The MxCuBE2/ISPyB environment for remote data collection at the ESRF

Abstract

MxCuBE, is a beamline control graphical user interface (GUI) for macromolecular crystallography (MX) experiments that was developed by the ESRF and has been in use since 2005. The GUI provides the user with a friendly interface to electronic devices, permitting to carry out experiments in a intuitive environment while benefiting from the increasing automation. Since its release, MxCuBE has become the preferred MX data acquisition software, also installed at other European synchrotron sites [SOLEIL, EMBL@PETRAIII, BESSY and MAXLAB].In September 2013, after intense recoding, experiment design and testing, the ESRF has deployed MxCuBE2 on all the ESRF's MX beamlines. This new generation of GUI is capable of interfacing with a variety of low level control systems. MxCuBE2, written in the Python programming language, has a radical new appearance and provides an updated environment for performing complicated multi-crystal/multi-position MX experiments in a modular, logical and automatic fashion. ISPyB is a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) conceived to record experimental parameters and basic reporting of the data obtained. Since 2009 ISPyB has been a collaboration between ESRF and Diamond Light Source (DLS) and the LIMS is now a multi-site, generic system for synchrotron-based (MX) experiments. The current version allows users to track their sample location (to/from & at the synchrotron), facilitates transmission of information from and to other LIMS, records experiment details, and provides the results - including reflection files - of automatic data processing protocols. Indeed as experiments have become more complex and automated ISPyB has become more than just a repository for project histories - it has become a support for rapid decision making during experiments. The combination of these two indispensable tools in every day users life at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility will be presented and discussed.