The Stage panel provides full control of perClass Mira Stage linear lab scanning device, and other stages.


Buttons

At the top of the panel are the software buttons matching the physical buttons on the perClass Mira Stage along with a combobox to define the action to take when the button is pressed. These actions will be saved between different sessions of perClass Mira and will be saved separately for each stage and separately for belt / waterfall and scan mode.


The following actions can always be set:

  • Cycle: start cycling over the entire stage length, pressing it again, or starting any other stage action, will stop it.
  • Cycle scanning area: start cycling over the scan area defined below, pressing it again, or starting any other stage action, will stop it.
  • Move left: move left for as long as the button has pressed. For the Inno-spec Speccer this will instead be Move down.
  • Move right: move right for as long as the button is pressed. For the Inno-spec Speccer this will instead be Move up.
  • Stop: stop all movement.
  • Move to start: move to the start position (0 mm).
  • Move to end: move to the end position.
  • Move to center: move to the center position.
  • Move to white reference: move to the center of the white reference based on the positions defined below.
  • Move to scan start: move to the scan start position defined below.
  • Move to scan end: move to the scan end position defined below.
  • Increment scan name: increment the currently selection section of the scan name in the recording panel.


In belt and waterfall mode, the following actions can be set as well:

  • Scan and record: scan and record the area set as scan area to a cube with the name currently defined in the recording panel.


In scan mode, the following actions can be set as well:

  • Scan: scan the area set as scan area.
  • Save: save the previously created scan to a cube with the name currently defined in the recording panel.


TIP: These buttons are mapped to the numerical keypad keys -, + and Enter. This makes it easy to invoke button commands without looking at the keyboard or screen. Mnemonics: the mapping is top-to-bottom in the same way as the A, B, C button order in the Stage panel.

Movement control

Buttons

Below the configurable actions, there are buttons for easier movement control, which have the same effect as the actions mentioned before. If there is enough space, then the labels will be shown, otherwise only the icons will be shown.


From left to right, the buttons have the following actions:

Shortcuts

Below these buttons there is a labels showing the movement shortcuts. The most basic shortcut is Alt + Left / Right (or Alt + Up / Down), these will move the stage in that direction for as long as the keys are pressed at the set speed. Extra modifier keys can be pressed to change the speed, these are Shift and Control, which by default change the speed to minimum and maximum respectively.


The speeds can be modified by clicking on the speed in the label, which should show the following dialog:



In case a definition depending on the current speed is provided, then the label will automatically update along with the current speed setting. If an invalid definition is provided, then the default behavior will be used instead.

Scan control

Actions

Below the space that follows the label, there are some controls related to the Scan and record and Scan actions:

  • Record white: whether to record a white reference before the scan, the default behavior is only if there is no reference yet, but explicitly checking it will make perClass Mira take a new white reference every scan.
  • Record dark: whether to record a dark reference before the scan, the default behavior is only if there is no reference yet, but explicitly checking it will make perClass Mira take a new dark reference every scan. Note that this is only possible if the camera has an internal shutter.
  • After scan: the action to perform after taking a scan, the default is Move to start, but any of the actions starting with Move to can be selected. Note that Move to scan end usually means that the stage should stay at the scan end position.

Positions

Below the actions, there are spinboxes and buttons to move to or set positions used for scanning. The button in front of each spinbox is used to move to the position set in the spinbox, the pin button behind each spinbox is used to set the spinbox to the current position of the stage. The Center button between the white start and end is used to move to the center of the white reference, matching the Move to white reference action.

Speed control and status

Below the scan position controls, there is slider used to define the speed of the stage, which can also be done while the stage is moving.


If the stage supports it, then there is the option to switch between Fast and Slow mode, where Fast makes it possible to set the stage speed with 1 mm/s precision, while Slow makes it possible to set the stage speed with 0.1 mm/s precision. In case of the Slow mode, the maximum value of the slider is a tenth of the maximum speed of the stage.



Above the speed slider, on the left side, there is a label showing what value the slider is set to. Next to it there is a checkbox: Limit travel speed, if this checkbox is checked, then the maximum stage speed will be limited to the set speed. This will make sure that instead of moving at the maximum speed before and after the scan, the set speed will be used instead. The limit is also respected when using a movement shortcut with a higher speed.


On the same line, on the right side, the current position, direction, and speed are shown. If the stage supports it, the speed will show the actual measured speed, if the stage does not support it, then it will show the set speed instead and it the label will be gray.


Below the speed slider, on the left side, there is a label showing the current state, this can be: Not connected, Starting, Ready, Moving, or Error. When scanning, the current movement step will be shown next to it, like Moving to scan start or Moving to scan end.


On the same line, on the right side, there is the button to connect or disconnect from the stage. If there is no stage connected yet, then the button will have the label Connect and the combobox next to it will be enabled. In the combobox the stage type to connect to can be selected. After clicking it, the label will change to Disconnect and the stage should start homing.