Methods and apparatus are provided for automatically tuning a charged particle beam system, such as an ion implanter. An allocate request message is received from a router device in a network and is destined for a relay server in the network. This has as an advantage that the amount of temporarily storage capacity required, approximately equals the amount required for forward playback. The means 14 for coordinating position and support the units in relation to each other before, during and after relative motion between an incident object and the energy absorber.