Mouse click on image for full screeen display
Nestor J. Zaluzec
Materials Science Division, Kinetics & Irradiation Effects Group
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 , USA
Computerized control of scientific instrumentation has been successfully and widely implemented over the last few years. For the most part, it has been done to facilitate local operation or remote observation of a variety of equipment including the full range of transmission electron microscopes . It has also been the subject of numerous sessions at recent microscopy congresses1-3. While the functional replacement of a human operator by a computer system can result in significant savings of time and in a reduction of operator errors, it does not however produce any new science per se. In order to achieve this paradigm we must look at the entire experimental process and identify those factors which would increase the functionality of the remote control actions and also the processes by which we share instrumentation, data, and knowledge in general. It is also true that financial resources for fundamental research world wide are becoming increasing scarce, hence, it becomes simple fact of economics that not every facility can support all conceivable research personnel and/or tools for detailed materials characterization. Thus considerable savings of time, space and resources may be achieved if we are able to efficiently share expertise and instrumentation. While travel to remote facilities is a viable mechanism to achieve this end, it lacks one essential aspect, namely the ability to collaborate with colleague at an instrument in a extended and timely manner. Certainly it is true that we can share, by various mechanisms, the data recorded during an experiment. Furthermore, one can compose extended documents and schemes to communicate results, but there is a whole realm of interactions which are left by the way side when a research is carried out in this manner. For true distributed collaboration (either in research and/or teaching) to be successful, all of the aspects of the research/teaching environment must be considered. To overcome these limitations we need an environment which allows both local and remote collaborators to interact in a persistent space. Once in which the visual and audio queues are real time, and one in which the "collaboration" is not limited by the physical distance between two or more individuals. The interaction space must provide ready access to instrumentation, data, analysis tools and allow the users to feels as if they were "present" together at the same location. The TelePresence Microscopy (TPM) 1 project attempts to bridge the gap between simple "remote microscopy" and true collaboration, by integrating protocols, tools, and interactive links to instrumentation, data (real-time as well as archived), and audio-visual communications. The initial goal of this project has been to create a virtual space, accessible via the Internet, where microscopists and their colleagues, who are distributed across the nation or the world, can meet, talk, plan and also run their experiments.
In order to create this environment it is necessary to realize that most collaborative research progresses by the interaction of scientists with a three parts of a ordered triangle consisting of: instrumentation, data, and coworkers . When we are using instrumentation, and in particular with microcharacterization tools we as researchers interact with knob, dials, and information screens from which we gauge the conditions of an experiment. We correlate this information during the course of an experiment adjusting and fine tune the operation of the instrument to refine the conditions under which our experimental data is recorded. The experimental data, be it an image, diffraction pattern, and or spectral data is then recorded, stored, and frequently a mini-analysis is done to determine the next series of steps in the experiment. Working with collaborators we jointly view the data, analyze it, interrogate the implications of the measurements and usually return to the instrument for refinement or complete measurements. It is clear that we as investigators rarely operate in isolation and need to able to talk to and see each other while conducting an experiment. We should be able to do everything one would normally do if they were occupying the same laboratory. This would includes sharing experimental data, review previous experiments, writing in notebooks, talking over coffee and even visiting each other in and office to examine and plan current and/or future work. In order to capture this entire process it is essential that the environment maintain a persistence. That is, it should have a lifetime beyond the minute to minute accounting of say a specific instrument session. All experiments have by nature a history so to speak, and this timeline of events must be captured within the collaboratory to not only preserve the data but ultimately to provide a mechanism to share the knowledge gained not just as a solution to a specific problem but even more sweeping as a generic process of how to solve a group of related problems. Finally the tools we use in this space must be intuitive, easy to use, and be platform independent having the same capabilities whether the user is employing a Macintosh, PC or a UNIX Workstation.
While still in the R&D stage , we have made significant progress in a range of areas required to create this virtual electronic laboratory. We have nearly completed interfacing the control functions of the ANL Advanced Analytical Electron Microscope (AAEM) to TPM operation. Figure 1 illustrates the platform independent user interface which include: instrument control, data viewing, and navigation, that have been implemented on the AAEM. The remote collaborator has control of all lenses, specimen position (shift/tilt), and imaging modes and can control these functions using secure (password protected) remote login using either direct command entry (text) or via a GUI. Choice of fast frame low resolution or slow frame high resolution windows for image transfer is an option for imaging. This allows optimal configuration of the telepresence interface, particularly over slow network lines. Figure 2 shows examples of the persistent electronic space paradigm through its' implementation as an on-line electronic notebook. This notebook is accessible to all members of the collaboration is an indexed, searchable, archive containing text, data, images as illustrated. All members of the collaboration can access any data in the notebook at any time independently of each other.
Figure 1: A platform independent graphical user interface for the TPM Site. Using the navigation buttons below the image the user may select the live data stream being viewed, while interactive control is password protected is through an on-screen menu systems which the authorized user is required to login (lower right hand corner). Direct access to other parts of the collaboratory, Notebooks, and Video Conferencing Tools are accessible via the hot links in the panel to the right of the live images. Image transfer rates are controlled mainly by network latency, the fastest rates reported are on the order of 3f/s at 640x480x8 bit images, while higher frame rates of ~ 15f/s have been routinely achieved with 320x240 size images. Control functions are implemented by sending command structures from the secure UNIX server to the local control system via TCP/IP or a serial line depending upon the instrument and/or function being processed.
The generic TPM collaboratory space is composed of both software and hardware running on a high end SUN workstation which operates in a client/server relationship and is based upon customized software, with a minimum of commercial products. All the intelligence is built into this server and thus provide maximum versatility, and minimum cost to the user as their interface maybe any WWW compatible computer. While it may be argued that initially we are creating a one-of-a- kind software tool, the interface is generic enough that it may be applied to a wide range of instruments and includes the possibility of plug-in modules which can be customized for different equipment. The current status of the TPM project can be checked by accessing the Microscopy and Microanalysis WWW Sites (http://www.amc.anl.gov, and http://tpm.amc.anl.gov). These sites provides a demonstration, descriptions and updates on the project and its extension to the DoE2000 Materials Microcharacterization Collaboratory4.
References:
1.) N.J. Zaluzec Microscopy & Microanalysis 96, Proc 54th Ann Meeting. MSA Minneapolis, Aug.1996, Ed. Bailey, Corbett, Dimlich, Michael, Zaluzec, San Francisco Press , pge 382
2.) Symposium on Direct Digital Imaging and Microscope Automation - Microscopy & Microanalysis 1995; 1995 Ann Meeting of the Microscopy Society of America, Kansas City, August 1995, Ed. Bailey, Ellisman, Hennigar, Zaluzec, Jones & Begell page 6-35
3.) Symposium on TelePresence Microscopy in Education and Research - Microscopy & Microanalysis 1996; Proc 54th Ann Meeting. MSA Minneapolis, Aug.1996, Ed. Bailey, Corbett, Dimlich, Michael, Zaluzec, San Francisco Press
4) Supported by US. DoE under contracts BES-MS and CTR-MICS W-31-109-Eng-38.