Doc. Rev. 1.0.21 en-US
7 Basic Functions for Scan Head Control and Laser Control
184
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7.4 Laser Control
At certain output ports, the RTC6 PCIe Board outputs
signals which can be used for controlling various laser
types (“Laser Control Signals“ LASERON, LASER1,
LASER2). These output ports are at the:
• LASER Connector, see Chapter 4.6.1
”LASER Connector”, page 73
• EXTENSION 2 socket connector, see
Chapter 4.6.3 ”EXTENSION 2 Socket Connector”,
page 80
The laser control mode is set by set_laser_mode:
• The CO
2
Mode (laser mode 0; default after
load_program_file) is designed for controlling a
CO
2
laser.
• The YAG modes (laser mode 1, 2, 3, 5) are
designed for controlling lasers from the
Nd:YAG family (and related).
• Laser Mode 4 and Laser Mode 6 are designed for
controlling free-running lasers.
(1)
All Laser Control Signals are TTL signals. By
set_laser_control, it is set whether they are
active-HIGH or active-LOW, see also Chapter 4.6.1
”LASER Connector”, page 73. Their current setting
can be queried by get_startstop_info (Bit #13).
For the maximum current load values, see Chapter 15
”Technical Specifications – RTC6 PCIe Board”,
page 872.
7.4.1 Enabling, Activating and
Switching
Laser Control Signals
All Laser Control Signals are suppressed:
• After a hardware reset and
• After initialization with load_program_file.
Then, all laser control signal output ports (LASERON,
LASER1 and LASER2) are in high impedance mode.
Before Laser Control Signals can be outputted at all,
their polarity must first be set by set_laser_control.
This cancels the tristate state at the same time (=
“global unblock”). By default, LASERON and
LASER1/LASER2 are set to their respective “Off”
levels.
The tristate state is only set again:
• after a hardware reset (restart)
• a call of load_program_file
Furthermore, real Laser Control Signals must be
enabled:
• either simultaneously by
set_laser_control(Bit #2 = 0) or
• afterwards with the separate command
enable_laser
These can be suppressed again by disable_laser or
pause_list. In both cases, all Laser Control Signals are
set to their respective “Off” levels.
By get_startstop_info (Bit #9, Bit #10, Bit #13,
Bit #14) it can be read out:
• The “global unblock” by set_laser_control
• The polarities of LASERON and LASER1/LASER2
• The enabling of the Signals for “Laser Active”
Operation by enable_laser
General notes on the Laser Control Signals can be
found in Section ”Signals for “Laser Active”
Operation”, page 186 and Section ”Signals for
“Laser Standby” Operation”, page 186. Mode-
specific details depend on the set laser mode, see
Chapter 7.4.3 ”CO
2
Mode”, page 188 to
Chapter 7.4.8 ”Pulse Picking Laser Mode”, page 196.
The assignment of the Laser Control Signals to the
respective output pins at the LASER Connector can be
configured, see Chapter 7.4.2 ”Configuring the
LASER Connector”, page 187.
(1) For synchronization to externally controlled
free-running lasers, see Chapter 7.4.10
”Synchronization of the RTC6 Clock Cycle and an
External Clock Signal”, page 207.