Conveners
TUBR MC03 Control System Sustainment and Management
- Denise Finstrom (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)
- Barry Fishler (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
The LHC Access Safety System (LASS) was commissioned in 2008 for the initial launch of the LHC, while the current PS Access Safety System (PASS) entered in operation in 2015 after a full multi-year revision. By the end of the upcoming LHC Long Shutdown 3 in 2030, LASS will have accumulated over 20 years of service and PASS 15 years. Both systems are based on Siemens series 400 safety PLCs, a...
This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of technical debt in the context of control systems for large-scale physics facilities. We will explore its various forms, common causes, and potential consequences on system reliability, maintainability, and upgradability. Drawing on experiences from multiple projects, we will present a range of strategies for proactively managing technical...
The Laser MegaJoule, a 176-beam laser facility developed by CEA, is located near Bordeaux. It is part of the French Simulation Program, which combines improvement of theoretical models used in various domains of physics and high performance numerical simulation. It is designed to deliver about 1.4 MJ of energy on targets, for high energy density physics experiments, including fusion...
The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) utilizes the EPICS control system to manage the main accelerator, multiple test stands, and most neutron scattering instruments. The control system environment for the main accelerator alone includes approximately 300 Input/Output Controllers (IOCs), 200 soft IOCs, and 100 Operator Interface (OPI) workstations, all communicating through over 1,000,000...
Integrating agile methodologies within large, non-agile organizations often results in isolated agile islands and inefficient Water-Agile-Fall models. This work outlines the practical approach adopted by ALBA Synchrotron's Computing Division to embed agile practices effectively within a traditional, hierarchical structure. Instead of complex, large-scale frameworks (SAFe, SoS or LeSS), we...
The controls systems group at Jefferson Lab has gradually diminished in size over 20 years as the scope of their responsibilities has continued to increase. Following a recent RIF, the group contains only 7 software developers responsible for maintaining hundreds of applications and EPICS IOCs, as well as tackling numerous pressing challenges. The size of the group is currently inadequate for...
