BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York, USA
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is one of the premier high energy and nuclear physics laboratories in the world and has been a leader in accelerator based physics research for well over half a century. For the past ten years experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have recorded data from collisions of heavy ions and polarized protons, leading to major discoveries in nuclear physics and the spin dynamics of quarks and gluons. BNL is also the site of one of the oldest alternating gradient synchrotrons, the AGS, which first operated in 1960. The accelerator controls systems for these instruments span multiple generations of technologies. In this report we will describe the current status of the Collider-Accelerator Department controls systems, which are used to control seven different accelerator facilities (from the LINAC and Tandem van de Graafs to RHIC) and multiple science programs (high energy nuclear physics, high energy polarized proton physics, NASA programs, isotope production, and multiple accelerator research and development projects). We will describe the status of current projects, such as the just completed Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS), our R&D programs in superconducting RF and an Energy Recovery LINAC (ERL), innovations in feedback systems and bunched beam stochastic cooling at RHIC, and plans for future controls system developments.
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York, USA
The BNL Energy Recovery LINAC (ERL) is a high beam current, superconducting RF electron accelerator that is being commissioned to serve as a research and development prototype for a RHIC facility upgrade for electron-ion collision (eRHIC). Key components of the machine include a laser, photocathode, and 5-cell superconducting RF cavity operating at a frequency of 703 MHz. Starting with a foundation based on existing ADO software running on Linux servers and on the VME/VxWorks platforms developed for RHIC, we are developing a controls system that incorporates a wide range of hardware I/O interfaces that are needed for machine R&D. Details of the system layout, specifications, and user interfaces are provided.
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York, USA
The Machine Protection System (MPS) is a device-safety system that is designed to prevent damage to hardware by generating interlocks, based upon the state of input signals generated by selected sub-systems. It protects all the key machinery in the R&D Project called the Energy Recovery LINAC (ERL) against the high beam current. The MPS is capable of responding to a fault with an interlock signal within several microseconds. The ERL MPS is based on a National Instruments CompactRIO platform, and is programmed by utilizing National Instruments' development environment for a visual programming language. The system also transfers data (interlock status, time of fault, etc.) to the main server. Transferred data is integrated into the pre-existing software architecture which is accessible by the operators. This paper will provide an overview of the hardware used, its configuration and operation, as well as the software written both on the device and the server side.