Turning Non-standard Processes into Controlled Workflows. From a Small Control Board to a Custom Vacuum System

Turning Non-standard Processes into Controlled Workflows

From a Small Control Board to a Custom Vacuum System

In laboratory instrumentation, there is always a simple yet critical question: how can a successful experiment be repeated reliably a hundred times? In applications such as vacuum coating, materials preparation, or electron microscopy sample processing, the concern is not only whether a process can be achieved once, but whether it can be performed consistently. From an engineering perspective, the fundamental mission of a scientific instrument is essentially the same: to transform an experimental process into a system that can be executed repeatedly.

A vacuum coating system may appear to consist of many complex modules, including the vacuum chamber, molecular pumps, sputtering sources, evaporation sources, gas control systems, and various sensors and monitoring devices. However, the stability of the instrument is determined not only by its mechanical structure, but also by its control system. The control system coordinates the operation of all modules, including pump start-up, valve sequencing, power regulation, gas flow control, and safety interlocks, ensuring that every step of the experimental procedure runs according to defined parameters.

In VPI’s instrument development, this process often begins with something very small: a control board. The control board performs fundamental tasks such as signal acquisition, status monitoring, actuator control, and communication interfaces. It connects different components of the system, including vacuum pumps, power supplies, mass flow controllers, and sensors, allowing them to operate together under a unified control logic. As the control logic evolves, it gradually expands into a complete instrument architecture, incorporating PLC or embedded control, host software, and a human-machine interface.

Once these foundations are established, a complex vacuum system becomes significantly easier and more intuitive for users to operate. For researchers, this means experimental results can be reproduced reliably; for instrument engineers, it means transforming complex processes into dependable systems. In many cases, such engineering does not begin with a large vacuum machine, but with a very small component: a simple control board.