Micro Measurement Display 1 (µMD1)

For Heterodyne Interferometers using Two Frequency Lasers

Installation and Operation Manual

Version 2.90b (9-Dec-24)

Copyright © 1994-2022
Sam Goldwasser and Jan Beck
--- All Rights Reserved ---

For contact info, please see the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Email Links Page.

Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
  1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning.
  2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.

Table of Contents

Preface

Author and Copyright

Author: Samuel M. Goldwasser

For contact info, please see the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Email Links Page.

Copyright © 1994-2022
All Rights Reserved

Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied:

1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning.
2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.

DISCLAIMER

µMD1 is intended for use in hobbyist, experimental, research, and other applications where a bug in the hardware, firmware, or software, will not have a significant impact on the future of the Universe or anything else. While every effort has been made to avoid this possibility, µMD1 is an on-going development effort. We will not be responsible for any consequences of such bugs including but not limited to damage to the wafer FAB you picked up on eBay for $1.98 + shipping, financial loss from the use of 37 spools of ABS due to the office 3-D printer fabricating a part 25.4x too large in all dimensions, or bruising to your pet's ego from any number of causes directly or indirectly related to µMD1. ;-)

Acknowledgment

Thanks to Jan Beck for selecting the chipKIT DP32 and writing and testing initial versions of the firmware and GUI. And for getting me interested in actually getting involved in this project. If anyone had told me six months ago that I'd be writing code in C, MIPS assembly language, and Visual Basic - and enjoying it (sort of) - I would have suggested they were certifiably nuts. ;-) Jan maintains the master GUI source code as well as slightly different versions of the firmware and a development blog on the overall project. And a version of the firmware providing basic readout of displacement on any Bluetooth wireless device with a terminal APP, or with a bit more polished presentation (though not the complete GUI) on Android devices, may be found on Jan's Web site. See that and more under "References".

Introduction

IMPORTANT: To focus on SG-µMD2, I am no longer providing complete kits of parts for µMD1. The simplest option going forward if you really want µMD1 is to order most of the parts directly from ey, and the programmed PIC32 chip and SG-µMD1 PCB from me here or on eBay. They are both the same price: $50. Going direct to DigiKey for most of the parts enables you to customize the parts order and will actually be less expensive overall than when buying everything from me as in the past. And everything will come in nice labeled baggies. ;-) To make this as painless as possible, the SG-µMD1 V1.2 Digikey CART 5-Jun-2022 has most of the parts for a 3-axis system. The cost of the DigiKey parts is under $50 including shipping in the USA. However, due to end-of-life on stocking of the through-hole RS422 receiver, it (Digikey part #296-15057-5-ND) gets removed. If the programmed PIC is ordered from me, two (2) UA9637s or UA9639s will be included. The PIC32 can be deleted from the CART unless you want a spare (but it will not even have the bootloader installed). Also, this CART includes both through-hole and SMT USB connectors, so one of those can be deleted also. And parts like LEDs can be ordered on eBay for about 1/25th of the cost from Digikey! THIS CART HAS NOT BEEN FULLY ORDERED - ERRORS ARE POSSIBLE!

You can also order the DigiKey CART parts directly and build the thing on an electronics breadboard. But as noted, the Digikey CART includes the UNPROGRAMMED PIC32 WITHOUT EVEN THE BOOTLOADER. A PIC programmer is required to install the bootloader, which can be done via the Programming Header on the SG-µMD1 PCB. I use a Microchip PICkit 3, which can be found on eBay for under $25. But several others would work. If I provide the PIC32, it will have the bootloader and the latest µMD1 firmware.

However, switching over to SG-µMD2 is the preferred option. SG-µMD2 supports both heterodyne and homodyne interferometers with higher performance for both. And SG-µMD2 is much easier to assemble. Really. ;-) The only current downside is that SG-µMD2 does not have firmware interpolation. The resolution for heterodyne is only 80 nm with a Plane Mirror Interferometer (versus ~158 with µMD1 with interpolation disabled) for rapid changes in displacement. For slowly varying displacement, averaging in the GUI can be used to increase the effective resolution.

Note: Links to Web pages external to this document will open in a single separate tab or window depending on your browser's settings.

µMD1 is an inexpensive system for precision readout of displacement (change in position), angle, straightness, and more in metrology applications. It is designed and optimized for two-frequency HeNe laser (heterodyne) interferometry, but also provides limited support for single frequency (homodyne) interferometry, as well as other measurement applications using optical or mechanical encoders with Quad-A/B or up/down pulsed signals.

For a system optimized for these applications, with no practical upper limit on slew rate and the same GUI as µMD1, see Micro Measurement Display 2 (µMD2). µMD2 also has basic support for heterodyne interferometers with a higher REF/split frequency limit but currently no interpolation. Unless your application involves high-REF lasers like the Zygo 7701/2, µMD1 is still recommended for heterodyne.

While targeted for experimenters, hobbyists, and researchers, there is no reason why µMD1 can't also be of value in science and industry. The hardware platform is a readily available inexpensive microcontroller development board which communicates via USB to a Windows PC, laptop, netbook, or tablet as shown below.

Typical Heterodyne Interferometer Setup using µMD1

Note that µMD1 refers specifically to the combination of the PIC32-based hardware and firmware. It's possible there could be µMD2, µMD3, .... µMDn - or µMD0 - in the future using the same GUI. :) Oh, guess what? There is µMD2. ;-)

This document provides installation and operating instructions for the µMD1 hardware, firmware, and software.

SG-µMD1 provides most of the features of the standard Digilant chipKIT DP32 board that was previously used for µMD1, but optimized for µMD1. It uses the same PIC32 microprocessor and runs the same firmware and GUI and is supported by the same software IDEs, and is the same size. The PCB layout includes the line receivers and associated components for up to 3 measurement channels, eliminating hand wiring. Once assembled, the boards are totally interchangeable for µMD1.

Complete SG-µMD1 kits as well as just the PCB and PIC may be purchased through eBay or direct from me via email.

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with two-frequency interferometry in general as well as HP/Agilent/Keysight lasers and interferometer optics. If not, back up and start with Sam's Laser FAQ: Interferometers Using Two-Frequency Lasers and Hewlett-Packard/Agilent/Keysight Stabilized HeNe Lasers.

Mote: Throughout this document, "µMD1 board" or simply "board" refers to the chipKIT DP32 or the SG-µMD1 replacement where there is no need to distinguish between them.

Specifications

Specifications are subject to change without notice. :-)

Computer and Operating System Requirements

Everything that follows assumes the use of Windows. If you're really smart and run Linux instead, sorry. ;-) (However, the GUI may run on Linux under something called "wine" so there may be hope.) MPIDE, UECIDE, and the µMD1 GUI are known to work under Win XP, Vista, 7, and 10, and should be fine on Win 8 as well. Microsoft Net Framework 4.0 or higher is required to run µMD1. Net 4.0 or a more recent version is probably on your computer already but is available free from the Microsoft Web site.

Differences between the chipKIT DP32 and SG-µMD1

As noted above, both versions are identical with respect to µMD1 functionality including the firmware and GUI. The locations of most major components are similar and the board size and mounting holes should be identical or very close. The following are the notable differences:

Finally, except as noted above, most features of the chipKIT DP32 have been retained. So SG-µMD1 can be used as a chipKIT DP32 replacement for other purposes if a "prototyping shield" was created that plugged into the Ardiuno headers.

Assembly using the chipKIT DP32 Board

If you dug up a dusty chipKit DP32 in the back of one of your electronics junk drawers (or I unloaded the last one I have on you), go to the Assembly Instructions for the µMD1 using the Digilent chipKit DP32. Otherwise, continue on to the next section.

Assembly using the SG-µMD1 Board

The SG-µMD1 Boards are now available and have replaced the chipKit boards. They will be supplied unpopulated with a kit of parts for up to a 3 channel µMD1 system with the PIC32 preprogrammed with the boot loader and µMD1 firmware. Although assembling them from a pile of parts may appear to be more work than using the chipKit board, no hand-wiring or decisions on parts placement will be required. So it is actually simpler in some ways as parts need only to be inserted and soldered. All parts are through-hole so it should be quite straightforward with a total time from start to finish of under 2 hours for anyone reasonably proficient in fine soldering.

The first SG-µMD1 PCBs to be available were Version 1.0. No more of those are being shipped. But if you purchased an SG-µMD1 kit awhile ago, it may have a V1.0 PCB. Version 1.2 will be in all future kits. They differ primarily in the LEDs and are equally good at doing their µMD1 thing. ;-) V1.2 has all the chipKit LEDs as well as one additional one so that REF and MEAS1-3 are illuminated. ;-) However, parts numbering has also changed slightly between V1.0 and V1.2 and thus it's essential to use the correct assembly manual. The version is labeled on the PCB silkscreen and bottom copper layers. Please refer to SG-µMD1-V1.2 Assembly Manual. There are links to the the SG-uMD1-V1.0 assembly manual and the MPLAB version (which is bare-bones for programming PIC32s directly or restoring the bootloader) under "References". More details are available in the V1.2 assembly manual.

The interferometer cable locations are unchanged so either layout can be referenced for wiring those.

Wiring the Cables

The specific wiring for REF and MEAS will depend on the setup. If using HP/Agilent/Keysight lasers:

On the chipKit or SG-µMD1 PCB, the pin assignments on the connectors are: 

  Pin    Function
 ------------------
   1      Signal
   2      GND / RET
   3      GND / RET
   4      ~Signal

Where "Signal" is REF, MEAS1, MEAS2, or MEAS3. And if Signal and ~Signal are swapped, it makes no difference.

It's usually not necessary to run the REF and MEAS Return (RET) signals to the board even if there is no common ground connection between the board, and laser and interferometer optical receiver(s). As long as there are terminating resistors, they will provide the ground reference. In fact, under some conditions where everything is tied together with a common ground, the RET connections could add noise due to a ground loop. The line receivers only care about the difference between the REF and ~REF or MEAS and ~MEAS voltage levels as long as the absolute voltage levels are within their common mode and absolute voltage specifications. For cables of a few feet or less, it's almost certain that no connections are required for the Returns. But for long runs, shielded cable or twisted pairs may be desirable. This won't apply to most hobbyist/experimenter applications. :) There has to be a common Ground somewhere though, usually via the power supply.

Refer to the various connection diagrams in Hewlett Packard/Agilent/Keysight Stabilied HeNe Lasers.

Arduino Pin Assignments

Pins on the chipKIT and SG-µMD1 board are labeled on the silkscreen but there are at least two different revisions for the chipKit and the numbering isn't the same! The table below should agree with the SG-µMD1: 

   Pin   Arduino Labeling   Signal Labeling   Signal Name
 ------------------------------------------------------------
  J3-1           9               RA0             RPA0
  J3-2          10               RA1             RPA1
  J3-3          11               RB0             RPB0
  J3-4          12               PGC (RB1)       RPGC (RPB1)
  J3-5          13               RB2             RPB2
  J3-6          14               RB3             RPB3
  J3-7          15               RA2             RPA2
  J3-8          16               RA3             RPA3
  J3-9          17               RB4             RPB4
  J3-10         18               RA4             RPA4
  J3-11         3.3V             3.3V            3.3V
  J3-12       VIN (5V)         VIN (5V)        VIN (5V)
  J3-13         GND              GND             GND

  J4-1           0*              RB5             RPB5
  J4-2           1*              RB7             RPB7
  J4-3           2*              RB8             RPB8
  J4-4           3*              RB9             RPB9
  J4-5           4               RB10            RPB10
  J4-6           5               RB11            RPB11
  J4-7           6               RB13            RPB13
  J4-8           7               RB14            RPB14
  J4-9           8               RB15            RPB15
  J4-10          -                -                -
  J4-11         3.3V             3.3V            3.3V
  J4-12       VIN (5V)         VIN (5V)        VIN (5V)
  J4-13         GND              GND             GND

* 5 V tolerant.

The numbers refer to standard Arduino signal "pin" designations while the RPBs refer to DP32 PORT A or B bits. The photo of the chipKIT board, below, has the Arduino designations. This is revision C and is what Digkey has been shipping. It also has the power LED, so perhaps that's an addition. :) The relevant board wiring is the same for the two versions, it's just the silkscreens that differ. But there are apparently older versions that may not be the same.

Note 1: The jumpers on JP7 are NOT in the correct position for our needs in the photo below.

Note 2: VIN MUST be +5 VDC to use the chipKit DP32 with µMD1 parts.

The chipKit and SG-µMD1 pin locations are similar:

   

Arduino Pin Labeling of Original chipKIT DP32 PCB (Left) and Three-Channel SG-µMD1 PCB (Right)

CAUTION: Most PIC pins are NOT 5V tolerant - they will be unhappy if a 5 V signal is connected to them directly. Thus VIN (5V) or any signal that may go higher than 3.3V should NEVER be connected to them, even for an instant. Bad things may happen. 3.3V is acceptable through a current limiting resistor (just to be doubly safe, for the micro that is). Hooking raw power to what may be a logic output (accidentally or otherwise) is never a good thing! P.S. "Unhappy" and "Bad things may happen" could mean that you'll ruin the PIC chip.

The µMD1 Firmware

Latest Versions of the Firmware

(These files are also available at GitHub: Micro Measurement Display 1: uMD1.)

The (non-Alpha) versions of the firmware are absolutely guaranteed to be new and improved in terms of features, capabilities, and performance. This probably means there will be some new and improved bugs as well. The Alpha versions are even more likely to have some juicy bugs. Please contact us via the link at the top of this page should any dare to appear (or for any other legitimate reason). ;-)

Firmware Hardware Assignments and Communications Format

Here are the PIC32 Timer designations, select bits, bus addresses, and pin assignments for the interferometer input signals and LEDs: 

   Input   Counter   TxCKR    Bus Address    Pin    Signal   Notes
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
    REF    Timer3    0b0001   0xbf800A10    0/RB5    RPB5
   MEAS1   Timer5    0b0010   0xbf800E10   11/RB0    RPB0    LED4
   MEAS2   Timer4    0b0100   0xbf800C10   13/RB2    RPB2    LED2
   MEAS3   Timer2    0b0001   0xbf080810   14/RB3    RPB3    LED1
    --       --        --        ----      12/RB1    RPB1    LED3

LED3 is the heartbeat/status indicator depending on firmware version. Other signals that are currently used are RPB7 (AM2302), and RPB8 and RPB9 (I2C bus for BMP180 and SHT20).

Most of these details are really only relevant if there is a desire to modify the firmware, which is not advised since no support will be provided if even 1 character in a comment field is changed without prior approval from µMD1 Central. :) This approval process normally requires a minimum of 3 years, 7 months, 24 days, 11 hours, 35 minutes, and 22 seconds, but often takes a lot longer. :-) For wiring using the firmware provided, only the pin assignments matter.

Depending on how the line receivers decide to behave in combination with the laser or optical receiver when there is no signal, the LEDs may provide an indication of MEAS signal status, though they do not appear to respond to MHz frequencies. The reason the LEDs on the chipKIT board are on the clock inputs at all is that there are only a very limited of pin/Timer combinations that are available and using those with the LEDs results in the fewest conflicts. For SG-µMD1, there are seprate (optional) LEDs on the all of the line receiver outputs (which also are probably not useful and don't need to be installed).

Note that if updating firmware, the GUI may also need to be updated and vice-versa.

Here is the communications format between the firmware and GUI. This information is of little relevance if using the GUI, but will be useful if writing your own application software or for data analysis. Each of the values is sent as an ASCII string representing a signed (if needed) decimal number separated by spaces at the sampling rate. The firmware maintains a FIFO buffer so that if the USB data is delayed for some reason, no data should be lost (hopefully):

The same format is used for both homodyne and Heterodyne modes but not all fields will be filled in or relevant for homodyne. 

 Standard (Single Axis) Data (8 values):

   0: REF Frequency Count* = REF frequency/Sample Frequency
   1: MEAS Frequency Count 1* = MEAS 1 frequency/Sample Frequency
   2: Displacement 1 (in 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 wavelength)
   3: Velocity Count 1 = (Displacement 1 - Previous Displacement 1)/Sample Frequency
   4: Phase 1 = Signed fractional offset between Displacement increments.  The
      typical range is -128 to +127 (8 bit 2's complement).

      If Phase is not valid, then an error code is sent instead:

        0x200 = no counter 1st REF
        0x400 = no counter 2nd REF
        0x800 = no counter MEAS 1
        0x1000 = no PORTB 1st REF
        0x2000 = no PORTB 2nd REF
        0x4000 = no PORTB MEAS 1

   5: Sequence Number (Unique serial number for each sample)
   6: LowSpeedCode (See below)
   7: LowSpeedData (see below)
 
   The following 8 values will also be sent when Multiple Axis Mode is active:

   8: MEAS Frequency Count 2*
   9: Displacement 2
  10: Velocity Count 2
  11: Phase 2
  12: MEAS Frequency Count 3
  13: Displacement 3
  14: Velocity Count 3
  15: Phase 3

  LowSpeedCode (specifies contents of LowSpeedData):

     0-99: GUI Data/Control:

      0: No Data
      1: Laser Power
      2: Signal Strength
      3: Temperature 1 (XXX.YY, °C, 0 to 70.00)
      4: Temperature 2 (XXX.YY, °C, 0 to 70.00)
      5: Pressure (XXX.YY mBar, 500.00 to 2000.00)
      6: Humidity (XXX.Y percent, 0 to 100.0)

      8: Sample Frequency (XXX.YY Hz)

     10: Firmware Version (XXX.YY)

     20: Homodyne Interferometer (if non-zero)
          Low byte: # homodyne axes
          Next byte: counts/cycle (4 for quadpulse)

     (Not all of these are currently implemented.)

   100-199: Diagnostics

   200-255: Reserved

* The REF and MEAS Counts are the incremental change since the last sample, NOT the total value.

Installing the USB Device Driver

Before µMD1 can be used, a Windows device driver must be installed. The Digilent chipKIT Quick Start Guide recommends MPIDE for the firmware development environment, which includes the device driver. Unfortunately, while its device driver is fine, versions of MPIDE we've seen so far have serious bugs in the libraries and C compiler, and it is thus NOT recommended for anything. :( :) The MPIDE references at the end of the manual are for, uh, reference only.

Installation of the device driver, which should be performed before the board is plugged in, can be done in several ways without using MPIDE. (1) is the simplest:

  1. Download and run the chipKITDriverInstaller_v10.exe file from chipKIT.net New Signed USB Drivers. chipKITDriverInstaller_v10.exe is a self extracting executable, which will extract the actual driver files and an installer application (USBDriverInstaller.exe) into the same directory as itself, and then launch the installer application.

  2. chipKITDriverInstaller_v10.zip can be downloaded from the same Web site, unzipped, and run manually if you feel more comfortable doing it that way.

  3. Search for, download, and save Stk500v2.inf, which is really the only file that Windows needs. You can point Windows to that inf file if you want to manually install the drivers at any time. Stk500v2.inf is available from several Web sites.

Once the driver has been successfully installed, plug the board into any available USB port. The red power LED (if present) should come on. (Not all versions of the chipKIT DP32 have one; apparently someone decided to save 1/10th of a cent on an earlier or later revision!) If I (Sam) sent you the chipKIT DP32 board, it will have been loaded with a version of the µMD1 firmware and at least one of the green LEDs will be lit. But by the time you've received it, the firmware will probably be out of date, so reloading will be required in any case. :) For SG-µMD1, the power LED at the very least should be on.

Windows should recognize the board and ask to install a driver. Point it to the location of Stk500v2.inf.

Once the driver is successfully installed, the board should come up as a serial port. Go to the Windows Device Manager to locate and select it.

Loading UECIDE

(If you purchased the from me directly, or via eBay, the latest released version of the firmware has been preloaded, so the following step should not be necessary unless a later release is available or you would like to hack the firmware - which is not really recommended.)

UECIDE will work with all versions of the firmware. But the only version of UECIDE I've had success compiling firmware without errors is Version 0.8.8alpha17 though I assume that more recent versions like 0.8.8alpha22 will also be satisfactory. All versions as far back as 0.8.8alpha22 and beyond are available at UECIDE on GITHUB. However not, apparently uecide-0.8.8alpha17. :( But never fear, I have archived it and will provide a link upon request, but it's not clear whether it will install correctly now (see below). So I can also provide a µMD1-ready preconfigured version via Dropbox. This is a 391 MB ZIP archive which includes installation instructions in a short README file (most which is also below). Contact me via email if interested.

Other more recent versions probably work, they just hate me. :( :) And I'm not going to check: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". ;-) I do know that the latest as of Winter 2019, uecided-0.10.5, runs but will not compile µMD1 due to changes in the compliler and #include files.

41J Blog µMD1 Build Notes has instructions for using uecide-0.8.8alpha22 (linux, but that shouldn't matter). I could not get this to work in 2019 under Windows though. In fact, there may be problems getting any of the older versions to install now. Even my working uecide-0.8.8alpha17 does not display properly in "Plugins Manager" anymore. so it cannot be configured from scratch or have anything added. However, these older versions may work properly if only the executable is replaced.

The UECIDE files should be unzipped to any convenient location on your computer. That folder can be moved wherever desired without any side effects. The executable is UECIDE.exe - add a shortcut on the Desktop. UECIDE requires around 160 MB where the excutable is located, and another 600+ MB for support files typically at C:\users\YourUserID\AppData\Local\UECIDE. The location of the data can be changed in File->Preferences or by editing the text file "preferences.txt" in this directory. If doing this after having configured UECIDE, copy all the files to the desired destination FIRST, then change the data directory in File->Preferences and exit UECIDE exit first and edit "preferences.txt". DO NOT delete the original UECIDE directory or the preferences file! :) Otherwise, the configuration information will all be lost. But once the data directory has been moved, everything else in the original UECIDE directory can be deleted. The required directory trees and typical disk space requirements are:

(The following has been amended thanks to James Rodriguez de Castro.)

  1. Copy or move "Program-UECIDE-0.8.8alpha17" to any convenient location and rename it if desired. This includes the UECIDE executble and would typically be under "Program Files (x86)". Put a shortcut to UECIDE.exe on the Desktop. If you are planning on using other versions of UECIDE on the same computer, you may want to give the shortcut a distinctive name like "UECIDEalpha".

  2. Copy or move "Sketchbook-UECIDE" to your Documents folder and rename it to UECIDE. This is where the "sketches" (firmware source files) will be located and includes some of the versions of uMD1 linked from the manual, as well as some sensor libraries.

  3. Copy or move "User-AppData-Local-UECIDE" to your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local folder and rename it to UECIDE. (Adjust the C:\ to a different drive letter if appropriate for your system, and replace USERNAME with your username in the system). This folder contains the preferences.txt file telling the system where everything is, and it also contains all the board data and included standard libraries, header files, and many other things needed for compilation. It is LARGE. It needs to be in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\ - DO NOT CHANGE THIS LOCATION other than drive letter if needed except as noted below.

  4. Modify the "preferences.txt" file in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\UECIDE so that the Data and Sketch links are correct. Some examples are shown (modify according to your installation):

    If you would like to minimize the space on the drive with "AppData\Local", the "location.data" entry in preferences.txt can be changed to point somewhere else. The data must then be moved there BEFORE STARTING UECIDE.

  5. That's it - hopefully. :) When UECIDE is then run, it should already have the board, compiler, and libraries set up. Run UECIDE alpha using the shortcut on the desktop (UECIDEaplha or whatever you called it in step (1). When it runs, follow the procedure below to use the Plugin Manager to install support for the Chipkit dp32 family. It should already be in place but sometimes it is necessary to run Plugin Manager once to make sure the system picks it up.

  6. To test that all is working, open one of the recent sketches in UECIDE (e.g. 57.01), go to Hardware, set the Board to ChipKIt DP32, and hit "compile" (the button with 3 gears). It should compile OK without errors.

  7. Shut down UECIDE alpha.

NEWER VERSIONS OF UECIDE???

The vast majority of users should be OK with the above. However, if you are feeling adventurous, we have found an experimetal procedure that allows the firmare files to compile using newer versions of UECIDE even though the old libraries upon which the firmware is based are not supposed to be supported in recent versions of UECIDE.

We stress that this is experimental and entirely unsupported. We have tested it on a grand total of 2 computers running Windows 10, where we installed UECIDE version 0.11.10, and we have no way of knowing if this will work in earlier or later versions of UECIDE or on different computers or Windows versions, or if it may suddenly stop working after a sharp sideways glance at previously working system. Use at your own risk.

If yo still want to go ahead and install a new vesrion of UECIDE on the same machine, follow the steps below:

  1. Follow all the steps 1-7 above and get a working installation of UECIDE0.8.8alpha17 in your system. Make sure it is working before proceeding further.

  2. Download the latest UECIDE (version 0.11.10 at the time this was written) full installation executable package from the UECIDE website and install it using the defaults. The main program file will likely end up in C:\Program Files (x86)\Majenko Technologies\UECIDE, but the libraries, etc. will be installed into C:\Users\$USER\AppData\Local\UECIDE, same as where the alpha version installed its libraries. Don’t worry. They will both still work.

  3. Run the "new" UECIDE from the shortcut it created on the desktop (probably called UECIDE). When it runs, follow the procedure below to use the Plugin Manager to also install support for the Chipkit dp32 family. It should already be in place from teh alpha installation but sometimes it is necessary to run Plugin Manager once to make sure the system picks it up.

  4. Open one of the recent sketches in UECIDE (e.g. 57.01), go to Hardware, set the Board to ChipKIt DP32, and hit "compile" (the button with 3 gears). It should compile OK without errors, but ONLY if you had the alpha version correctly installed and compiling as per steps 1-7 above. If you try without doing this first, compilation will abort with many errors relating to missing files.

  5. In summary, with one preferences.txt file, both alpha and latest UECIDE should now produce error free compilations of the same source code. This is a bit of a kludge, and we hypothesize that this accidental discovery (it really was accidental!) appears to work because the installation of the "new" UECIDE over an old "alpha-UECIDE" seems to keep in place the old "alpha" stuff in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\UECIDE, merely overwriting any new files of the same name over the old ones, and also adds any missing "new" files. But it does not seem to delete the deprecated old ones such as some old header files and libraries needed by uMD1 etc. The same preferences.txt file seems to work for both, although after you install "new" UECIDE preferences.txt grows in size because it picks up a bunch of extra lines. However, "alpha UECIDE" doesn’t seem to mind the extra lines and still works. We have no idea if this will continue to be the case with subsequent versions of UECIDE. For example, newer versions of old files may end up being incompatible with the older sketch files. But so far it seems to work.

Here is another way to install a newer version of UECIDE but I suspect this may be risky:

(From: Wim Huyghe.)

(Edited to reflect updated archive. --- Sam.)

This is how I installed a recent version of UECIDE with the above files:

  1. Copy or move "Sketchbook-UECIDE" to your $USER\Documents folder and rename it to UECIDE. Several versions of µMD1 linked from the manual are there, as well as some sensor libraries.

  2. Copy or move "Data-UECIDE" to your "$USER\AppData\Local" folder and rename it to UECIDE. (This will require 600 MB or more.)

  3. Edit the "preferences.txt" file in "$USER\AppData\Local\UECIDE" so the links are correct.

  4. Install latest version from UECIDE from here: https://uecide.org/download.

When UECIDE was then run, it already had the board, compiler, and libraries set up and I could compile all versions of the µMD1

For my own reference: I could not get this to work in a way that permitted the same version of UECIDE to be used for both µMD1 and Arduino. So my fallback was to maintain two instances of the preferences file called preferences.uMD1 and preferences.Arduino, and copy the appropriate one to preferences.txt; then run UECIDE 0.8.8alpha17 for µMD1 and UECIDE 10.6 for everything else. Only the preferences files are in C:\users\sam\AppData\Local\UECIDE. This is a royal kludge but it guarantees that one can't mess up the other. And as they say: "If it works, use it.". ;-)

UECIDE does not actually install in Windows; there are no files stored in the Windows directory and no changes to the Registry. So uninstalling it is simply a matter of deleting the first three directories.

Compared to most applications, UECIDE takes forever to start up even on a fast PC. So be patient. That's the bad news. The good news is that compiling and uploading is about 5 to 10 times faster than with the Arduino IDE. Go figure. :) So putting up with UECIDE's quirks (see below) may be worth it.

The first thing UECIDE will likely do is to tell you that no boards are installed and then open the Plugin Manager. If it does not, do it manually by going to Tools->Plugin Manager. At first the pane along the left will only show the word "Plugins". But after a couple minutes, it should update with a list: Plugins, Libraries, Boards, Cores, Compilers, System. The following are required:

For each of these click on "Install". Installing the chipKIT board will probably automagically install the other chipKIT-related files and may take several minutes. Confirm that each entry has a green check mark next to it.

Close the Plugin Manager and go to "Hardware" and confirm that the proper Board (chipKIT DP32), core (chipKIT), and Compiler (pic32-tools) has been selected. Click on it if not.

Some other quirks of UECIDE that I've found:

Plug the board into any available USB port. The red power LED (if present) should come on. (Not all versions of the chipKIT DP32 have one; apparently someone decided to save 1/10th of a cent on an earlier or later revision!) If I (Sam) sent you the board, it will have been loaded with a version of the µMD1 firmware and at least one of the green LEDs will be lit. But by the time you've received it, the firmware will probably be out of date, so reloading will be required in any case. :)

Assuming the driver has already been installed, go to Hardware->Serial Terminal and select its COM port. Typically, this will be the highest number COM port, or perhaps the only one, since no one uses these for much of anything anymore.

UECIDE should remember the configuration settings automatically upon exiting.

Uploading the µMD1 Firmware

If you purchased the from me directly, or via eBay, the latest released version of the firmware has been preloaded, so the following step should not be necessary unless a later release is available or you would like to hack the firmware - which is not really recommended.

The firmware (via the links, above) is provided as a source file which probably has an extension of ".pde" or ".ino" (though the specific name doesn't matter - it's just a text file). However, the name may NOT contain any dashes "-" due to the peculiar restrictions of Java or something. Make a directory with the name of the firmware (without the extension) and put the firmware file there. For example, if the file is named uMD1_FW_v123.ino, make a directory called uMD1_fw_v123. and put uMD1_FW_v123.ino in it. Note that case matters so the name of the directory and name of the firmware file (without the extension) must match case character-by-character exactly. Thus Interferometer.pde is not the same as interferometer.pde

  1. Plug the board into a USB port. I've occasionally seen problems using a USB port replicator though these generally are acceptable. But if the board doesn't come up, go to a direct USB port.

  2. There are 3 pushbuttons on the board. BTN1 (next to the PIC and JP6) is RESET while BTN2 is PROGRAM. (BTN3 is called USER and is unassigned.) Press RESET and hold it while also pressing PROGRAM. Release RESET and then release PROGRAM. LED1 should be flashing rapidly indicating that the board is salivating in anticipation of having new and improved firmware uploaded to it. :)

  3. Use Ctrl-O to open the firmware file. Select the directory. The source code should appear in the same window unless a file is already open, in which case a new window will appear. (If UECIDE thinks it's a firmware directory, it won't even allow you enter it to select the file but will immediately open the file. If the name of the directory and file don't match - including case - it will produce an error like "file not found".

  4. Use Ctrl-U to compile and upload the firmware to the board. This typically takes only a few seconds with UECIDE and will display each step along the way. When it starts uploading the firmware, the LEDs on the board will flash in several different patterns in anticipation of getting new and improved instructions to munch on, finally ending with 8 rapid flashes. ;-) The board will be automatically reset and start running the firmware. During this time, confirmation messages similar to the following will appear: 

       Compiling...
     * Compiling sketch...
     * Compiling core...
       > api
     * Compiling libraries...
     * Linking sketch...
   Compiling done.
   Memory usage
     * Program size: 55532 bytes
     * Memory size: 3452 bytes
     * Compilation took 5.634 seconds
   Uploading firmware...
     * Resetting board...
     * Uploading...
     * Resetting board...
     * Upload Complete

    Windows should recognize that the COM port dropped out momentarily and reappeared. The firmware will be spitting out sequences of numbers at the sampling rate. These may be viewed by going to: Tools->Serial Terminal. With no interferometer hardware, they will be rather boring with only the sixth value incrementing sequentially (Sequence Number) and the 7th and 8th values cycling among some obscure numbers (Low Speed Code and Low Speed Data). To Windows, the board appears as a COM port. Thus any application that processes COM port data can be used in place of the µMD1 GUI, should this be desired.

    If the firmware crashed somehow, Windows may display a message saying something about the USB port not working. But that shouldn't happen with any firmware downloaded from here. :) And on rare occasions a cosmic ray or hardware glitch may result in the upload failing with a checksum or other error. Just put the board in program mode and try again. If the selected COM port is incorrect, cancel and retry.

Once loaded, the firmware is retained in non-volatile memory so this only needs to be done at most once - or until a firmware update is available!

The firmware may also be compiled without uploading by using Ctrl-R. Since you haven't messed with the code, it should compile without errors. This is slightly faster for testing and doesn't use the board at all so it can be off doing whatever it pleases. :)

Important: Terminate any instances of the µMD1 GUI before uploading the firmware and put the board into program mode (again if necessary) AFTER doing this even if LED1 is flashing.

Testing the Board and Firmware

With µMD1 firmware loaded, the simplest way to test that the board is working without running the GUI is to use the "Serial Terminal" (under "Tools" in UECIDE.) With the board reset, then open the Serial Terminal. The terminal window should begin spewing forth data similar to the following: 

  0 0 0 0 31232 16927 0 0
  0 0 0 0 31232 16928 0 0
  0 0 0 0 31232 16929 10 5610
  0 0 0 0 31232 16930 8 45776
  0 0 0 0 31232 16931 3 -1
  0 0 0 0 31232 16932 4 -1

If there is a display like this with the 6th number incrementing by 1, then the board is probably working.

The µMD1 GUI

Latest Version of the GUI

(These files are also available at GitHub: Micro Measurement Display uMD Graphical User Interface.)

The GUI has been stable for several years, with only a few updates mostly relating to environmental compensation. It is compatible with all versions of the firmware.

Save the µMD1 GUI .exe file into any convenient directory. (There's a small chance that the first time it's run, an error is produced since there is no configuration file associated with it. Simply continue and the GUI will come up. When it is closed using "Finish", valid settings will be saved so that the error should ot appear again.)

Even if there is no interferometer hardware attached to the board, it is possible to confirm that the PIC is talking to the GUI. Go to "USB Port" and select the same COM as used to upload the firmware. The graph should immediately start scrolling to the left indicating that it is accepting valid data, even if it is all 0s. The display will show "No Signal" (assuming error detection is enanbled) since there are no REF or MEAS clocks. But the fact that it's scrolling means the communications link is working.

When started, the µMD1 GUI (henceforth simply called the "GUI") comes up in Displacement mode with graphing enabled. The only action required by the user is to select the USB COM port. Once selected, the readout and graph will begin displaying the interferometer data.

Important:

Data from the board is normally sent at a rate of 457.76, 610.35, or 732.42 Hz depending on the measured REF frequency of the laser. (If you're curious, the precise sampling rate is the PIC CPU clock frequency divided by 65,536 - the number of counts between the 16 bit Timer1's overflows, used as the sample rate interrupt clock.) The CPU clock frequency is automatically changed based on the laser's REF frequency to optimize sub-count interpolation.) The data includes counts for REF, MEAS, displacement, velocity; a unique sequence number to identify samples; as well as other low speed data such as environmental sensors and diagnostics. (More info can be found a few paragraphs above.) The GUI displays are updated at approximately 60 Hz.

All the screenshots below except for interpolation use simulated data, which was more convenient for developing this manual! However, it also means you can play around and recreate these displays before building your interferometer. The screen shots showing the effects of interpolation are of actual data.

Main Window Controls and Readouts

This graphic below shows the typical GUI main window at startup.

µMD1 Main Window in Displacement Mode with Graphing Enabled (Startup Settings)

Main Window Controls

The first set are the selection buttons at the top of the window. Note that except for USB Port, these require only a single click to activate:

µMD1 Main Window with Test Mode Function Generator Triangle Displacement Waveform

These may all be accessed via Alt-first letter.

The next set are the buttons, checkboxes, and other widgets on the main window:

The format is slightly modified when Frequency mode is selected. This graphic shows the actual DFT of the triangle waveform in the one above. Note that the DFT coefficients go as 1/N rather than 1/N-squared because it's actually using the velocity data, which is a squarewave.

µMD1 Main Window in Frequency Mode with Graphing Enabled

Main Window Indicators

Next are the various fields for displaying information in the Main Window:

µMD1 Main Window Showing Most Indicator Fields

Interferometer Configuration Window

These entries provide for selection of the type of interferometer used for displacement/velocity measurements, the measurement units to be used for the Main Readout and graph, parameters for the strightness and angular optics, and whether to enable use sub-count interpolation. All interferometer configuration parameters are saved when exiting the GUI.

µMD1 Interferometer Configuration Window

Linear coefficienets:

These settings only affect linear measurements.

Units (as appropriate)

Known quirk: If neither the COM Port or Test Mode is active, switching among the Units buttons will only change the Units lable and/move the decimal point/precision without affecting the readings. Just thought you should know. ;-)

Parameters (as appropriate):

Miscellaneous:

Environmental Compensation Window

This provides for entry of temperature, pressure, and humidity, or to select the use of environmental sensor data if available. All environmental compensation parameters are saved when exiting the GUI.

µMD1 Environmental Compensation window

Note: Temperature, pressure, and humidity values from installed sensors are currently only acquired when the board is reset, but are sent periodically to the GUI.

Note 1: With the current GUI, the Factors for Temperature, Pressure, and Humidity will change either based on the entered values or via the hardware sensors (if implemented). HOWEVER, their exact value is not guaranteed to be meningful and should only be considered for trends. This was supposed to be fixed when the environmental calculations were corrected using the NIST formulas, but the staff assigned to do the work took a couple years off, sorry.

Note 2: With Environmental Compensation turned OFF, the vacuum wavelength is used in calculations. Therefore, Environmental Compensation should be turned ON even if using standard values.

Test Mode Window

The primary use of Test Mode is to exercise the GUI without the need for a laser or actual interferometer hardware. :) The only other user function that is useful would to disable error detection suring setup and alignment of the laser and optics.

µMD1 Test Mode Window

Multiple Axis Support:

While the firmware handles up to three measurement axes, only limited support is provided in the GUI due to the software complexity and lack of demand at the present time. What is present should be enough to get started. It's possible this could chenge in the future but don't hold your breath in anticipation. It may never happen.

If the GUI detects data (MEAS clocks) on axes 2 or 3, the firmware and GUI enter Multiple Axis Mode utilizing an expanded communications format, and the appropriate readouts will appear as shown below.

µMD1 Main Window with Multiple Axes Active

All GUI functions apply to the primary axis, which defaults on startup to Axis 1. The primary axis is what the Main Readout, REF/MEAS/DIFF frequency displays, frequency analysis, averaging, and graph apply to. Clicking on the Axis 1, Axis 2, or Axis 3 labels will select it to be the primary axis and change the color of the selected axis label to identify it as the primary axis. The units of the primary axis are also used for the others. Error detection (if enabled) only applies to the primary axis. Averaging is NOT applied to the Axis 1, Axis 2, or Axis 3 readouts, even the one that is the same as the primary axis.

Note that in Multiple Axis Mode, the communications format sends somewhat more data over the USB COM port and the GUI must perform more computation. Thus this may cause problems for a wimpy pre-Jurassic PC operating on the hairy edge of what's possible. Once Multiple Axis Mode is entered using the interferometer hardware, the only way to return to Single Axis Mode is to restart both the firmware and GUI. This is because neither has any way to know whether dropouts of measurement clock signals are due to a beam path being momentarily interruprted or an axis actually being shut off (whatever that might mean).

Test Mode is also capable of exercising all three axes singly or in combination but the function generator data will be the same for all. This is controlled by the Multiple Axis Mode checkbox. When enabled, Axis 1, Axis 2, and Axis 3 checkboxes will appear below it with Axis 1 being the default on startup. Turning Multiple Axis Mode off will put the GUI back in Single Axis Mode. But this will be overidden when Test Mode is turned off if the USB port is enabled and the firmware is running with multiple axes.

Multiple Axis GUI support is currently under development. Specifications and behavior are subject to numerous changes without notice. ;-) However, no major features beyond what are described above are anticipated to be implemented in the GUI.

Help Menu

µMD1 About Window

Using µMD1 GUI with Homodyne Interferometers

Now that µMD2 is available, it seems silly to use µMD1 for homodyne applications as additional hardware is required and the performance is limited. See >Micro Measurement Display 2 (µMD2). But where you already have a µMD1 board, the following may be useful.

While originally designed and optimized for heterodyne interferometers using two frequency HP/Agilent/Keysight and similar lasers, the µMD1 GUI can also be used with homodyne (single frequency) interferometers. The interferometer optics used with these systems are identical to those for two-frequency lasers, but the detector electronics typically provide baseband SIN/COS "quadrature" outputs rather than REF and MEAS frequencies. For use with µMD1, the analog signals must be converted to digital pulses to increment or decrement the displacement counters. In fact, other measurement instruments providing quadrature signals like those using high resolution optical encoders can also be used with µMD1. Firmware may use either the chipKit DP32/SG-µMD1 board or an even less expensive platform like the Atmega 328 Nano 3.0. (Under $3 on eBay.) However, without some minimal additional quadrature decoding hardware, performance will be severely limited with either. And the standard µMD1 firmware does NOT support homodyne operation well or at all. A special version using the chipKit DP32 or SG-µMD1 is available but it has no warranty whatsoever. :) See below.

However, there is an alternative from Jan Beck compatible with the µMD GUI. It uses a Teensy 4.0 microcomputer board in place of the chipKit DP32/SG-µMD1 PCB. The only required additional hardware is a UA9637 or UA9639 dual line receiver for each of up to three channels. And they can run at very high speed. So if you're willing to swap out the hardware, this is a straightforward solution. See: HP5508A interferometer replacement hardware 2.0! - Homodyne.... Also see Encoder Tester - Sin/Cos and Incremental Quadrature for some background info.

It is possible to use the PIC32 on the chipKit DP32/SG-µMD1 PCB but to achieve any sort of performance requires some additional hardware.

As long as the communications format is adhered to, the µMD GUI will interpret displacement correctly. So, rudimentary firmware would accept SIN/COS quadrature signals thresholded to TTL levels to increment or decrement displacement, resulting in up to 4 counts per cycle or a resolution of around 79 nm with a Linear Interferometer (LI). (but with the Interferometer Configuration set to 4X.) There is no sub-wavelength interpolation option. However, a quad-pulse converter (4 counts/cycle) multiplies the resolution by a factor of 4 compared to the same optics with a two-frequency laser. So using a Plane Mirror Interferometer (PMI) would result in a native resolution (no interpolation) of just under 40 nm. These values come about from (1) 2X from the optical path up and back, (2) 2X from the PMI, and (3) 4X from the 4 counts per cycle of the quadrature decoder. With a High Resolution PMI, the resolution becomes ~20 nm. And some commercial metrology laser systems provide increased resolution via interpolation internally. But even the basic resolution of ~40 nm is not too shaby. ;-)

However, since the counting must be done in real-time, the uninterruptable portions of the USB serial data handler are a serious limitation for implementations not using a hardware pulse converter and counter. By minimizing the size of the unused values to reduce the time spent in the serial communications, this can be somewhat improved but it's still not pretty. Using the Atmega 328 Nano 3.0 with a PMI, the speed is currently limited to less than 1 mm per second, and some GUI functions like Velocity and Frequency won't do anything useful. Inquire for a copy of this Atmega firmware if interested in hacking it. ;-)

With minimal external logic to convert the SIN/COS quadrature to digital quadrature and then to TTL pulses, this speed limitation would virtually disappear using the PIC32MX250F128B on the chipKit or SG-µMD1 board with its internal counters. A PLD, discrete logic, commercial chip like the LS7083 "Encoder to Counter Interface", or even another microprocessor like the Atmega, would generate UP and DOWN pulses based on the SIN/COS signals. More modern versions of SIN/COS interpolator chips are available with multiplications factors of up to thousands (though at limited speed), though output edge rates of many Mhz are possible depending on the interpolation factor. The LS7083 and clones are available at not terribly inflated prices, though you may have to buy 100 of them. :( :)

UP would increment the REF counter and DOWN would increment the MEAS counter. Their difference would then be the Displacement just as in the standard µMD1 firmware. Data would be sent at a fixed sample rate of 732.42 Hz and all GUI functions would be supported. A second measurement channel would use the other two counters. The internal counters can run at over 20 MHz, so perfomance would be limited mostly by the speed of the optical receiver and quad-to-pulse converter.

A hardware implementation for the converter would provide the highest performance. However, depending on the actual requirements, there may be no need to dust off those old TTL chips or PLD programmer. When using a $2 Atmega 328 Nano 3.0, the maximum speed was measured to be order of 40 kHz for each of 2 channels using quick-and-dirty polling using the pathetically slow Arduino digitalread and digitalwrite instructions. With a few minutes of optimization invoking direct PORT calls instead, the aggragate throughput went up to order of a million (X4) counts/second. That's about 4 cm/sec with a PMI. Substituting a second PIC32MX250F128B board (chipKIT or SG-µMD1) to be used only for the converter should result in a several fold improvement over that.

There is a version of the µMD1 firmware that supports homodyne mode with 1 or 2 channels each using pairs of internal counters (>20M counts/second max but requiring an external pulse converter to generate the up/down pulses), along with a third channel via direct polling of Quad-A-B digital inputs. The maximum speed of the third channel is under 350 counts/second but this could still be useful for some applications like the Z axis in a high resolution 3-D printer. ;) To accomodate non-interferometer measurements using optical or mechanical encoders, the entry for "Vacuum Wavelength" in the "Environmental Compensation" window (632.991372 nm for HP/Agilent lasers) has a range of 1 nm to 1,000,000 nm (1 mm) so it can be set to the appropriate resolution required for anything from an atomic force microscope to a construction crane. ;-) If a value outside this range is required, contact me. ;-)

To display rotation angles from optical encoders (or ring laser gyros) properly, there is now an option in the GUI to bypass the non-linear calculation required by the Angular Interferometer. With the "Encoder" checkbox in the Interferometer Configuration screen checked, the the angle will read correctly based on the Angular Reflector Spacing being the radius of the encoder and the wavelength being (X4) count spacing around the periphery.

The graphic below shows µMD1 being used to test a home-built ring laser gyro. It is being rotated by hand on a Lazy Susan turntable.


Screen Shot of Sam's RLG Angle Readout using µMD1

Interpolation for higher resolution is possible using the raw SIN/COS analog signals and often done in commercial systems. However, I have absolutely positively no intention of even thinking about any implementation using the existing µMD1 hardware. And as noted, the basic resolution using a single frequency HeNe laser and PMI with quad-A-B digitally thresholded signals is under 40 nm. With a HiRes PMI, it would be under 20 nm. If you need something better then that, you probably have a budget to go with it. ;-)

Summary of homodyne inputs for µMD1 (chipKit DP32 or SG-µMD1 

    Pin    Signal   Counter   Function         Maximum Speed
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
   0/RB5    RPB5    Timer3    Axis 1 Up    >20M counts/second
  11/RB0    RPB0    Timer5    Axis 1 Down       "          "
  13/RB2    RPB2    Timer4    Axis 2 Up         "          "
  14/RB3    RPB3    Timer2    Axis 2 Down       "          "
  10/RA1    RPA1      --      Axis 3 A     350 transitions/second
  18/RA4    RPA4      --      Axis 3 B          "          "

To achieve higher performance from a less expensive platform like the Atmega, an external up/down counter could also be added, which would be read by the firmware via the digital inputs.

Support for homodyne interferometers is currently a "works-in-progress" so nothing is currently polished in the same way as µMD1 for heterodyne interferometers. :)

Quad-A/B to up/down converters

For most of these schemes, the quadrature-A/B (digital) inputs must be converted to up/down pulses to increment or decrement the counters that represent displacement. Here are several possibilities:

The first one is a discrete TTL implementations. Aynchronous Quadrature to Pulse Converter should run at 5 MHz or more. But there are a pair of discrete delays and the relative propogation delays of the 74LS04s and 74F153 are critical which may be just as bad as using monostables (which would earn you an "F" in my logic design course).

With some tweaks, the maximum speed can be greatly increased and this would fit into a small PLD or FPGA.

The next one uses an inexpensive Atmega 328 Nano 3.0:

Quad A/B signal test and demos

Having said all that, here is the good stuff. :) It has been tested with a Renishaw RLE10 Fibre Optic Encoder with an RLD PMI head. In "Coarse" mode, it has the basic homodyne resolution of ~40 nm (1/16th wavelength). RLE10 "Fine" mode provides an additional 4X interpolation internally so the native resolution (with no interpolation in µMD1) is ~10 nm (1/64th wavelength). Pathetic. ;-)

Homodyne firmware and GUI

The following Beta version chipKit DP32/SG-µMD1 firmware and GUI supports homodyne operation with two high speed axes (pulse up/down) and one low speed axis (quad A-B) using the above pin assignments.

This has been tested with a Renishaw RLE10 Fibre Optic Encoder and RLD PMI head using the Atmega-based quad to pulse converter. In RLE10 "Coarse" mode, it has the basic homodyne resolution of ~40 nm (1/16th wavelength). Using its "Fine" mode provides an additional 4X interpolation internally so the native resolution (with no interpolation in µMD1) is ~10 nm (1/64th wavelength). Pathetic. ;-) The graphic below shows an approximately ±400 nm change in displacement at 10 nm resolution from just gently pushing down on the optical breadboard with the PMI head and planar mirror mounted on a micrometer stage. But the micrometer is way too crude for nm-scale movement.


Screen Shot of Test of Renishaw RLE10 Fibre Optic Encoder using µMD1

There may be a high performance version of the homodyne hardware and firmware in the future. Stay tuned but don't hold your breath. :)

Where performance is a total non-concern, here is a low speed Quad-A/B USB interface for the µMD GUI using the Atmega 328P Nano 3.0 ONLY (no chipKit or SG-µMD1 at all). Three channels should be possible with performance of up to around 350 pps on each one:

Using µMD1 for DIY LIGO?

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) uses what is basically a very special (and expensive) Michelson interferometer to detect gravitational waves emanating from colossal cosmic events millions of lightyears distant. A Web search will find many publicly aavailable references. Its sensitivity to changes in the position of its mirrors is order of 1/1,000th the diameter of a proton or about 1 attometer, 1x10-18 meters. That's about 1,000,000,000 times more sensitive than µMD1 with a Plane Mirror Interferometer. So perhaps not. ;-) (But the cost was much greater also!)

However, it would be possible to demonstrate the principles of LIGO as well as to add some of the enhancements to boost sensitivity like extending the reference arm and adding multi-pass cavities on both arms. A Single Beam Interferometer (PBS cube and 2 QWPs) might be used along with a pair of high quality mirrors in each arm to multiply the effective path length and sensitivity.

At the very least, such a setup would be a very sensitive earthquake detector, though detecting black hole or neutron star collisions is out, unless they occur in our Solar system (which would probably be bad). ;-)

The Future

As of Fall 2017, the chipKIT DP32 is no longer available from Digilent, though until Winter of 2019, it was still available direct from microchip as part number TDGL019. But now it appears to be certifiably gone and although Digkey sent me a "laser time buy" email on it, I rather doubt that's meaningful. And I've exhausted availability from all other distributers.

If you already have the chipKIT board or ordered µMD1, this isn't a real concern unless you are planning to duplicate your setup at a later date or would like a spare just in case something bad happens. In that case, getting another chipKIT DP32 board would make sense. I have purchased enough of these to handle anticipated demand for the next year or so, but a longer term solution is now called for. But the number is going down fast.

There are several options for the µMD project going forward:

  1. Design a custom PCB that would provide the functions of the chipKIT DP32 along with the line receivers, connectors, and environmental sensors. The PIC, or an equivalent, should continue to be available for the foreseeable future, though it may eventually need to be an SMT version. I have a monitor placed on microchip's "end-of-life" watch should the PIC32MX250F128B-I/SP (the 28 pin DIP version) be scheduled to go out of production. Then I could just buy up a lifetime supply. :) Laying out a PCB is no problem, but this approach would also require having the boards assembled (stuffed with parts and soldered), programmed, and tested.

  2. Switch over to another PIC-based Arduino compatible board. The recommended replacement for the chipKIT DP32 is the Digilent µC32. However, the µC32 appears to NOT have some of the essential features required for µMD1 - notably external clock inputs to the the Timers. And a separate widget board "Shield" would need to be added for the "peripherals" and both the cost and complexity is therefore somewhat greater.

    For this to be viable, the PIC must have a minimum of 4 high speed counters (microchip calls them "Timers") whose clock inputs can be configured to connect to external pins. Surprisinigly, most PIC32 parts even in packages with many more pins do not have this capability.

  3. Redo µMD1 using a different microprocessor or FPGA. (µMD2!) A possible solution is the Cypress CY8CKIT-059 PSoC® 5LP Prototyping Kit With Onboard Programmer and Debugger. This has a microprocessor with FPGA so it could be an opportunity to greatly boost performance including support for lasers like the Zygo 7701/2 which have a 20 MHz REF frequency, along with better sub-wavelength interpolation and potentially even support for closed-loop control.

    Needless to say, this would be a very complex undertaking and the justification may simply not be there. Only a small number of hobbyist/experimenter types even care about the sub-wavelength interpolation, let alone Zygo support. And I have no intention of developing µMD1 for serious commercial release.

I have already begun (1) and prototypes are now available. Parts have also been ordered. This PCB includes the layout for the line receivers and environmental sensors as well as most other chipKIT features except for the EEPROM (though there is space for it). It's all through-hole except for the USB Micro B connector, which can be either through-hole or SMT. This project will proceed, but with enough chipKIT DP32 boards in stock for awhile, there should be a smooth transition.

The only downside to this approach for the user is that I do NOT intend to populate the PCBs, even for basic PIC32 functions (or at least you would have to pay 2 arms and 3 legs for it). ;-) So a bit more soldering is involved. See the specific info in the section: Assembly using the SG-µMD1 Board.

If someone were interested in working with Jan and myself on (2) or (3) (or some other option not listed), please contact me via the link at the top of this page. However, I have no current plans to do (2) or (3) on my own.

Troubleshooting

Naturally, all is expected to go smoothly. But if it doesn't, here are some common problems. Some of these may be bugs in the firmware or GUI as hard as that is to believe. So, if you find something that cannot be solved based on what's below, contact us for a timely response:

Restoring or Installing the chipKIT Bootloader

This should never be necessary with either the chipKIT DP32 or SG-µMD1 PCB I provide since the bootloader is pre-installed in the NVRAM of the PIC32. and it's almost impossible to accidentally erase it. But it would be required if you were to purchase the PIC32MX250F128B part direct from microchip or an electronics distributor.

So this section is more for my own reference. ;-)

For the following, on the chipKIT DP32, it may be necessary to disconnect the MEAS1 circuit from the PIC32 and on SG-µMD1, the jumper/trace JP0 may need to be removed to assure that the MEAS1 line receiver does not load the P32_PGD signal. There are no interfering signals on the MPLAB version of SG-µMD1.

A PIC programmer like the microchip PICkit 3 will be required along with an in-line cable that mates with the programming connector on the board. The microchip PICkit 3 is around $50 from an electronics distributor. Used ones can be found on eBay at reduced cost, as well as Far East knockoffs but they may or may not work properly and their documentation (or lack thereof) usually stinks.

Temporarily disconnect any user circuitry with a load of less than a few k ohms from P32_PGD/RB0 (MEAS1) and P32_PGC/RB1 so the PICkit 3 can toggle those lines. For the procedure, see Restore Your chipKIT Bootloader Guide. DON'T bother with MPLAB-X though as it may hang when attempting to communicate with the microprocessor. Download and install MPLAB V8.92, which works perfectly well. But power the board from USB, NOT the Pickit 3 - other parts load down 3.3 V power if it's provided from the programming connector, possibly the 3.3 V regulator IC. The term "PIC32 board" denotes either one like the chipKit DP32 or the SG-µMD1 PCB. The following assumes the use of the PICkit3 programmer:

  1. Download MPLab V8.92". ONLY V8.92 is known to work! Install it and the associated drivers it requests.
  2. Start MPLAB V8.92.
  3. Plug in the PICkit3.
  4. Go to "Programmer", "Select Device", "PICket3".
  5. Go to "Programmer", "Settings", "Power", Make sure "Power target circuit from PICkit3" is NOT checked.
  6. Go to "Configure".
  7. Go to "File", "Import" to load the chipKIT-DP32-v01000303.hex. Do NOT use "Open". This will be acknowledged in the Output window.
  8. Power up the PIC32 board. MPLAB should recognize the PIC32 with a status word and no errors in the Output window.
  9. Go to "Programmer", "Program" (or Alt-g,Alt-g). Almost immediately, there should be an audible acknowledgment that the programming was successful with confirmation in the Output window and the board will then reset into boot mode with the LED flashing.
  10. Disconnect the PICkit3 (optional).
  11. If connected to USB, the PC should recognize that it is a valid COM port. UECIDE can then be used to compile and download the firmware.
  12. Power down the PIC32 board and disconnect from USB if it is desired to unplug the PIC32 chip.

References

These links open in a single new window or tab.

SG-µMD1

  1. Assembly Instructions for SG-µMD1 Version 1.0 PCB (Obsolete.)
  2. Assembly Instructions for SG-µMD1 Version 1.2 PCB.
  3. Assembly Instructions for SG-µMD1 for MPLAB Version 1.2 PCB.

chipKIT DP32

  1. chipKIT DP32 Overview (PDF).
  2. chipKIT DP32 Schematics (PDF).
  3. chipKIT DP32 Reference Manual (PDF).
  4. chipKIT DP32 Reference Manual (Web page). This one appears to be much more complete.

MPIDE

  1. Install chipKIT Software
  2. MPIDE Quick Start Guide

UECIDE

  1. UECIDE: The Universal Embedded Computing IDE
  2. UECIDE on GITHUB (Download most versions)

Arduino

  1. Arduino IDE, Refernce, Tutorials, more
  2. Atmega 328 Nano 3.0
  3. How to Burn a Bootloader to Clone Adruino Nano 3.0
  4. Arduino Playground: Rotary Encoders
  5. Encoder Library, for Measuring Quadrature Encoded Position or Rotation Signals

Sensors

  1. AM2302 Digital Humidity and Temperature Sensor Datasheet
  2. BMP180 Temperature and Pressure Sensor Datasheet
  3. Sensirion - Humidity & Temperature Sensor SHT2x Datasheet
  4. MPL115A2 Humidity/Temperature Sensor Datasheet

µMD1 User's Web Sites and Videos

  1. Sam Zeloof's Nanometer Precision Laser Ruler (16:34). Nice video will worth the time. :-)
  2. New99's Test Deflections. Trials and tribulations of interferometer alignment (20:12). He has 2 or 3 other videos as well.

Other Laser and Interferometer Web Pages and Videos

  1. Tesla500's HP 5518A Interferometery Laser Head. Video with detailed description of the HP 5518A laser including how it works. Also applies to other HP/Agilent/Keysight lasers (25:38).

Research Papers using µMD1

  1. Review of Scientific Instruments: A customized instrument with laser interferometry for measuring electrospun mat thickness

Jan Beck's Information

  1. Interferometer Project Pages
  2. Github µMD1 GUI Source Code Repository
  3. Short Video Describing Jan's and Sam's Boards

Sam Goldwasser's Manuals and Information

  1. Sam's Kits and Other Manuals
  2. Sam's Firmware and GUI Github Repository