ELETTRA, Basovizza, Italy
FERMI@Elettra is a Free Electron Laser (FEL) based on a 1.5 GeV linac presently under commissioning in Trieste, Italy. Three PLC-based systems communicating to each other assure the protection of machine devices and equipment. The first is the interlock system for the linac radiofrequency plants; the second is dedicated to the protection of vacuum devices and magnets; the third is in charge of protecting various machine components from radiation damage. They all make use of a distributed architecture based on fieldbus technology and communicate with the control system via Ethernet interfaces and dedicated Tango device servers. A complete set of tools including graphical panels, logging and archiving systems are used to monitor the systems from the control room.
ELETTRA, Basovizza, Italy
FERMI@Elettra is a Free Electron Laser (FEL) based on a 1.5 GeV linac. The pulsed operation of the accelerator and the necessity to characterize and control each electron bunch requires synchronous acquisition of the beam diagnostics together with the ability to drive actuators in real-time at the linac repetition rate. The Adeos/Xenomai real-time extensions have been adopted in order to add real-time capabilities to the Linux based control system computers running the Tango software. A software communication protocol based on gigabit Ethernet and known as Network Reflective Memory (NRM) has been developed to implement a shared memory across the whole control system, allowing computers to communicate in real-time. The NRM architecture, the real-time performance and the integration in the control system are described.
ELETTRA, Basovizza, Italy
FERMI@Elettra is a new 4th-generation light source based on a seeded Free Electron Laser (FEL) presently under commissioning in Trieste, Italy. It is the first seeded FEL in the world designed to produce fundamental output wavelength down to 4 nm with High Gain Harmonic Generation (HGHG). Unlike storage ring based synchrotron light sources that are well known machines, the commissioning of a new-concept FEL is a complex and time consuming process consisting in thorough testing, understanding and optimization, in which a reliable and powerful control system is mandatory. In particular, integrated shot-by-shot beam manipulation capabilities and easy to use high level applications are crucial to allow an effective and smooth machine commissioning. The paper reports the status of the control system and the experience gained in two years of alternating construction and commissioning phases.