Architecture & interfaces

This is the contract page. If you replace or modify a module, this page tells you what the rest of the machine assumes about it. Module-internal details live in each module specification.

Module decomposition

• Frame & beam delivery — main structure; laser source, steering mirror mounts, the path-switching mirror, the galvo head and the rails it rides on.
• Vacuum system — ISO160 chamber, pumps, gauges, valves, and all feedthroughs (feedthroughs belong to this module's BOM, but their specification is defined here, because they are contracts with other modules).
• Ablation scanner — the mirror+lens assembly that rasters the beam over the target: one rotational axis parallel to the ablation axis, one translational axis perpendicular to it, together covering the full target.
• Main mechanism — everything inside the vacuum: tape/mask transport, target and substrate holders, and their registration features.
• Electronics — controller, motor drivers, laser control, interlocks, power distribution.
• Software (cross-cutting, versioned with the electronics controller) — layered Python stack; see Operation → Software.

Block diagram

                 ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                 │  FRAME & BEAM DELIVERY                  │
                 │                                        │
 1064 nm laser ──┼─► steering mirrors ──► [switch mirror] │
                 │                        │(inserted)     │(retracted)
                 │                        ▼               ▼
                 │              ABLATION SCANNER      GALVO (on rails)
                 │              rot ∥ + transl ⊥          │
                 └───────────────────┬───────────────┬────┘
                                     │ window A      │ window B
                 ┌───────────────────▼───────────────▼────┐
                 │  VACUUM SYSTEM (ISO160)                 │
                 │   ┌─────────────────────────────────┐   │
                 │   │ MAIN MECHANISM                  │   │
                 │   │ targets ◄─ ablation   tape/mask │   │
                 │   │ substrate      machining ◄──────┤   │
                 │   └─────────────────────────────────┘   │
                 │  pumps · gauges · feedthroughs          │
                 └────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ▲ motion/electrical feedthroughs
                 ┌────────────┴───────────────────────────┐
                 │  ELECTRONICS  ◄──► SOFTWARE (HAL)       │
                 └────────────────────────────────────────┘

Optical path contract

The laser serves two functions through two mutually exclusive paths, selected by a mirror inserted into the beam path:

Registration invariant: the galvo and every optic upstream of it must not move for the duration of a fabrication run. This is why the switching element diverts the beam away from the galvo path rather than into it: insertion repeatability of the switch mirror only perturbs the ablation path, where it is harmless. Any modification to beam delivery must preserve this asymmetry.

Open question / TODO: the galvo rides on rails (chamber access, engraver mode). Define whether rail repositioning is repeatable (hard stops / kinematic seats) or whether coordinate registration is recalibrated per session. This determines a frame requirement vs. an operational procedure. See Calibration.

Vacuum wall contract (feedthroughs)

Everything crossing the chamber wall, by consumer module:

Electrical & signal conventions

Software interface

The controller exposes a hardware abstraction layer (HAL); machine geometry and configuration live in declarative YAML (hardware_config.yaml, machine_state.yaml). A module variant is software-compatible if it can be described by the config schema without HAL changes.