LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) uses powerful lasers to compress targets, to study high energy density physics. Sophisticated diagnostics are placed close to the targets to record the results of each shot. The placement of these diagnostics relative to the target is critical to the mission, with alignment tolerances on the order of 500 microns. The integration of commercial laser-based survey instruments into the NIF control system has improved diagnostic alignment in many ways. The Advanced Tracking Laser Alignment System (ATLAS) project incorporates commercial Faro laser tracker instruments into the diagnostic factory and the target chamber, improving alignment accuracy over prior systems. The system uses multiple retroreflectors mounted on each of the diagnostic positioners to translate to a 6D position in the NIF target chamber volume. This enables a closed loop alignment process to align each diagnostic. This paper provides an overview of how the laser tracker is used in diagnostic alignment, and discusses challenges met by the control system to achieve this integration.
LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
Established control systems for scientific experimental facilities offer several levels of user interfaces to match domain-specific needs and preferences of experimentalists, operational and engineering staff. At the National Ignition Facility, the low-level device panels address technicians' need for comprehensive hardware control, while Shot Automation software allows NIF Shot Director to advance thousands of devices at once through a carefully orchestrated shot sequence. MATLAB scripting with NIF Layering Toolbox has enabled formation of intricate Deuterium-Tritium ice layers for fusion experiments. The latest addition to this family of user interfaces is the Target Area Alignment Tool (TAAT), which guides NIF operators through hundreds of measurement and motion steps necessary to precisely align targets and diagnostics for each experiment inside of the NIF's 10-meter target chamber. In this paper, we discuss how this new tool has integrated familiar spreadsheet calculations with intuitive visual aids and checklist-like scripting to allow NIF Process Engineers to automate and streamline alignment sequences, contributing towards NIF Shot Rate enhancement goals.