Lab Space VR

Unity/Meta Quest VR project focused on a guided split tube furnace workflow. The current main demo scene is Assets/Scenes/OTF.unity.

Demo Focus

The priority is the furnace procedure itself: interacting with the split tube furnace, preparing and feeding the substrate into the quartz tube, setting gas flow and heating zones, running the nanowire growth process, and withdrawing the substrate cleanly.

Hologram/WebRTC streaming is intentionally deferred until the furnace flow is stable.

Furnace Demo Polish Tracker

Status legend: Done, In Progress, Next, Pending.

Phase	Status	Scope	Acceptance criteria
0. OTF as primary demo	Done	Make OTF the active build scene and keep deferred hologram systems inactive at startup.	Build settings launch OTF; hologram capture cameras, composition, output, and streaming stay inactive.
1. Configurable procedure manager	Done	Add a central manager with reorderable procedure steps and stable completion gates.	Flow order, titles, instructions, required gates, and per-step events can be edited on the manager without code changes.
2. Wire first OTF gates and UI	Done	Add/assign procedure UI and connect main power plus first substrate snap gate.	User sees current instruction, power-on advances the flow, and substrate placement advances only after a valid snap.
3. Load and feed substrate	In Progress	Polish substrate plate snapping, rod connection, and quartz tube feeding.	User sees ghost target/highlight, substrate snaps reliably, and the procedure advances only after the substrate is correctly positioned.
4. Power and furnace controls	Pending	Gate main power, lid/handle state, heating ready/off controls, and UI visibility.	Controls unlock in sequence; irrelevant controls are hidden or visually demoted until they are needed.
5. Gas flow	Pending	Make the valve readout deterministic and use a minimum gas-flow gate.	Readout is stable, displays useful units, and the procedure blocks heating until flow is ready.
6. Temperature ramp and soak	Pending	Tighten three-zone setpoint entry, ramp animation, material feedback, and soak completion.	Zones show target/current values clearly; heating reaches target predictably under sim speed; completion is visible.
7. Growth start and visualization	Pending	Start nanowire growth only after furnace prerequisites are satisfied.	Growth controls are unavailable before prerequisites; growth starts with clear feedback and sane defaults.
8. Cooldown and withdraw	Pending	Add cooldown/withdraw steps and reset behavior.	User can complete the procedure by cooling down and withdrawing the substrate without physics glitches.
9. Demo polish pass	Pending	Add audio, haptics, labels, reset button, lighting/performance pass, and final rehearsal checklist.	A first-time viewer can follow the demo without verbal rescue; Quest performance remains stable.

Target Procedure

This is the starter flow, not a fixed order. Edit the steps list on FurnaceProcedureManager to reorder, split, combine, or remove steps as the real furnace procedure becomes clearer.

1. Power on the furnace.
2. Prepare the substrate plate and catalyst settings.
3. Load the substrate onto the feed mechanism.
4. Connect the feed rod to the substrate holder.
5. Align and feed the substrate into the quartz tube.
6. Set gas flow.
7. Set the three furnace temperature zones.
8. Heat to target and complete the soak.
9. Start nanowire growth.
10. Cool down.
11. Withdraw the substrate and reset for the next run.

Current Implementation Notes

• ProjectSettings/EditorBuildSettings.asset now enables Assets/Scenes/OTF.unity as the primary scene.
• Assets/Scenes/OTF.unity starts both the hologram Cameras group and the HologramComposer group inactive, preventing capture cameras, render-texture allocation, composition, and WebRTC work during the furnace demo.
• The nine active OTF point lights retain their existing illumination but have real-time shadows disabled, removing the over-capacity punctual-light shadow workload during the furnace demo.
• The furnace flow currently uses several focused scripts, including SnapOnRelease, AutoConnectEnd, AngleTrigger, RotationToGasFlow, IncreaseTemperature, Setting_Parameter, and GrowthRate.
• New work should route procedural progress through FurnaceProcedureManager instead of adding more one-off scene-only checks.
• FurnaceProcedureManager separates flow order from completion state: procedure steps are a serialized list, while scene interactions mark stable gates such as PowerOn, SubstrateLoaded, GasFlowReady, and HeatSoakComplete.
• SnapOnRelease now creates a placement guide while the plate is held, changes feedback inside the valid region, eases the plate into position, and marks SubstrateLoaded only after placement completes.
• AutoConnectEnd now matches named plug/socket endpoints, previews the connection while the rod is held, eases the endpoints together on release, and marks RodConnected after the joint is created.
• FeedRailController constrains the connected rod to an adjustable insertion path, locks its rotation, visualizes the target depth, and marks SubstrateFedIntoTube at the configured completion threshold.

Split Tube Furnace Model Previews

Front View

Three-zone heater liners and the quartz tube passing through the furnace body. The control panel with zone selectors and indicators is visible on the lower front panel. Left and right ends show the flange hardware and tube supports.

Isometric View

Angled perspective showing the overall form factor, the split-lid cut-outs, and the tube path.

Side View

Side profile with the lid raised showing the hinge motion and feedthrough cut-out alignment.

Nanowire Growth Preview

Initial parameters used: radius, temperature, and required nanowire height. The visualization scale uses meters for easier viewing in VR.