ALICE Data Acquisition

Ben ShepherdMaRS Group

ASTeCSTFC Daresbury Laboratory

Overview

Image Acquisition Windows console tools

Machine Status Excel DAQ LabVIEW Mathematica

ELOG

Image Acquisition

Camera images from YAGs & OTRs displayed on control room screens

Use switches below screens to select which camera is displayed

The cameras and switches are also connected to erlpcon1

erlpcon1 has a frame grabber to capture images From the MATLAB prompt:

cd \\Apsv4\astec\Projects\4gls\ERLP\Software\Matlab\imageViewer imageViewer

http://projects.astec.ac.uk/ERLPManual/index.php/ImageViewer

Image Acquisition

imageViewer main window 1. Select source2. Grab button

or check Auto grab box

3. Type filenameor click Reset to choose it automatically based on the time

4. Click Saveor check Auto save box

• The horizontal and vertical profiles are shown alongside the image

• The axes are in mm; the scales have been calibrated for each screen

• Check Fit Gaussians to measure the position and width of the beam

• Check Save CSV to save this information to a text file

Some screens have graticules now – a document will be produced with details of these

EPICS Interface

On Windows consoles, access to the control system is possible via the Channel Access protocol

The API uses standard libraries, allowing machine control over a wide variety of platforms

The programming is really easy!

EpicsCaClient.ProcessVariable ActiveX Object

properties

Name write-once String

Value read/write Double

Units read String

is_connected read Boolean

parameter namesin top row

EPICS Control: Excel DAQ

A simple Excel macro to set and read control system parameters

Useful for doing parameter sweeps and generating tables of results automatically

commands insecond row

\\Apsv4\astec\Projects\4gls\ERLP\Software\Excel DAQ.xlsFull instructions on the wiki:http://projects.astec.ac.uk/ERLPManual/index.php/Excel_DAQ

EPICS Control: LabVIEW Strip Chart

Plot the value of a single parameter Just type the parameter name and click ‘Run’ Probably not that useful, but it demonstrates what

can be done!

\\Apsv4\astec\Projects\4gls\ERLP\Software\LabVIEW\EPICS\Simple chart.vi

EPICS Control: LabVIEW XY Graph

Plot one parameter versus another e.g. BPM readings versus magnet settings Maybe a bit more useful…

\\Apsv4\astec\Projects\4gls\ERLP\Software\LabVIEW\EPICS\XY graph.vi

ELOG

Now features a rich-text (WYSIWYG) editor Log entries are automatically saved as you type – no

need to click ‘Submit’ Press Ctrl-D to add a timestamp

http://www.4gls.ac.uk/erlp/elog/erlplog/Bookmarks ELOG on any console PC

Machine Status tool

Displays the status of each section of the machine in a standardised, easy to read form

1. Press Copy in Machine Status2. Paste directly into ELOG

Start Programs Controls Machine Status\\Apsv4\astec\Projects\4gls\ERLP\Software\Machine Status\Machine Status.exe

Online modelling

Mathematica-based tool to track a beam through the machine

Interfaces with EPICS Change dipole and

quadrupole settings and immediately see effect on the machine model

Includes optimisation panel

\\apsv4\ASTeC\Projects\4gls\ERLP\Software\Mathematica\ERLP controls v7.nb

Adjust dipole/ quadrupole strengths

Plot betas, dispersion, beam sizes