PCaPAC2014 - List of Authors (Cox, G.)

Paper

Title

Page

WPO039

Control System Design for the VELA Test Accelerator at Daresbury Laboratory

use link to see paper's listing under its alternate paper code

A. Oates, G. Cox, B.G. Martlew
STFC/DL, Daresbury, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom

VELA (Versatile Electron Linear Accelerator) is a high performance, modular injector facility capable of delivering a highly stable, short pulse, high quality electron beam to test enclosures. The new facility delivers a capability for the cutting edge development and qualification of advanced accelerator systems, enabling industry to expedite their technology development from prototypes to market ready products. Initial design began in 2011 and was followed by an aggressive programme of procurement, construction and commissioning, leading to first beam in summer 2013 and operation for industrial partners in autumn 2013. The control system for this completely new accelerator was designed from scratch and is based entirely on COTS (commercially off-the-shelf) hardware such as EtherCat, the latest generation of PLCs, Ethernet serial control and Linux rack mount IOCs. EPICS is used as he software toolkit. This paper describes the overall structure of the control system and discusses the choice of hardware and software together with some reflections on the suitability of those choices in the light of the first 12 months of operation.

Slides WPO039 [0.956 MB]

Paper	Title	Page
WPO039	Control System Design for the VELA Test Accelerator at Daresbury Laboratory
WPI05	use link to see paper's listing under its alternate paper code
	A. Oates, G. Cox, B.G. Martlew STFC/DL, Daresbury, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
	VELA (Versatile Electron Linear Accelerator) is a high performance, modular injector facility capable of delivering a highly stable, short pulse, high quality electron beam to test enclosures. The new facility delivers a capability for the cutting edge development and qualification of advanced accelerator systems, enabling industry to expedite their technology development from prototypes to market ready products. Initial design began in 2011 and was followed by an aggressive programme of procurement, construction and commissioning, leading to first beam in summer 2013 and operation for industrial partners in autumn 2013. The control system for this completely new accelerator was designed from scratch and is based entirely on COTS (commercially off-the-shelf) hardware such as EtherCat, the latest generation of PLCs, Ethernet serial control and Linux rack mount IOCs. EPICS is used as he software toolkit. This paper describes the overall structure of the control system and discusses the choice of hardware and software together with some reflections on the suitability of those choices in the light of the first 12 months of operation.
	Slides WPO039 [0.956 MB]