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Shutdown

Shutdown order matters. Stopping things in the wrong sequence is rarely dangerous but is annoyingly easy to do — smoke without airflow pools in the room, killing the mains while the drive is running causes a coast-down that confuses the software, and so on. The recommended sequence below is the operator-tested default.

Normal shutdown (end of session)

  1. Stop the smoke generator. Press OFF on the wired remote at the computer station. Wait until the visible plume in the test section clears (typically 10–20 s of continued airflow does it).
  2. Ramp-stop the motor. Press Stop Tunnel in ADCL WinSoft (or WindTunnelControl.ps1). The motor decelerates per the drive's DECEL TIME parameter.
  3. Verify motor at zero RPM. Look at the speed readout and at the drive keypad. Both should read 0.
  4. Stop the DAQ recording. In ADCL WinSoft's right column, press Stop DAQ. The session's CSV is finalized to E:\Wind_tunnel\ADCLWinSoft\Data\YYYY-MM-DD\….
  5. Close the control software. ADCL WinSoft — close the window cleanly; it will write back its settings. WindTunnelControl.ps1 — close the window (the tool does a best-effort coast-stop on close, but the motor should already be stopped).
  6. Turn off the laser. Open the DC power supply's output enable, then power the supply down.
  7. Turn off the test-section light if it was used.
  8. Open the main switch. This de-energizes the VFD and motor. The drive keypad goes dark.
  9. Close out the lab. Logbook entry, dispose of any smoke-generator fluid spills, restore the band saw and any other moved obstructions.

The order is: everything inside the airflow path first (so smoke clears), then the airflow itself, then the things outside the airflow path (laser, lights), then the mains disconnect.

Pause shutdown (between runs in the same session)

If you are between runs and want to swap models or adjust the laser:

  1. Smoke generator OFF.
  2. Motor ramp-stop.
  3. Leave the DAQ running or pause it — your choice; pausing is cleaner if you'll be touching transducer cables.
  4. Leave the laser off while reaching into the test section.
  5. Leave the main switch closed. The drive should keep its Modbus connection live.
  6. When ready to resume, follow the startup sequence from "Set the speed reference".

Emergency shutdown

See Safety → Emergency stop for the full procedure. The short version: stop the motor first (software E-Stop, or mains kill if software is unresponsive); then call for help; then secure the area.

After-action logging

End every session with:

  • A note in the day's log: who operated, what was tested, RPM range covered, any oddities.
  • If anything unexpected happened — fault codes, software hiccups, hardware noise — open a new WT_MS_<n>/ milestone with debug_session.md and attach the relevant files (CSVs, photos, parameter dumps). See docs/repository_layout.md for the layout.