by Wolfgang Schmidt and Yannick Raoul.

vUFO is an instrument simulator for the CRG multiplexed Three-Axis-Spectrometer IN12-UFO. Its is part of the vTAS suite written in Java.

UFO (Universal Focusing Option) is a multi-analyser (15 blades) and multi-detector system, an option which can be installed on the cold TAS IN12.

Multiplexed TAS instruments make assessing a measurement strategy very difficult without a computer assistance. This is especially true with UFO and its 46 degrees of freedom (rotation, translation, spacing of the blades and slit positionning).

vUFO implements a dual real space and reciprocal space interactivity which much facilitates the understanding of the behavior of the instrument and its limits. It makes it possible to experiment various measurement strategies through free or predefined instrument configurations. This proved to be valuable tools for both instrument responsibles and users, and also for teaching.
At the beginning of 2011 UFO was still operated in test mode and vUFO was used as an help to experimenting new measurement strategies. Once thoroughly tested by scientists the later will be implemented in the application as "predefined" instrument strategies. Thus the features of the application are not yet frozen and are a reflection of our current understanding of the capabilities of the TAS option UFO.