EPICS at Duke University

Abstract

Since the last Particle Accelerator Conference, the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has been utilized for control system development and implementation on several accelerators that have recently been commissioned at the Free Electron Laser Laboratory which is operated under the auspices of the Physics Department at Duke University. The historic Mark III infrared free electron laser formerly located at Stanford University, a recently designed and constructed 280 MeV electron linear accelerator and a 1 GeV storage ring synchrotron are now operating under EPICS control. Commissioning of the new injection linac and the storage ring has gone extremely well. The authors feel that through the employment of a standard controls development environment such as EPICS, considerable amounts of resources, both financial and human, have been saved. The authors note generally positive experiences with EPICS. The highlights of these experiences, as well as some suggestions for future improvements are presented in the body of this report.