Implementation of remote monitoring and diffraction evaluation systems at the Photon Factory macromolecular crystallography beamlines.

Owing to recent advances in high-throughput technology in macromolecular crystallography beamlines, such as high-brilliant X-ray sources, high-speed readout detectors and robotics, the number of samples that can be examined in a single visit to the beamline has increased dramatically. In order to make these experiments more efficient, two functions, remote monitoring and diffraction image evaluation, have been implemented in the macromolecular crystallography beamlines at the Photon Factory (PF). Remote monitoring allows scientists to participate in the experiment by watching from their laboratories, without having to come to the beamline. Diffraction image evaluation makes experiments easier, especially when using the sample exchange robot. To implement these two functions, two independent clients have been developed that work specifically for remote monitoring and diffraction image evaluation. In the macromolecular crystallography beamlines at PF, beamline control is performed using STARS (simple transmission and retrieval system). The system adopts a client-server style in which client programs communicate with each other through a server process using the STARS protocol. This is an advantage of the extension of the system; implementation of these new functions required few modifications of the existing system.

High-throughput operation of sample-exchange robots with double tongs at the Photon Factory beamlines.

Sample-exchange robots that can exchange cryo-pins bearing protein crystals out of experimental hutches according to user instructions have been developed. The robots were designed based on the SAM (Stanford Synchrotron Research Laboratory automated mounting) system. In order to reduce the time required for the sample exchange, the single tongs of the SAM system were modified and a double-tongs system that can hold two cryo-pins at the same time was developed. Robots with double tongs can move to the goniometer head holding the next cryo-pin with one set of tongs, dismount the experimented cryo-pin with the other set, and then mount the next pin onto the goniometer head without leaving the diffractometer area. Two different types of tongs have been installed: single tongs at beamlines BL-5A and AR-NW12A, and a double-tongs system at beamline BL-17A of the Photon Factory. The same graphical user interface software for operation of the sample-exchange robots is used at all beamlines, however, so that users do not need to consider differences between the systems. In a trial, the robot with double tongs could exchange samples within 10 s.