Facilities relying on collaboratively developed software projects, like the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), often face challenges in ensuring consistent skill levels and efficient onboarding of staff.
This paper introduces a new framework for creating reproducible pre-configured virtual machine (VM) environments, specifically designed for hands-on EPICS...
At the Linear Coherent Light Source (LCLS), maintaining the health and correct configuration of the control system is essential to ensuring successful experimental operations. ATEF (Automated Testing and Evaluation Framework) supports this goal by enabling the development and execution of automated procedures to verify control system status before experiments begin.
ATEF focuses on...
The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is a world-leading facility located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory that constantly pushes the boundaries of science and technology. To stay at the frontier, we must continuously upgrade and evolve our instruments and control systems โ which means tackling new projects, new capabilities, and, most importantly, new requirements.
This talk will...
The Tango HDB++ project is a high-performance, event-driven archiving system that stores data with microsecond resolution timestamps. HDB++ supports various backend databases to accommodate any infrastructure choice, with Timescale as the default option. Timescale, an extension of PostgreSQL, is selected for its exceptional performance, reliability, and open-source license.
After more than...
The EPICS Summer School addresses the persistent demand for expertise in control systems for advanced scientific facilities by providing a crucial training platform for university students and young professionals. The highly successful inaugural event at BESSY II in Berlin offered an effective learning experience through a structured two-week program encompassing one week of foundational...
The Enhanced Liquid Interface Spectroscopy and Analysis (ELISA) beamline is a new instrument at BESSY II focusing on a novel, integrated approach for the high-fidelity preparation and investigation of liquid interfaces using soft x-ray radiation and infrared radiation light generated simultaneously from the BESSY II light source. As ELISA is part of the BESSY II+ upgrade scheme* it will be...
Controls engineers in scientific facilities manage numerous projects, support multiple Customer Units (CUs), and balance operational demands with new initiatives. This often leads to growing backlogs and staff stress. Meanwhile, managers struggle to allocate resources across CUs, frequently prioritizing short-term goals at the expense of long-term strategy. At ALBA, such pressures prompted a...
The TSU's (Trigger Synchronization Unit ) purpose is to synchronize beam dump requests with the Beam Abort Gap (BAG) upon request from clients, primarily the Beam Interlock System (BIS). Synchronization is crucial to prevent damaging absorbers/collimators and cryo ring magnets.
The TSU system, per beam, comprises two interconnected, redundant chassis for synchronization. It internally...
Full utility of Diamond IIโs increased brilliance and coherence will require next generation scanning, capable of operating at high speed in the nano-scale regime. At this level, motion systems can become highly non-linear and under actuated creating challenges beyond the capabilities of traditional control methodologies. The new architecture, and more specifically, the high performance FPGA...
The Linear Coherent Light Source (LCLS) has developed a pulse-by-pulse data acquisition system, Beam-Synchronized Acquisition (BSA), to support the transition from normal-conducting (NC) to superconducting (SC) accelerator operation. BSA evolved from a 360โฏHz software-based system to a 1โฏMHz firmware-based architecture tightly integrated with the LCLS timing system and beam rate.
Alongside...
The Matter in Extreme Conditions Upgrade (MEC-U) is a Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) funded project slated for construction at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory later this decade. The facility will deliver the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) beam to an experiment target chamber, coordinated with two high-power laser systems: a...
The control of fast pulsed magnet systems at CERN requires often a common set of fast digital electronics sub-systems to perform tight timing control and fast protection of high-voltage pulse generators. Although the generators architecture is mainly modular, these control systems were until now most of the time centralized: several generators per equipment, but one global and...
Single-bunch beam position monitors (BPM) are used to track the trajectory and measure turn-by-turn positions of a single bunch of electrons while multiple bunches are present in the storage ring. In the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade (APS-U), 20 single-bunch BPMs have been installed in the first three sections right after the injection point. For each BPMs, an RF switch is used to select the...
This presentation covers the history of Fermilab's Tevatron Clock (TCLK) timing system and how it has served to regulate the facility over the past 40 years. The presentation provides an overview of beamlines at Fermilab, the challenges of timing in a Rapid Cycling Synchrotron, and the transfer scenarios utilized to generate megawatt-class beam at America's "premier" high energy physics...
When the SNS site was built around 20 years ago, the Conventional Facilities (CF) control systems were designed using 2 communication protocols to allow programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to interface with motors, variable frequency drives (VFDs), and distributed inputs and outputs (I/O). The protocol chosen to control motors and VFDs is DeviceNet, a CANbus-based protocol developed by...
This paper presents the design and implementation of the Integrated Control Systems (ICS) vacuum control system for the Second Target Station (STS) within the Ring-to-Second Target Beam Transport Line (RTST) of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). The RTST vacuum system is crucial for maintaining a high-vacuum environment necessary for the operation of a high-intensity proton beamline,...
Next-generation synchrotron experimentsโsuch as those planned for SOLEIL IIโrequire fast, accurate sample positioning to meet increasingly demanding scientific challenges. To address these needs, SOLEIL launched the development of a magnetic levitation stage demonstrator dedicated to hard X-ray scanning tomographic nano-imaging techniques such as PXCT and STXM. Designing this new class of...
Precise control of photon beam properties is essential for modern synchrotron beamlines, particularly those utilizing APPLE-II type undulators. This paper presents the control system architecture developed at MAX-IV by using IcePAP drivers and TANGO control system, to achieve advanced polarization and energy manipulation. The system implements the BLUES (Beamline Universal Polarization Mode)...
The SPIRAL2 accelerator features several diagnostic devices used to characterize, adjust, and monitor the beam. As part of its NEWGAIN (New GANIL Injector) upgrade project, SPIRAL2 will be equipped with a new source and a new injector. Therefore, new diagnostic tools will be developed, including an ALLISON-type emittance meter. To manage the emittance meter, we opted for a modern industrial...
The Cavity-Based X-ray Free-Electron Laser (CBXFEL) project, to be deployed in the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) Hard X-ray (HXR) undulator line, aims to produce a highly coherent X-ray beam by recirculating X-ray pulses within a cavity. Precise alignment of the diamond crystal mirrors in this cavity is critical to achieving optimal CBXFEL performance. To support this, we deploy a system...
