Dectris Eiger IOC

This repository provides a simple caproto-based IOC (Input/Output Controller) used for setting, triggering, and collecting data to files from Dectris Eiger detectors. This controller is designed to be flexible and customizable for use in different operational settings. For the moment, only internally triggered series capture is supported. It has been tested on a Dectris Eiger R 1M

Project Structure

• config.py: Handles command-line argument parsing and configuration setup.
• dectris_eiger_ioc.py: Contains the main DEigerIOC class which manages interaction with the Dectris Eiger detectors, defining process variables (PVs) and performing key operations. Also acts as the entry point of the application, initiating the IOC and starting the server.
• custom_operations.py: Defines CustomPostExposureOperation classes used for location-specific or custom operations to be performed after data collection.
• validators.py: Includes utility functions to validate inputs such as IP addresses, port numbers, and directory paths.
• deigerclient.py: Provides a client interface to interact with the EIGER API. Provided by Dectris.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 or higher
• Required Python packages (as listed in requirements.txt or installable via an appropriate package manager).

Setup

1. Clone this repository to your local environment:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/dectris_eiger_ioc.git
   cd dectris_eiger_ioc

2. Install necessary dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Running the IOC

To run the IOC, use the following command-line options:

python main.py --host <IP_ADDRESS> --port <PORT_NUMBER> --localPath <PATH>

• --host: The IP address of the Dectris Eiger detector.
• --port: The port number for communication with the detector. 80 by default.
• --localPath: The directory path where files will be (retrieved and) stored locally after data collection.

To start a capture, you can use the following (granular) steps:

1. Restart the detector, changes DetectorState to 'na' or 'unknown', and resets internal exposure ID counter. Should only have to be done infrequently.

caproto-put <prefix:>Restart True 
captoro-get <prefix:>Restart_RBV

RBV value will return to False/Off when restart is complete.

2. Iniitalize the detector, should change DetectorState to 'idle'

caproto-put <prefix:>Initialize True
captoro-get <prefix:>Initialize_RBV

RBV value will return to False/Off when initialization is complete, might take a few seconds.

3. Change detector and timing parameters as required

caproto-put <prefix:>CountTime 3.1234
caproto-put <prefix:>FrameTime 1
caproto-put <prefix:>PhotonEnergy 8050
caproto-put <prefix:>ThresholdEnergy 4025
...

4. Configure the detector parameters, applies all the settings to the detector and filewriter settings. This should be done after every parameter change

caproto-put <prefix:>Configure True
captoro-get <prefix:>Configure_RBV

RBV value will return to False/Off when configuration is complete, might take a few seconds.

5. Trigger an exposure. After exposure is complete, this will retrieve the files into the location you specified.

caproto-put <prefix:>Trigger True
captoro-get <prefix:>Trigger_RBV

RBV value will return to False/Off when exposure and file retrieval is complete.

You can trigger as many exposures by repeating the last command as needed, as long as the exposure parameters are not changed. The first exposure will take some time as the detector needs to do some housekeeping before (detectorstate "configuring"), but the subsequent exposures will be quicker.

Custom Operations

To implement custom operation logic, extend the CustomPostExposureOperation in operations.py and pass it to the DEigerIOC when initializing.

from custom_operations import CustomPostExposureOperation
from ioc import DEigerIOC

# Example of initializing the IOC with a custom operation
custom_operation = CustomPostExposureOperation()
ioc = DEigerIOC(custom_post_exposure_operation=custom_operation)

Available PVs

The following PVs are available:

Detector state readouts

• DetectorState : State of the detector, can be 'idle', 'configuring', 'initializing', 'na', 'error' or 'unknown'
• DetectorTemperature : Temperature of the detector board (there are many more temperature readouts available in the metadata)
• DetectorTime : Timestamp on the detector
• CountTime_RBV : Gets the actual total exposure time the detector (not working yet)
• FrameTime_RBV : Gets the actual frame time from the detector

settables for the detector

• ThresholdEnergy : Sets the energy threshold for the detector, normally 0.5 * PhotonEnergy
• PhotonEnergy : Sets the photon energy for the detector
• FrameTime : Sets the frame time for the detector. nominally should be <= CountTime
• CountTime : Sets the total exposure time
• CountRateCorrection : do you want count rate correction applied by the detector (using int maths)", record='bi')
• FlatFieldCorrection : do you want flat field correction applied by the detector (using int maths)", record='bi')
• PixelMaskCorrection : do you want pixel mask correction applied by the detector

operating the detector

• Restart : Restart the detector, resets to False immediately
• Restart_RBV : True while detector is restarting
• Initialize : Initialize the detector, resets to False immediately
• Initialize_RBV : True while detector is initializing
• Configure : Configures the detector, resets to False immediately
• Configure_RBV : True while detector is Configuring
• Trigger : Trigger the detector to take an image, resets to False immediately. Adjusts detector_state to 'busy' for the duration of the measurement.
• Trigger_RBV : True while the detector capture subroutine in the IOC is busy
• OutputFilePrefix : Set the prefix of the main and data output files
• LatestFile : Shows the name of the latest output file retrieved
• LatestFileData : Shows the name of the latest output data file retrieved
• LatestFileMain : Shows the name of the latest output main file retrieved
• SecondsRemaining : Shows the seconds remaining for the current exposure

Contributing

Contributions to this project are welcome. Please fork the repository and submit pull requests with any improvements or bug fixes.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.