Sample¶
The micro-goniometer, the automated EMBL robot, and the on-axis viewing. PVs verified against the amx-profile-collection startup files.
AMX mounts cryo-cooled protein crystals on a single-omega micro-goniometer, exchanged by an automated EMBL robot from a 48-position dewar, and viewed on-axis for loop centring.
| Asset | Family | PV | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Goniometer |
Goniometer | XF:17IDB-ES:AMX{Gon:1} |
orients and centres the crystal |
Robot |
(Positioner Asset) | XF:17IDB-ES:AMX{EMBL}: |
loads / unloads crystals from the dewar |
SampleCamera |
Camera | XF:17IDB-ES:AMX{Cam:7} |
on-axis sample viewing |
The goniometer¶
The Goniometer reuses the Goniometer family that Diamond i03 graduated and FMX reused: a single omega rotation (XF:17IDB-ES:AMX{Gon:1-Ax:O}Mtr) with GX / GY / GZ sample-centring and PY / PZ pin fine stages. AMX is the third sighting of the MX goniometer, reinforcing the graduation; axis count and centre-of-rotation are a per-Asset settings difference (GONIO-1).
The sample-changing robot¶
The Robot is the automated EMBL sample changer (XF:17IDB-ES:AMX{EMBL}:), coordinated by the LSDC / mxtools Governor state machine with a 48-position dewar and a sample-detection smart magnet. Following the i03 / 19-BM / FMX precedent, it is one Positioner-presenting Asset, not a new SampleChanger Family: it loads and unloads a Subject (the crystal), gated by a Clearance, with the vendor in a bound Model. The exchange workflow and the Subject custody lifecycle (Received to mounted to measured to Returned) are the genuinely new MX modelling, deferred to a named question (ROBOT-1). Being "highly automated", AMX is where this autonomous loop matters most.
Sample environment¶
The on-axis sample viewing uses the SampleCamera (a Prosilica; low-mag and X-eye cameras serve alignment); AMX exposes no separate on-axis backlight PV (an FMX-vs-AMX difference). Sample cryo-cooling (the cold-gas cryostream) is not exposed in the profile collection, so it is deferred (CRYO-1); it would bind TemperatureController (the i03 cryostream precedent) once its PV is supplied.