An integrated automation system for experiments on the fast extraction beamline of the TWAC-ITEP accelerator-accumulator facility

Abstract

The integrated automation system (IAS) for proton radiography and ion radiobiological experiments on the fast extraction beamline of the TWAC-ITEP accelerator-accumulator facility has been developed and successfully used. The subsystems that are parts of the IAS perform the following functions: acquisition, storage, and processing of experimental data; control of the magnetic lenses of the charged-particle beam transport line; beam diagnostics; and radiation safety and monitoring. The subsystems are composed of hardware-software modules, each dealing with a particular measuring or actuating device and a program for readout, storing, and processing of experimental data corresponding to this device. The modules communicate via a TCP/IP socket in a configuration dependent on the requirements of a particular experiment. Data are transmitted from one module to the other in the real time mode within the closed ring network, which allows consecutive processing of incoming experimental data. The status of the system elements, incoming experimental data, and results of their rapid analysis are displayed in the real time mode on the web server. Owing to the flexible structure of the integrated automation system, it is possible to promptly create new configurations for acquisition and processing of experimental data.