Central Control System of the NAL Accelerator

Abstract

This paper describes the central control system now being built and used to operate the completed parts of the NAL accelerator. This control system may be of some interest because new methods of monitoring and control are made necessary by the greatly increased size and complexity of the NAL accelerator compared with other synchrotrons. The primary design goal for the NAL control system is that eventually, during routine operation, one person be able to operate the entire accelerator: preaccelerator, linear accelerator, booster synchrotron, main synchrotron and beam-extraction and transport systems. But it is also necessary that several operators be able simultaneously to interrogate and control different parts of the accelerator for maintenance, diagnosis of equipment problems, bringing new devices on, and for accelerator-development studies. To attain these goals, a computer-assisted system has been designed and is being built. This system has several levels of organization, and it is desirable that control be possible at more than one level, in order to avoid shutdowns caused by higher-level equipment failures. The system must also be flexible enough to accommodate the new devices we expect will be added as the accelerator is developed. This paper includes an overall description of the control system, and details of some of its special features.