MAX IV BioMAX Beamline Control System: From Commissioning Into User Operation

The BioMAX beamline at MAX IV is devoted to macromolecular crystallography and will achieve a high level of experimental automation when its full potential is reached due to the usage of high end instrumentation and comprehensive software environment. The control system is based on TANGO and Sardana for managing the main elements of the beamline. Data acquisition and experiment control is done through MXCuBE v3 web application, which interfaces with the control layer. Currently, the most critical elements such as the detector and diffractometer are integrated into the control system, whereas the integration of the sample changer has started. BioMAX has received its first users, who successfully collected diffraction data and provided feedback on the general performance of the control system and its usability. The present work describes the main features of the control system and its operation, as well as the next instrument integration plans. BIOMAX BEAMLINE DESCRIPTION BioMAX is the first X-ray macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamline of MAX IV Laboratory, which began its user operations in 2017. It is a state-of-the-art resource accommodating multiple cutting edge experimental possibilities. The design goal for BioMAX was to create a stable and reliable beamline that provides a user friendly environment. The beamline experiment set-up is highly automated, in terms of both sample handling hardware and data analysis, including feedback on the data collection. The X-ray beam focus is 20 x 5 μm2 at the sample position and the operational energy range is 5-25 keV, [1]. Table 1 shows the main characteristics of BioMAX.