Operate with confidence.

Before you begin

How to use this guide

This is the day-to-day help file for operators, trainers, quality staff, and commissioning personnel using the Multitek STM Spring Analyser Suite.

Responsibility levels

The software does not enforce roles or logins. The following levels are organizational controls; the editable Operator field is report metadata, not authentication.

Words used in this manual

Read before operation

Safety authority and non-negotiable rules

• This help supplements—never replaces—the machine risk assessment, guard/interlock instructions, site SOP, lockout/tagout procedure, and hands-on training.
• Never reach into the fixture or motion area because a screen says PRELOAD HOLD, READY, or 0.000. D30 preload hold is motionless but energized and holding the configured preload.
• Keep clear before either CONFIRM PRELOAD & RUN or the machine-side Start is used. D31 establishes the datum; D32 begins motion.
• The on-screen OVER TARGET message is an operator warning, not a motion interlock. Current Deflection is a magnitude and cannot replace observation of physical motion and machine status.
• Do not disconnect, change settings, close the software, or remove the sample while a cycle is starting or active.
• A camera fault must not control motion or PASS/FAIL. Treat it as missing visual evidence and follow the record requirement for the job.

Before every Start

• Physical E-stop and safety chain are in the approved operating condition.
• Guards, fixtures, platens/hooks, limits, and sample orientation match the approved procedure.
• No tools, loose items, hands, or clothing are in the motion area.
• The selected mode and expected motion direction are understood.
• Recipe, speed, stroke, preload, and repetition values are approved for the sample and fixture.
• Required identity and evidence settings are entered before motion.

One-page procedure

Quick Start: routine automatic test

Use this sequence only after completing the safety and machine-specific training. Compression and Tension use the same software steps; fixture and physical direction differ.

1. Inspect and launch. Complete the approved machine pre-use check, launch STM, and allow the splash/licence sequence to finish.
2. Connect. On RECIPE, select CONNECT. Continue only after the expected STM identity is validated and the connection is online.
3. Prepare the recipe. Select Compression or Tension; enter approved stroke, preload, repetitions, speeds, and dwell values. Enter evaluation locations and quality limits only from an approved specification.
4. Send and verify. Select SEND RECIPE. Wait for exact readback verification and automatic movement to RUN. A changed or unverified recipe cannot start.
5. Identify the sample. Enter a traceable Test ID; add Batch ID and Operator as required. Verify the Active Recipe and readiness messages.
6. Choose evidence. Set VISUAL EVIDENCE ON/OFF before starting. If images are required, confirm the camera is connected and framed.
7. Apply preload. Mount the sample under the approved setup procedure, clear the machine, and select START • APPLY PRELOAD.
8. Confirm the hold. At PRELOAD HOLD, make only the approved fixture verification. Keep clear, then continue once using CONFIRM PRELOAD & RUN or the machine/HMI Start.
9. Monitor. Confirm the blue TEST DEFLECTION card's Current value becomes 0.000 at D31 and then increases as a positive magnitude from D32. On return, Current and the instantaneous % OF TARGET decrease toward zero. The top peer panels continue to show LOAD | MAGNITUDE and raw MACHINE Z | ABSOLUTE COORDINATE. Watch machine status, physical motion, and the curve until completion.
10. Review. On RESULT, check disposition, measurements, characteristics, repetitions, and evidence. If evaluation inputs change, select RE-EVALUATE.
11. Stage and retain. SAVE RESULT adds the sample to the current in-memory batch. Use CREATE REPORT, EXPORT CURRENT TRACE, Raw CSV, or graph export for permanent retention.
12. Continue or finish. Use NEW SAMPLE for the next specimen in the same batch; its saved Batch Results stay in place. After the final specimen, create/archive the report or required exports, then use START NEW BATCH / CLEAR BATCH before testing a different spring or batch. At the end, wait for idle, disconnect, and close normally.

Orientation

Know the operator workspace

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 Machine state and next action 2 Live Load and absolute Machine Z 3 Recipe / Run operator workflow 4 Curve, Result, Evaluate, Evidence, Batch, Raw 5 Permanent camera and evidence rail 6 Saved samples in the current in-memory batch

Machine and test quantities stay separated

Display requirement

The operator workspace is designed for a minimum of 1280 × 720. Use Windows display scaling and a monitor arrangement that keeps all safety/status text visible; do not run with controls clipped.

Prepare the software

Startup, licensing, connection, and identity

Starting the application

1. Launch the service-commissioned STM application from its approved Windows shortcut.
2. Wait for the welcome screen while licensing, settings, plots, and camera services initialize.
3. If a licence dialog appears, stop and follow the Multitek/service licensing procedure. Cancelling an unresolved licence closes the application.
4. The application opens OFFLINE on the RECIPE page. The last confirmed recipe may be displayed, but it must be reviewed before being sent again.

Connecting to the STM

1. Confirm machine power, communication cable, and physical safety state.
2. Select CONNECT.
3. During CONNECTING or VALIDATING, wait. Commands remain locked until the expected machine identity is confirmed.
4. Proceed only when the screen reports the online/ready state and the readiness panel confirms connection and identity.

If the wrong COM port is remembered

Select SETTINGS to open Machine Settings. The first MACHINE tab contains STM Communication: select Refresh, choose the commissioned COM port, close Machine Settings, and then connect from RECIPE. The port you choose is saved immediately. There is no need to enter Service Diagnostics just to select the port. The displayed default link note is 115200 8N1.

Connection states

Disconnecting

Disconnect is intentionally locked while a cycle is starting or active. Finish normally or Abort, wait for D205 idle and confirmed standstill, then disconnect. Never use software disconnection as a motion-stop method.

Define the test

Recipe and evaluation settings

Choose the correct mode

Automatic motion fields

Evaluation and acceptance fields

If no acceptance checks are configured and the curve is usable, the outcome is CHARACTERIZED—not PASS. When approved limits are supplied, the outcome can be PASS or FAIL.

SEND RECIPE versus READ FROM STM

Editing a mode or motion value invalidates synchronization and requires SEND RECIPE again. Editing only the PC-side evaluation fields does not rewrite the PLC recipe, but an existing result must be RE-EVALUATEd.

Run the machine

Automatic Compression or Tension procedure

1. Prepare the RUN page

1. Enter a traceable Test ID. Batch ID and Operator are optional in software but should follow the site record procedure. Confirm the one-line TEST ID | BATCH ID | MODE band before Start; for a long identifier, use its full tooltip/accessibility text rather than relying on the ellipsized display.
2. Read the ACTIVE RECIPE summary aloud or cross-check it against the job traveler/specification.
3. Confirm the readiness lines: connected, correct identity, synchronized recipe, and cycle idle/STM clear.
4. If permitted by the approved setup procedure, use Slow/Fast HOLD TO JOG UP/DOWN for idle fixture setup. Releasing the button, leaving it, losing capture, or deactivating the application releases the jog request.
5. Use TARE only under the approved load-channel procedure. Automatic preload zero does not use the Manual MPG Set Zero command.
6. Select visual evidence ON/OFF before Start.

2. Apply preload

1. Mount and align the sample using the mode-specific fixture procedure.
2. Clear the motion area and announce the start if required by site practice.
3. Select START • APPLY PRELOAD. The PC rechecks the staged recipe and safe start conditions before issuing the Start edge.
4. Observe the approach. The first Start seeks the configured preload; it is not yet the measurement stroke.

3. Verify preload hold

1. At PRELOAD HOLD, verify mounting only as allowed by the risk-assessed site procedure. The machine is energized.
2. Keep clear before continuation.
3. Continue once using either the PC CONFIRM PRELOAD & RUN button or the approved machine/HMI Start control.

4. Monitor the stroke and repetitions

1. D31 is the motionless safety dwell and stable datum. The blue Test Deflection Current value must become 0.000; the top Machine Z panel remains the actual raw coordinate from that same snapshot.
2. D32 begins the test stroke. Correctly commissioned Compression and Tension both produce a positive Current magnitude toward the Test Stroke Target.
3. Watch the top Load and Machine Z peers, blue Current/Target/% card, machine status, physical motion, and Live Curve. % OF TARGET is an instantaneous ratio, not cycle progress. Do not use Machine Z or the camera image as the spring-travel measurement.
4. For multiple repetitions, the PLC continues without another Continue. The same D31 datum remains fixed for the complete logical sample.
5. Wait for verified final completion and automatic movement to RESULT.

How repetitions are evaluated

Each repetition is characterized independently. Displayed batch scalar measurements are arithmetic means, but every requested repetition must meet every configured acceptance check for the logical sample to PASS. An incomplete repetition set cannot certify.

Understand the measurement

Current Deflection: the operator’s true test coordinate

Automatic results, curves, images, and metadata use the nonnegative spring displacement magnitude from the confirmed preload reference. The blue Live Curve TEST DEFLECTION card is its only live display surface. Raw Machine Z stays in its separate top machine panel and is not the spring-travel quantity.

Why load can be non-zero at 0.000 deflection

The D31 point is established while the spring is held at preload. Therefore the positive measured preload force may correctly appear at Current Deflection 0.000. The software does not subtract preload force from the live force, curve, calculations, or report.

How to read the two coordinate surfaces

In automatic mode, the same accepted PLC snapshot feeds two deliberately separate surfaces: the top MACHINE Z | ABSOLUTE COORDINATE peer shows unchanged D194-D195, while the blue Test Deflection card calculates Current from the immutable D31 datum and compares it with recipe Target. Before D31, only Machine Z can be numeric. Absolute Machine Z stays in the same top panel in Manual MPG and also remains available in Diagnostics, raw trace/recovery metadata, and raw XLSX/CSV exports. It is essential for position awareness and engineering traceability, but is never relabelled or substituted as spring travel.

Observe without altering

Live Curve, inspection, Batch Curves, and Raw Trace

Live Curve

• The horizontal axis is Stroke from Preload; the vertical axis is measured Load.
• LOADING (blue) and UNLOADING (amber) can be shown or hidden independently for clarity.
• Move over the curve to inspect the nearest recorded point on each branch. Click the curve or select PIN to hold the inspection; select UNPIN to release it.
• Curve visibility and inspection are display tools only. They do not change raw points or calculated results.

Batch Curves

This page compares curves for samples already added with SAVE RESULT. For repeated tests, it can also show repetition context. A blank page means there are not yet enough saved curves to compare; it is not a data-retention location.

Raw Trace

Use Raw Trace to inspect the point stream and confirm that absolute Machine Z and referenced Test Displacement remain distinct. For permanent point-by-point retention, use EXPORT CURRENT TRACE or Raw CSV before clearing the current sample.

Special operating mode

Manual MPG: raw Z and force acquisition

1. Select and synchronize. Choose Manual MPG on RECIPE and select SEND RECIPE. Unused automatic motion words are not treated as an automatic recipe.
2. Prepare safely. Verify the fixture, direction, physical limits, manual pulse generator, and approved control ownership. Do not combine idle PC hold-to-jog with local MPG motion.
3. Start recording. Select START MANUAL MPG. The first Start begins a raw acquisition session and permits the approved local/manual workflow; it does not command an automatic Z stroke.
4. Observe raw coordinates. The top Machine Z panel shows the absolute coordinate and the blue automatic Test Deflection card shows N/A. Set Zero is a deliberate manual setup command and must follow the machine procedure.
5. Stop. For a PC-owned start, the button becomes STOP MPG. A machine/HMI stop can also end the session. If the session was started outside the PC, PC Stop may remain unavailable.
6. Export or clear. Normal completion produces MANUAL RAW. Export the current trace if it is required; otherwise clear it. It cannot be added as a certified automatic result.

Interpret the measurement

RESULT and EVALUATE

Result dispositions

What the Result page reports

Additional characteristics include peak load and its deflection, maximum deflection, midpoint load, position at 90% peak load, loading/unloading rates, force separation, hysteresis/work, and curve-deviation/nonlinearity values.

Evaluation workflow

1. Enter or verify the measurement locations required by the product specification.
2. Enter minimum/maximum acceptance limits only from the approved drawing, control plan, or test method.
3. Use positive magnitudes only. Negative displacement, force, rate, or acceptance values are rejected. Check that a minimum does not exceed its maximum and that rate start/end are distinct.
4. Select RE-EVALUATE.
5. Return to RESULT and review the updated disposition and explanation before saving.

When an automatic result can certify

Certification requires a verified run recipe, intact telemetry, one valid immutable D31 reference, nonnegative spring force/displacement/rate quantities, normal final completion, and the complete requested repetition set. Abort intent, a fault, communication interruption, negative UUC data/criteria, missing datum, incompatible recovery/import, or incomplete repetitions closes the gate; raw evidence remains exportable.

Multiple specimens

Save Result, New Sample, and the current batch

SAVE RESULT

• Requires a certifiable, current, evaluated automatic result.
• Adds the sample measurements to Batch Results and retains its curve for the combined plot/report.
• Does not create Excel, CSV, PDF, or a permanent database record.
• Saved batch rows are lost when the application closes; generate and archive required outputs before exit.

NEW SAMPLE

Use this for the next physical specimen in the same batch. It clears the current raw trace/plot and prepares the workspace for another specimen while intentionally retaining all saved Batch Results rows and combined batch curves. If the automatic trace is unsaved, the software prompts you to Save Result first. Manual/imported raw data should be exported first if required.

DISCARD & RETEST

After an abort, fault, interruption, missing datum, or other non-certifiable issue, export the raw trace if needed for investigation, confirm safe standstill, then discard and perform a fresh controlled test. A new Start is blocked while the old trace or issue still awaits disposition.

START NEW BATCH / CLEAR BATCH

This guarded action is on the normal RESULT workspace beside CREATE REPORT. Use it after creating and archiving the required report/exports when changing to a different spring, job, or batch.

Optional synchronized records

Camera and Visual Evidence

Choose before Start

• Use the permanent right rail to set VISUAL EVIDENCE ON/OFF. The toggle locks once a test is active.
• If images are required, confirm camera status, live framing, and the image count before starting.
• CAPTURE IMAGE requires evidence ON and a connected camera. VIEW EVIDENCE requires at least one stored frame.
• Automatic captures can cover configured stages such as start/contact, travel fractions, target, dwell, and end. For multi-repeat tests, routine automatic stage evidence is concentrated on the first repetition plus the overall end.

What an evidence caption means

The EVIDENCE page presents captured stills by event, sample, repetition, load, displacement meaning, and time. Select a card to inspect the larger image. Visual evidence supports traceability but never starts/stops motion and never determines PASS/FAIL.

Keep what matters

Reports, raw exports, graphs, and data ownership

Permanent record workflow

1. Stage certifiable samples. Use SAVE RESULT for each automatic sample that must appear in the batch report.
2. Open report settings. Select CREATE REPORT after at least one result has been saved.
3. Complete metadata. Check header image, tested date, job, test number, batch, party, spring, method, operator, and machine details required by the organization.
4. Choose content. Decide whether to include the combined batch curve and available camera evidence.
5. Generate the workbook. The current build creates and opens STM Report.xlsx.
6. Archive immediately. In Excel, use Save As to a unique approved name and permanent destination. Export from Excel to PDF if the job requires PDF.
7. Retain detail as required. Export current raw XLSX/CSV and graphs before clearing the trace or batch.

The fixed three-page report

The report images above are deterministic demonstration data and are not a field result.

Export options

A non-certifiable trace can still be exported after a warning. Exporting it does not certify it.

Current raw XLSX/CSV exports use Coordinate schema 3 and the MagnitudeFromPreloadReference displacement convention. Raw Machine Z remains unchanged, while Test Displacement is the recorded preload-referenced magnitude. These current development-bench files do not carry a displacement-direction sign.

Storage and ownership map

Return to retained data

Recover Last Trace and import saved data

RECOVER LAST TRACE

The visible recovery path is the RECOVER LAST TRACE button on the Recipe page. It is available only when the STM is idle, no current trace is loaded, and a valid completed recovery record exists.

1. Make sure no live cycle or current trace is active.
2. On RECIPE, select RECOVER LAST TRACE.
3. Review the restored curve, Test ID, completion status, datum status, and diagnostics.
4. Only a valid current schema-3 recovery record is loaded; an incompatible record is rejected. A complete, uninterrupted automatic trace with a valid datum may be evaluated and saved, while Manual or non-certifiable current content remains raw-only.
5. Recovery intentionally makes the recipe unsynchronized. Select SEND RECIPE again before any new live run.

IMPORT SAVED TRACE

Import accepts only a current raw XLSX whose STM Outcome sheet declares Coordinate schema 3 and MagnitudeFromPreloadReference, and whose Raw Trace rows use that same magnitude convention. An obsolete signed or displacement-direction layout is rejected before the current trace is cleared. The software does not migrate, take the absolute value of, or otherwise reinterpret such an older file.

A valid imported file is still offline raw evidence for plotting, inspection, and re-export. Negative current-schema force or displacement evidence is retained as a visible fault rather than repaired. Imported data cannot recreate controlled live conditions, verified recipe ownership, or the authoritative live D31 chain, so it cannot become a certified result or be accepted with SAVE RESULT. Run a fresh controlled STM cycle when certification is required.

Service visibility

Diagnostics and offline demonstration

Key live values

Offline Demonstration for training

1. Disconnect from the STM. Demo controls are intended only while offline.
2. Open Service Diagnostics and choose Compression or Tension/Extension demonstration data.
3. Select one of five deterministic variants and LOAD SELECTED, or use BUILD ALL 5 RESULTS for a training batch.
4. Practice curve inspection, Evaluate, Save Result, Batch Curves, and report creation without moving a machine.
5. Keep Compression and Tension demo samples in separate reports.

Respond calmly

Status and troubleshooting action table

Communication loss during motion

1. Do not assume the PC display represents machine state.
2. Observe the physical machine from a safe location. If motion or control state is uncertain, use the physical E-stop.
3. After confirmed standstill, correct communication and reconnect.
4. The interrupted trace is non-certifiable even if partial data appears usable. Export raw evidence if needed, then discard and retest.

Closing during a cycle

The application asks whether to Abort and close; the safe default is No. If an abort cannot be confirmed or motion continues, use the physical E-stop before approaching. Closing Windows software is never an emergency motion-stop method.

Qualified personnel

Machine Settings and camera commissioning

Machine and unit settings

• SETTINGS opens Machine Settings on the first MACHINE tab. Its STM Communication area provides the COM selector and Refresh; choose the commissioned port here without opening Service Diagnostics. The port you choose is saved immediately, and selection is locked while connected or reconnecting. Connection and disconnection remain on RECIPE.
• Standard startup display is KgF, mm, mm/min, and KgF/mm. PLC recipe exchange remains in the canonical commissioned units even when display conversion is selected.
• Force and Z correction factors must be finite and greater than zero and must come from an authorized calibration/commissioning record.
• Unit changes are blocked while batch rows exist; export/report and clear the batch first.
• Alternate display-unit selection is session-only in the current build. The application starts with the standard selection on the next launch.
• Do not use the MPa selector as a spring unit; the current implementation maps it internally to N/mm rather than a stress calculation.

Camera / Visual Evidence commissioning

1. Connect the intended USB DirectShow camera and obtain the signed customer HPCamera authorization file.
2. Open SETTINGS → Camera / Visual Evidence → Open Camera Setup.
3. Enable Visual Evidence and browse to the signed authorization file.
4. Refresh and select the exact authorized camera.
5. Select a supported format at or below 1280×720. A preferred starting point is 1280×720 MJPG at 15–30 FPS; 640×480 is acceptable where appropriate.
6. Connect and confirm status, actual FPS, and stable live image.
7. Mount for a portrait view; apply 90° rotation and mirror only when physically required.
8. Configure preview FPS, automatic reconnect, automatic capture, and approved capture stages.
9. Apply and validate page switching, manual capture, evidence review, USB unplug/reconnect, and at least 30 minutes of stable operation.

Main application licensing and camera authorization are separate. A missing/invalid camera authorization disables camera evidence only; it must not stop or certify a spring test. The base build records still images, not full MP4 video.

Build competence

Trainer lesson plan and operator sign-off

Recommended training sequence

Offline exercises

1. Load one Compression demonstration curve. Inspect loading and unloading branches and pin a point.
2. Clear acceptance limits and confirm the result is Characterized.
3. Enter trainer-approved exercise limits, Re-Evaluate, and explain the outcome.
4. Use Suggest From Curve and explain why its provisional ±5% bands are not product tolerances.
5. Save five demo results, inspect Batch Curves, create the workbook, and immediately Save As to a training folder.
6. Export Raw CSV and a graph, then identify unchanged Machine Z and nonnegative Test Displacement magnitude columns.

Practical competency checklist

• Performs site pre-use inspection and identifies the physical E-stop.
• Connects to and verifies the expected STM identity.
• Selects the correct mode and reviews an approved recipe without inventing limits.
• Enters traceable identity and sets the required evidence state before Start.
• Uses setup jog/tare only within the approved procedure.
• Maintains clearance through Apply Preload, D30 confirmation, D31 datum, and D32 motion.
• Explains Current Deflection magnitude, instantaneous % OF TARGET versus cycle phase, Compression/Tension direction, physical-motion observation, return phase, and force at zero.
• Reviews Result/Evaluate and distinguishes Characterized from PASS/FAIL.
• Saves required permanent files and can state why Save Result alone is insufficient.
• Responds correctly to Abort, link loss, machine fault, missing datum, and camera failure.
• Completes normal shutdown without using close/disconnect as a stop control.

Operator: ____________________   Trainer: ____________________   Date: ____________

End the session

Normal shutdown

1. Reach safe idle. Finish the cycle normally or intentionally Abort, then wait for confirmed idle and physical standstill.
2. Resolve the current trace. Save Result, export raw evidence, create/archive the report, or explicitly discard as required.
3. Protect the batch. Confirm every required workbook, CSV/XLSX, graph, and PDF copy exists in the approved destination before closing.
4. Disconnect. Return to RECIPE, select Disconnect, and wait for OFFLINE.
5. Close. Exit the application normally and follow the site machine power-down procedure.

Reference

Frequently asked questions and glossary

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Revision history