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Nick Kleiner edited this page Dec 5, 2025 · 3 revisions

Campaign Designer: Building Experiments

1. Introduction

Access: Automation -> Campaign Designer

The Campaign Designer is the workspace for creating Experiment Templates.

In ARES, you do not hard-code a 100-iteration loop. Instead, you design a single experiment defining the instructions for collecting one data point. ARES OS then automates the repetition of this template to form a Campaign.

2. Core Concepts: The Hierarchy

To understand the designers, you must understand the ARES workflow:

  1. The Template: The blueprint you build here. It defines the logic for one single iteration (e.g. "Move to X, Measure Y").
  2. The Experiment: A single execution of that Template.
  3. The Campaign: The collection of all Experiments run in sequence.
    • The duration of the Campaign (how many times the Template is repeated) is determined by the Stop Condition, which is set later during Execution.

3. Anatomy of a Template

A complete Template consists of three configurable layers:

A. Planning Parameters (The Inputs)

These are the variables that change from experiment to experiment.

  • Role: They act as placeholders in your script.
  • Source: During a Campaign, the Planner injects values into these parameters before every new experiment begins.
  • Example: heater_temp, flowrate, laser_power

B. The Scripts

ARES divides the Template into three distinct execution blocks.

1. Startup Script

Executes: ONCE per Campaign (at the very beginning).
Purpose: System Initialization.
Use Cases: Homing, pre-heating, opening a gas valve, etc.

2. Experiment Script

Executes: ONCE per Experiment, repeated as need by ARES.
Purpose: The Core Scientific Logic

  • The Flow:
    1. ARES retrieves new values for your Planning Parameters from the Planner (if applicable).
    2. This script runs using those specific values.
    3. Data is captured and sent to the Analyzer.

3. Closeout Script

Executes: ONCE per Campaign (at the very end).
Purpose: Safe Shutdown.
What triggers the closeout script?

  • The Stop Condition is met, and the campaign ends normally.
  • The Campaign encounters an error. Even if your experiment fails, ARES will attempt to run your closeout script.
  • The Campaign is stopped forcefully by the user. Use Cases: Turn off heaters, set flow rates to zero, etc.

C. Component Assignment

You must link the logic modules that will drive your Campaign loop.

  • The Planner: The "Navigator." It decided the parameter values for the next experiment based on previous results.
  • The Analyzer: The "Interpreter." It processes raw data from the current experiment and passes a score back to ARES.

4. Building the Script

  • Logic Flow: Scripts are executed sequentially from top to bottom.
  • Validation: The designer prevents saving if required components (Analyzers/Planners) are referenced in the script but not assigned in the component tab.

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