First Steps¶
You've installed Laser Setup. Let's launch it, understand what you're looking at, and run something — all without any hardware.
1. Launch the main window¶
From the repository folder:
The Main Window opens. It is the hub of the application, built entirely from your configuration. From its menu bar you can:
- Procedures — open an experiment window to run a single measurement.
- Sequences — run several procedures back-to-back.
- Scripts — utility actions (create config, detect instruments, check for updates…).
- View — open the live log, a database browser, a camera viewer, or a Python terminal.
- Config — edit your configuration from within the app.
It works out of the box
On a fresh clone there is no config/ folder yet, so the app loads its
built-in defaults. That already includes every measurement procedure
(It, IVg, IV, … and the demo FakeProcedure) and the example
sequences. You can start exploring immediately.
2. Run your first (simulated) experiment¶
You don't need to click through menus to start — you can open a procedure directly. Let's run the debug-friendly demo procedure:
An Experiment Window opens. FakeProcedure generates synthetic data, so it
needs no instruments at all. Press Queue and watch the plot fill in over a
few seconds.
That's a complete measurement run: parameters in, live plot + log, data written to disk. The Tutorials build on exactly this.
3. Debug mode (simulate real instruments)¶
Real procedures like It or IVg do expect instruments. To run them with no
hardware, add the -d / debug flag:
In debug mode, any instrument that fails to connect is transparently replaced by
a DebugInstrument that returns random values. This lets you exercise the
full GUI, plotting, sequencing and data-saving pipeline on your laptop.
What debug mode does
The -d flag sets debug=True on every instrument. When a real connection
can't be made, the manager substitutes a fake instrument instead of raising
an error. See Instruments for
details.
4. Create your own configuration¶
Sooner or later you'll want to change parameter defaults, rename chip groups, or point instruments at your COM ports. To get an editable, local configuration, run the Init Config script:
This creates, in your current folder:
config/
├── config.yaml # your global settings (start editing here)
└── templates/ # pristine copies of every config file
├── config.yaml
├── parameters.yaml
├── procedures.yaml
├── sequences.yaml
└── instruments.yaml
Important: copy the templates you want to use
The generated config/config.yaml points its procedure, sequence and
instrument files at ./config/procedures.yaml, ./config/sequences.yaml
and ./config/instruments.yaml — which don't exist yet. Until you
create them, the Procedures and Sequences menus will be empty.
Copy the templates you intend to customize up one level into config/:
Now your menus are populated again — and editable. Re-launch the app (or click Reload) to pick up changes.
You can confirm what's loaded at any time:
The Configuration System guide explains the full layering (defaults → global → local) and every key you can set.
5. Where your data goes¶
Each run writes a CSV file under the data directory (default ./data),
organized by date, with all parameters stored in the file header so the
measurement is reproducible:
See Data & Output Files for the naming scheme and how to turn a folder of CSVs into a queryable SQLite database.
You're ready¶
You can now launch the app, run procedures (real or simulated), and create a configuration. Next:
-
Tutorials
A guided, hands-on path that teaches the software through small experiments.
-
User Guide
Reference-style explanations of every subsystem.