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Beamline Controls with EPICS at NSLS

Beamline Controls with EPICS at NSLS. Zhijian Yin NSLS, BNL EPICS Collaboration Meeting, SSRF, March 2008. The Facility. 2 nd Generation LS, ~2300 user/year, X-Ray and UV rings, Sources: IR-UV-X-Ray Total ~65 active beamlines PRT beamlines Facility beamlines

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Beamline Controls with EPICS at NSLS

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  1. Beamline Controls with EPICS at NSLS Zhijian Yin NSLS, BNL EPICS Collaboration Meeting, SSRF, March 2008

  2. The Facility • 2nd Generation LS, • ~2300 user/year, • X-Ray and UV rings, • Sources: IR-UV-X-Ray • Total ~65 active beamlines • PRT beamlines • Facility beamlines • Currently, ~20 facility beamlines

  3. Beamlines Controls: What do we do • Dictated by science and experimental techniques • Motion Controls • Beamline Optics: mirrors, monochromator, slits • End Stations: Sample/detector manipulation • DAQ: “high level” applications scans, data collection, detectors • Other users devices (e.g., temperature control)

  4. NSLS Beamline Controls: Pre EPICS • Legacy systems: mostly CAMAC based • Non-Uniform: PRTs are typically responsible for their own control systems • NSLS has provided “ACE” program free to beamlines • SPEC software (commercial) was quite popular • Labview programs in Windows; DOS programs • Limited manpower/budget • Standardize software (SPEC)

  5. Beamline Controls: EPICS • What drove us to EPICS was a looming hardware crisis in the late 90s • CAMAC E500 motor controllers, as extensively used at NSLS beamlines, discontinued. No replacement. • Follow APS beamline controls • VME based, OMS motor boards • Implemented a beamline control upgrade program for Facility Beamlines, at ~2-3 beamlines/year (~Y2K) • SPEC added EPICS support (EPICS client) • Currently ~20 beamlines in EPICS • PXRR beamlines controls in EPICS

  6. Beamline Controls: EPICS (Cont) • SynApps: Motion Control, Scalers, sscan, etc • Serial motors (asyn) • MCA devices (asyn) • Detector control (CCD module) • DXP multielement detectors • NSLS detectors (Siddons) - Embedded EPICS IOC • Most EPICS beamlines have SPEC/EPICS/RTEMS • PX beamlines: Python based DAQ program • TO DO: Labview camp (NI EPICS client)

  7. Beamline Controls: EPICS onRTEMS (K. Feng-Berman, P. Siddons) • VxWorks expensive • RTEMS as good, even for real time • EPICS 3.14, made RTEMS support possible • Almost all beamline controls in EPICS now runs in RTEMS (mvme230x, mvme5500)

  8. Beamline Controls: EPICS forQexafs (I.So, Siddons) • Normal EXAFS slow • Scan mono angle, (E) • A few minutes per spectrum • Qexafs • Continuous scan • Read detector data and encoder • Spectrum in seconds • Measurements of structure change • Need Real time performance • EPICS on real time Linux (RTAI)

  9. “Organization”: Request-Tracker • Database/email/web • Tracking user request • Project documentation • Help Desk support • Project Management

  10. Remote Diagnostics and Operations • NX or freenx server+SSH tunneling • Clients: free download (nomachine.com) • Good for beamline staff diagnostics and even user remote ops • General purpose, not tied to EPICS

  11. Conculding Remarks • We benefited from EPICS, SynApps tremendously • Open Source technologies really work well • Beamline controls works best with collaborations with beamline scientists and engineers • Controls upgrade could make possible new techniques • Important but challenging: training of beamline scientists and engineers to embrace EPICS • Many beamlines are ready for NSLS-II in terms of beamline controls

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