Techniques¶
What CORA would run at MX3: rotation macromolecular crystallography, each technique a Catalog Method bound through an Australian Synchrotron Practice. MX3 reuses the MX Methods Diamond I03 introduced, so it coins nothing new.
MX3's technique, rotation MX, is the macromolecular-crystallography shape CORA already saw at i03 (and, in its serial form, at i24 and LCLS-MFX). The Methods render unlinked and are carried pending until the owner-scope decision (TECH-1) brings them into the catalog, exactly as at i03.
| Technique | Catalog method | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rotation MX data collection | mx_data_collection |
oscillation collection on the MD3 goniometer + the Eiger; the i03 Method, pending (TECH-1) |
| Grid scan | grid_scan |
fast grid scan for sample location / centring on the MD3 (TECH-1) |
| Autonomous sample exchange | sample_exchange |
the ISARA robot load / centre / collect / unmount loop, a Procedure over the spine (ROBOT-1) |
All three are recorded as pending Practices on the Australian Synchrotron Site, reusing the same Method names Diamond i03 carries.
Why the Methods are reused, not coined¶
MX3 brings a new Site, not a new technique. Rotation MX, grid-scan centring, and robot sample exchange are the i03 shapes, so MX3 binds the same pending Methods (mx_data_collection, grid_scan, sample_exchange) rather than coining anything; whether those Methods enter the catalog is the cross-facility owner-scope decision i03 opened (TECH-1), and MX3 reinforces the case at a second facility. The device Roles already exist (the MD3 presents Positioner via the graduated Goniometer, the Eiger presents Detector via Camera), so nothing new is needed in the device model either.
The autonomous sample exchange reuses the i03 / i24 autonomous-loop shape: a Procedure over the spine threaded through Subject custody, not a new device family (ROBOT-1). Indexing and integration of the diffraction frames are ComputePort work, not beamline Methods.
The genuinely new thing MX3 contributes is below the technique layer: a sixth Site and a heterogeneous control plane (see Controls), which the technique vocabulary rides over unchanged.