An autonomous observation and control system based on EPICS and RTS2 for Antarctic telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guang-yu; Wang, Jian; Tang, Peng-yi; Jia, Ming-hao; Chen, Jie; Dong, Shu-cheng; Jiang, Fengxin; Wu, Wen-qing; Liu, Jia-jing; Zhang, Hong-fei

2016-01-01

For unattended telescopes in Antarctic, the remote operation, autonomous observation and control are essential. An EPICS-(Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) and RTS2-(Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version) based autonomous observation and control system with remoted operation is introduced in this paper. EPICS is a set of open source software tools, libraries and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed soft real-time control systems for scientific instruments while RTS2 is an open source environment for control of a fully autonomous observatory. Using the advantage of EPICS and RTS2, respectively, a combined integrated software framework for autonomous observation and control is established that use RTS2 to fulfil the function of astronomical observation and use EPICS to fulfil the device control of telescope. A command and status interface for EPICS and RTS2 is designed to make the EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) components integrate to RTS2 directly. For the specification and requirement of control system of telescope in Antarctic, core components named Executor and Auto-focus for autonomous observation is designed and implemented with remote operation user interface based on browser-server mode. The whole system including the telescope is tested in Lijiang Observatory in Yunnan Province for practical observation to complete the autonomous observation and control, including telescope control, camera control, dome control, weather information acquisition with the local and remote operation.

RIO EPICS device support application case study on an ion source control system (ISHP)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanz, Diego [UPM – Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid (Spain); Ruiz, Mariano, E-mail: mariano.ruiz@upm.es [UPM – Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid (Spain); Eguiraun, Mikel [Department of Electricity and Electronic, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain); Arredondo, Iñigo [ESS Bilbao Consortium, Zamudio (Spain); Badillo, Inari; Jugo, Josu [Department of Electricity and Electronic, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain); Vega, Jesús; Castro, Rodrigo [Asociación EURATOM/CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • A use case example of RIO/FlexRIO design methodology is described. • Ion source device is controlled and monitored by means EPICS IOCs. • NIRIO EPICS device support demonstrates that is able to manage RIO devices. • Easy and fast deployment is possible using RIO/FlexRIO design methodology using NIRIO-EDS. • RIO/FlexRIO technology and EPICS are a good combination for support large scale experiments in fusion environments. - Abstract: Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a software tool that during last years has become relevant as a main framework to deploy distributed control systems in large scientific environments. At the moment, ESS Bilbao uses this middleware to perform the control of their Ion Source Hydrogen Positive (ISHP) project. The implementation of the control system was based on: PXI Real Time controllers using the LabVIEW-RT and LabVIEW-EPICS tools; and RIO devices based on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. Intended to provide a full compliant EPICS IOCs for RIO devices and to avoid additional efforts on the system maintainability, a migration of the current system to a derivative Red Hat Linux (CentOS) environment has been conducted. This paper presents a real application case study for using the NIRIO EPICS device support (NIRIO-EDS) to give support to the ISHP. Although RIO FPGA configurations are particular solutions for ISHP performance, the NIRIO-EDS has permitted the control and monitoring of devices by applying a well-defined design methodology into the previous FPGA configuration for RIO/FlexRIO devices. This methodology has permitted a fast and easy deployment for the new robust, scalable and maintainable software to support RIO devices into the ISHP control architecture.

Integrating commercial and legacy systems with EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, J.O.; Kasemir, K.U.

1997-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a software toolkit, developed by a worldwide collaboration, which significantly reduces the level of effort required to implement a new control system. Recent developments now also significantly reduce the level of effort required to integrate commercial, legacy and/or site-authored control systems with EPICS. This paper will illustrate with an example both the level and type of effort required to use EPICS with other control system components as well as the benefits that may arise

Design and application of an EPICS compatible slow plant system controller in J-TEXT tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, J.; Zhang, M. [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Zheng, W., E-mail: zhengwei@hust.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Zhuang, G.; Ding, T. [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2014-05-15

Highlights: • Underlying functionalities are encapsulated into plug-and-play modules. • The slow controller is EPICS compatible. • The slow controller can work as PSH. - Abstract: J-TEXT tokamak has recently implemented J-TEXT COntrol, Data Access and Communication (CODAC) system on the principle of ITER CODAC. The control network in J-TEXT CODAC system is based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). However, former slow plant system controllers in J-TEXT did not support EPICS. Therefore, J-TEXT has designed an EPICS compatible slow controller. And moreover, the slow controller also acts the role of Plant System Host (PSH), which helps non-EPICS controllers to keep working in J-TEXT CODAC system. The basic functionalities dealing with user defined tasks have been modularized into driver or plug-in modules, which are plug-and-play and configured with XML files according to specific control task. In this case, developers are able to implement various kinds of control tasks with these reusable modules, regardless of how the lower-lever functions are implemented, and mainly focusing on control algorithm. And it is possible to develop custom-built modules by themselves. This paper presents design of the slow controller. Some applications of the slow controller have been deployed in J-TEXT, and will be introduced in this paper.

Design and application of an EPICS compatible slow plant system controller in J-TEXT tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, J.; Zhang, M.; Zheng, W.; Zhuang, G.; Ding, T.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Underlying functionalities are encapsulated into plug-and-play modules. • The slow controller is EPICS compatible. • The slow controller can work as PSH. - Abstract: J-TEXT tokamak has recently implemented J-TEXT COntrol, Data Access and Communication (CODAC) system on the principle of ITER CODAC. The control network in J-TEXT CODAC system is based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). However, former slow plant system controllers in J-TEXT did not support EPICS. Therefore, J-TEXT has designed an EPICS compatible slow controller. And moreover, the slow controller also acts the role of Plant System Host (PSH), which helps non-EPICS controllers to keep working in J-TEXT CODAC system. The basic functionalities dealing with user defined tasks have been modularized into driver or plug-in modules, which are plug-and-play and configured with XML files according to specific control task. In this case, developers are able to implement various kinds of control tasks with these reusable modules, regardless of how the lower-lever functions are implemented, and mainly focusing on control algorithm. And it is possible to develop custom-built modules by themselves. This paper presents design of the slow controller. Some applications of the slow controller have been deployed in J-TEXT, and will be introduced in this paper

EPICS: A control system software co-development success story

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knott, M.; Gurd, D.; Lewis, S.; Thuot, M.

1993-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control Systems (EPICS) is the result of a software sharing and co-development effort of major importance now underway. The initial two participants, LANL and ANL, have now been joined by three other labs, and an earlier version of the software has been transferred to three commercial firms and is currently undergoing separate development. The reasons for EPICS's success may be useful to enumerate and explain and the desire and prospects for its continued development are certainly worth examining

Development of EPICS Input Output Controller and User Interface for the PEFP Low Level RF Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young Gi; Kim, Han Sung; Seol, Kyung Tae; Kwon, Hyeok Jung; Cho, Yong Sub

2010-01-01

The Low-Level RF (LLRF) control system of the Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) was developed for handling the driving frequency for Quadrupole (RFQ) and the Draft Tube Linac (DTL) cavities in 2006. The RF amplitude and phase of the accelerating field were controlled within 1% and 1 degree by stability requirements, respectively. Operators have been using the LLRF control system under the windows based text console mode as an operator interface. The LLRF control system could not be integrated with Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) Input Output Controllers (IOC) for each subsection of PEFP facility. The main objective of this study is to supply operators of the LLRF control system with user friendly and convenient operating environment. The new LLRF control system is composed of a Verse Module Eurocard (VME) baseboard, a PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC), Board Support Package (BSP), EPICS software tool and a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) VxWorks. A test with a dummy cavity of the new LLRF control system shows that operators can control and monitor operation parameters for a desired feedback action by using EPICS Channel Access (CA).

Development of EPICS Input Output Controller and User Interface for the PEFP Low Level RF Control System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Young Gi; Kim, Han Sung; Seol, Kyung Tae; Kwon, Hyeok Jung; Cho, Yong Sub [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-05-15

The Low-Level RF (LLRF) control system of the Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) was developed for handling the driving frequency for Quadrupole (RFQ) and the Draft Tube Linac (DTL) cavities in 2006. The RF amplitude and phase of the accelerating field were controlled within 1% and 1 degree by stability requirements, respectively. Operators have been using the LLRF control system under the windows based text console mode as an operator interface. The LLRF control system could not be integrated with Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) Input Output Controllers (IOC) for each subsection of PEFP facility. The main objective of this study is to supply operators of the LLRF control system with user friendly and convenient operating environment. The new LLRF control system is composed of a Verse Module Eurocard (VME) baseboard, a PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC), Board Support Package (BSP), EPICS software tool and a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) VxWorks. A test with a dummy cavity of the new LLRF control system shows that operators can control and monitor operation parameters for a desired feedback action by using EPICS Channel Access (CA).

Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS): Application source/release control for EPICS R3.11.6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zieman, B.; Kraimer, M.

1994-01-01

This manual describes a set of tools that can be used to develop software for EPICS based control systems. It provides the following features: Multiple applications; the entire system is composed of an arbitrary number of applications: Source/Release Control; all files created or modified by the applications developers can be put under sccs (a UNIX Source/Release control utility): Multiple Developers; it allows a number of applications developers to work separately during the development phase but combine their applications for system testing and for a production system; Makefiles: makefiles are provided to automatically rebuild various application components. For C and state notation programs, Imagefiles are provided

J-TEXT-EPICS: An EPICS toolkit attempted to improve productivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Wei; Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Jing; Zhuang, Ge

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Tokamak control applications can be developed in very short period with J-TEXT-EPICS. • J-TEXT-EPICS enables users to build control applications with device-oriented functions. • J-TEXT-EPICS is fully compatible with EPICS Channel Access protocol. • J-TEXT-EPICS can be easily extended by plug-ins and drivers. -- Abstract: The Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT) team has developed a new software toolkit for building Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) control applications called J-TEXT-EPICS. It aims to improve the development efficiency of control applications. With device-oriented features, it can be used to set or obtain the configuration or status of a device as well as invoke methods on a device. With its modularized design, its functions can be easily extended. J-TEXT-EPICS is completely compatible with the original EPICS Channel Access protocol and can be integrated into existing EPICS control systems smoothly. It is fully implemented in C number sign, thus it will benefit from abundant resources in.NET Framework. The J-TEXT control system is build with this toolkit. This paper presents the design and implementation of J-TEXT EPICS as well as its application in the J-TEXT control system

Design and configuration of VME EPICS driver for He RFQ LLRF control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Tae-Sung; Jeong, Hae-Seong; Kim, Seong-Gu; Song, Young-Gi; Kim, Han-Sung; Seol, Kyung-Tae; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [KOMAC, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

In Helium Radio-Frequency Quadrupole (He RFQ) development, the role of the high-power Radio-Frequency (RF) is very important because it is responsible for stable delivery and efficient acceleration of the beam. Since the amplitude control requirements of LLRF system are ±1 % (amplitude), we need a precise remote control system for this reason. This system is referred to as Low-Level RF (LLRF) control system. This paper describes the basic configuration tasks performed by hardware side and the software side to build the LLRF control system, and describes the future work of the He RFQ LLRF control system based on this paper. LLRF control system development at the He RFQ development stage is important. LLRF control system development requires the exact configuration of hardware and software. For each of the Layer configuration is completed on the software side and hardware modules: vxworks operating system installation, EPICS BASE compilation, module source code compiled, object file loading and execution on vxworks, EPICS IOC operation check, etc.

Development of EPICS based beam-line experimental control employing motor controller for precision positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuli, Anupriya; Jain, Rajiv; Vora, H.S.

2015-01-01

In a Synchrotron Radiation Source the beamline experiments are carried out in radiation prone environment, inside the hutch, which demands to conduct experiments remotely. These experiments involves instrument control and data acquisition from various devices. Another factor which attributes to system complexity is precise positioning of sample and placement of detectors. A large number of stepper motors are engaged for achieving the required precision positioning. This work is a result of development of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) based control system to interface a stepper motor controller developed indigenously by Laser Electronics Support Division of RRCAT. EPICS is an internationally accepted open source software environment which follows toolkit approach and standard model paradigm. The operator interface for the control system software was implemented using CSS BOY. The system was successfully tested for Ethernet based remote access. The developed control software comprises of an OPI and alarm handler (EPICS ALH). Both OPI and ALH are linked with PV's defined in database files. The development process resulted into a set of EPICS based commands for controlling stepper motor. These commands are independent of operator interface, i.e. stepper motor can be controlled by using these set of commands directly on EPICS prompt. This command set is illustrated in the above table. EPICS Alarm Handler was also tested independently by running these commands on EPIC prompt. If not using ALH, operator can read the alarm status of a PV using 'SEVR' and 'STAT' attributes. (author)

EPICS and its role in data acquisition and beamline control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mooney, T. M.; Arnold, N. D.; Boucher, E.; Cha, B. K.; Goetze, K. A.; Kraimer, M. R.; Rivers, M. L.; Sluiter, R. L.; Sullivan, J. P.; Wallis, D. B.

1999-01-01

Beamline-control and data-acquisition software based on EPICS (a tool kit for building distributed control systems) has been running on many Advanced Photon Source beamlines for several years. EPICS itself, the collaborative software-development effort surrounding it, and EPICS-based beamline software have been described previously in general terms. This talk will review and update that material, focusing on the role EPICS core software plays in beamline applications and on the effects of a few defining characteristics of EPICS on the beamline software we have developed with it

The EPICS-based remote control system for muon beam line devices at J-PARC MUSE

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, T. U.; Nakahara, K.; Kawase, M.; Fujimori, H.; Kobayashi, Y.; Higemoto, W.; Miyake, Y.

2010-04-01

The remote control system for muon beam line devices of J-PARC MUSE has been developed with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The EPICS input/output controller was installed in standard Linux PCs for slow control of the devices. Power supplies for 21 magnetic elements and four slit controllers for the decay-surface muon beam line in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility are now accessible via Ethernet from a graphical user interface which has been composed using the Motif Editor and Display Manger.

EPICS-based control and data acquisition for the APS slope profiler (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Joseph; Assoufid, Lahsen; Qian, Jun; Jemian, Peter R.; Mooney, Tim; Rivers, Mark L.; Goetze, Kurt; Sluiter, Ronald L.; Lang, Keenan

2016-09-01

The motion control, data acquisition and analysis system for APS Slope Measuring Profiler was implemented using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). EPICS was designed as a framework with software tools and applications that provide a software infrastructure used in building distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, large experiments and major telescopes. EPICS was chosen to implement the APS Slope Measuring Profiler because it is also applicable to single purpose systems. The control and data handling capability available in the EPICS framework provides the basic functionality needed for high precision X-ray mirror measurement. Those built in capabilities include hardware integration of high-performance motion control systems (3-axis gantry and tip-tilt stages), mirror measurement devices (autocollimator, laser spot camera) and temperature sensors. Scanning the mirror and taking measurements was accomplished with an EPICS feature (the sscan record) which synchronizes motor positioning with measurement triggers and data storage. Various mirror scanning modes were automatically configured using EPICS built-in scripting. EPICS tools also provide low-level image processing (areaDetector). Operation screens were created using EPICS-aware GUI screen development tools.

EPICS-QT based graphical user interface for accelerator control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basu, A.; Singh, S.K.; Rosily, Sherry; Bhagwat, P.V.

2016-01-01

Particle accelerators and many industrial complex systems, require a robust and efficient control for its proper operation to achieve required beam quality, safety of its sub component and all working personnel. This control is executed via a graphical user interface through which an operator interacts with the accelerator to achieve the desired state of the machine and its output. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a widely used control system framework in the field of accelerator control. It acts as a middle layer between field devices and graphic user interface used by the operator. Field devices can also be made EPICS compliant by using EPICS based software in that. On the other hand Qt is a C++ framework which is widely used for creating very professional looking and user friendly graphical component. In Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA), which is the first stage of the three stage Accelerator Driven System (ADS) program taken by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), it is decided that EPICS will be used for controlling the accelerator and Qt will be used for developing the various Graphic User Interface (GUI) for operation and diagnostics. This paper discuss the work carried out to achieve this goal in LEHIPA

JBluIce-EPICS control system for macromolecular crystallography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stepanov, S.; Makarov, O.; Hilgart, M.; Pothineni, S.; Urakhchin, A.; Devarapalli, S.; Yoder, D.; Becker, M.; Ogata, C.; Sanishvili, R.; Nagarajan, V.; Smith, J.L.; Fischetti, R.F.

2011-01-01

The trio of macromolecular crystallography beamlines constructed by the General Medicine and Cancer Institutes Collaborative Access Team (GM/CA-CAT) in Sector 23 of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) have been in growing demand owing to their outstanding beam quality and capacity to measure data from crystals of only a few micrometres in size. To take full advantage of the state-of-the-art mechanical and optical design of these beamlines, a significant effort has been devoted to designing fast, convenient, intuitive and robust beamline controls that could easily accommodate new beamline developments. The GM/CA-CAT beamline controls are based on the power of EPICS for distributed hardware control, the rich Java graphical user interface of Eclipse RCP and the task-oriented philosophy as well as the look and feel of the successful SSRL BluIce graphical user interface for crystallography. These beamline controls feature a minimum number of software layers, the wide use of plug-ins that can be written in any language and unified motion controls that allow on-the-fly scanning and optimization of any beamline component. This paper describes the ways in which BluIce was combined with EPICS and converted into the Java-based JBluIce, discusses the solutions aimed at streamlining and speeding up operations and gives an overview of the tools that are provided by this new open-source control system for facilitating crystallographic experiments, especially in the field of microcrystallography.

EPICS: operating system independent device/driver support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.R.

2003-01-01

Originally EPICS input/output controllers (IOCs) were only supported on VME-based systems running the vxWorks operating system. Now IOCs are supported on many systems: vxWorks, RTEMS, Solaris, HPUX, Linux, WIN32, and Darwin. A challenge is to provide operating-system-independent device and driver support. This paper presents some techniques for providing such support. EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is a set of software tools, libraries, and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed, real-time control systems for scientific instruments such as particle accelerators, telescopes, and other large scientific experiments. An important component of all EPICS-based control systems is a collection of input/output controllers (IOCs). An IOC has three primary components: (1) a real-time database; (2) channel access, which provides network access to the database; and (3) device/driver support for interfacing to equipment. This paper describes some projects related to providing device/driver support on non-vxWorks systems. In order to support IOCs on platforms other than vxWorks, operating-system-independent (OSI) application program interfaces (APIs) were defined for threads, semaphores, timers, etc. Providing support for a new platform consists of providing an operating-system-dependent implementation of the OSI APIs.

Development of KOMAC Beam Monitoring System Using EPICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Young-Gi; Yun, Sang-Pil; Kim, Han-Sung; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The beam loss signals must be digitized and the sampling has to be synchronized to a reference signal which is an external trigger for beam operation. The digitized data must be accessible by the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS)-based control system, which manages the whole accelerator control. In order to satisfy the requirement, an Input /Output Controller (IOC), which runs Linux on a CPU module with PCI express based Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) modules, has been adopted. An associated linux driver and EPICS device support module also have been developed. The IOC meets the requirements and the development and maintenance of the software for the IOC is considerably efficient. The data acquisition system running EPICS will be used in increasing phase of KOrea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC) beam power. The beam monitoring system integrates BLM and BPM signals into control system and offers real-time data to operators. The IOC, which is implemented with Linux and PCI driver, has supported data acquisition as a very flexible solution.

Development of KOMAC Beam Monitoring System Using EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young-Gi; Yun, Sang-Pil; Kim, Han-Sung; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub

2014-01-01

The beam loss signals must be digitized and the sampling has to be synchronized to a reference signal which is an external trigger for beam operation. The digitized data must be accessible by the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS)-based control system, which manages the whole accelerator control. In order to satisfy the requirement, an Input /Output Controller (IOC), which runs Linux on a CPU module with PCI express based Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) modules, has been adopted. An associated linux driver and EPICS device support module also have been developed. The IOC meets the requirements and the development and maintenance of the software for the IOC is considerably efficient. The data acquisition system running EPICS will be used in increasing phase of KOrea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC) beam power. The beam monitoring system integrates BLM and BPM signals into control system and offers real-time data to operators. The IOC, which is implemented with Linux and PCI driver, has supported data acquisition as a very flexible solution

EPICS based low-level radio frequency control system in LIPAc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calvo, Julio, E-mail: julio.calvo@ciemat.es [Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnologicas, Ciemat (Spain); Rivers, Mark L. [Department of Geophysical Sciences and Center for Advanced Radiation Sources, The University of Chicago (United States); Patricio, Miguel A. [Departamento de Informatica, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain); Ibarra, Angel [Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnologicas, Ciemat (Spain)

2012-11-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The system proposed can control amplitude and phase of each cavity. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Rapid diagnostics are refreshed in milliseconds. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Increasing control parameters will not increase consumed time neither complexity. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer IQ demodulation can be achieved thanks to the transformed values at driver level. - Abstract: The IFMIF-EVEDA (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility - Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activity) linear accelerator, known as Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc), will be a 9 MeV, 125 mA continuous wave (CW) deuteron accelerator prototype to validate the technical options of the accelerator design for IFMIF. The primary mission of such facility is to test and verify materials performance when subjected to extensive neutron irradiation of the type encountered in a fusion reactor to prepare for the design, construction, licensing and safe operation of a fusion demonstration reactor (DEMO). The radio frequency (RF) power system of IFMIF-EVEDA consists of 18 RF chains working at 175 MHz with three amplification stages each. The low-level radio frequency (LLRF) controls the amplitude and phase of the signal to be synchronized with the beam and it also controls the resonance frequency of the cavities. The system is based on a commercial compact peripheral component interconnect (cPCI) field programmable gate array (FPGA) board, provided by Lyrtech and controlled by a Windows host PC. For this purpose, it is mandatory to communicate the cPCI FPGA board from EPICS Channel Access [1]. A software architecture on EPICS framework in order to control and monitor the LLRF system is presented.

EPICS MySQL Archiver - integration between EPICS and MySQL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, A.; Bhole, R.B.; Pal, S.; Sarkar, D.

2012-01-01

The performance evaluation and analysis of intersystem dependency of the various subsystems of the Superconducting Cyclotron (SCC) demand a well configured data logging, archiving and historic analysis facility for large number of control parameters along with on-line failure analysis facility of every system. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is used as development architecture of the control system of these systems with MySQL as database for large amount of relational data management. This combination requires integration between EPICS and MySQL server. For this purpose, MySQL Archiver as an EPICS Extension is developed for data logging and archiving of control parameters into MySQL database. This extension also provides a web based tool for online monitoring of control parameters and historic analysis of archived data. This paper describes the software architecture, implementation, as well as method of configuration for any other EPICS based control system as a utility. This facility is also elaborated with examples, web page views and experiences of deploying it in SCC. (author)

Using EPICS enabled industrial hardware for upgrading control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjorkland, Eric A.; Veeramani, Arun; Debelle, Thierry

2009-01-01

Los Alamos National Laboratory has been working with National Instruments (NI) and Cosy lab to implement EPICS Input Output Controller (IOC) software that runs directly on NI CompactRIO Real Time Controller (RTC) and communicates with NI LabVIEW through a shared memory interface. In this presentation, we will discuss our current progress in upgrading the control system at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Centre (LANSCE) and what we have learned about integrating CompactRIO into large experimental physics facilities. We will also discuss the implications of using Channel Access Server for LabVIEW which will enable more commercial hardware platforms to be used in upgrading existing facilities or in commissioning new ones.

EPICS Application Based on RTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Haoli; Wang Chunhong; Tang Jingyu

2009-01-01

At present, in the accelerator field all over the world, the control system is established with EPICS, which is a configuration software package based on Ethernet and distributed control system. Early version of EPICS was developed based on VxWorks. Now, EPICS international collaboration group is dedicating to supporting open source, free RTEMS, and extending RTEMS into the newer version of EPICS3.14. The paper illustrates the development, characteristic of RTEMS, compares the performances of several ordinary RTOS, builds RTEMS operating system based on MVME5500, and finally presents an EPICS application example on RTEMS. (authors)

Development of EPICS IOC for TPLC-32 platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Sanjay Kumar; Bhamra, Ratna; Kavalan, P.K.; Vaidya, U.W.

2014-01-01

Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) SCADA software package is popular worldwide for deploying accelerator control systems. EPICS base allows building server applications that interact with EPICS compliant lower level hardware, embedded systems, commercial PLCs on one side and facilitates seamless connectivity with EPICS clients on the other side. Large number of such lower level (EPICS complaint) networked systems work in collaborative environment for physics experiment. RCnD has developed a PLC platform, Trombay Programmable Logic Controller TPLC-32 for deploying C and I systems of NPP and allied utilities. This platform is now also being used for deploying accelerator C and I systems. Hence the activity of developing TPLC-32 interface with EPICS was taken up in RCnD. This paper introduces the architecture of the EPICS Input Output Controller (IOC) and describes the implementation of the EPICS SoftIOC for TPLC-32. It also describes Operator Interface developed using MEDM EPICS client for LEHIPA vacuum control system built using TPLC-32. (author)

EPICS IOC module development and implementation for the ISTTOK machine subsystem operation and control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, Paulo, E-mail: pricardofc@ipfn.ist.utl.pt [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear-Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Duarte, Andre; Pereira, Tiago; Carvalho, Bernardo; Sousa, Jorge; Fernandes, Horacio [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear-Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Correia, Carlos [Grupo de Electronica e Instrumentacao-Centro de Instrumentacao, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade de Coimbra, P-3004-516 Coimbra (Portugal); Goncalves, Bruno; Varandas, Carlos [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear-Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2011-10-15

This paper presents a developed, tested and integrated EPICS IOC (I/O controller) module solution for the ISTTOK tokamak machine operation and control for the vacuum and gas injection systems. The work is organized in two software layers which communicate through a serial RS-232 communication protocol. The first software layer is an EPICS IOC module running as a computer server application capable of receiving requests from remote or local clients providing driver interface to the system by forwarding requested commands and receiving system and control operation status. The second software layer is the firmware running in Microchip dsPIC microcontroller modules which performs the interface from RS-232 optical fiber serial protocol to EPICS IOC module. The dsPIC module communicates to the ISTTOK tokamak sensors and actuators via RS-485 and is programmed with a new protocol developed for this purpose that allows EPICS IOC module command sending/receiving, machine operation control and monitoring and system status information. Communication between EPICS IOC module and clients is achieved via a TCP/IP and UDP protocol referred as Channel Access. In addition, the EPICS IOC module provides user client applications access allowing operators to perform remote or local monitoring, operation and control.

EPICS Controlled Collimator for Controlling Beam Sizes in HIPPO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Napolitano, Arthur Soriano [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Vogel, Sven C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-08-03

Controlling the beam spot size and shape in a diffraction experiment determines the probed sample volume. The HIPPO - High-Pressure-Preferred Orientation– neutron time-offlight diffractometer is located at the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center in Los Alamos National Laboratories. HIPPO characterizes microstructural parameters, such as phase composition, strains, grain size, or texture, of bulk (cm-sized) samples. In the current setup, the beam spot has a 10 mm diameter. Using a collimator, consisting of two pairs of neutron absorbing boron-nitride slabs, horizontal and vertical dimensions of a rectangular beam spot can be defined. Using the HIPPO robotic sample changer for sample motion, the collimator would enable scanning of e.g. cylindrical samples along the cylinder axis by probing slices of such samples. The project presented here describes implementation of such a collimator, in particular the motion control software. We utilized the EPICS (Experimental Physics Interface and Control System) software interface to integrate the collimator control into the HIPPO instrument control system. Using EPICS, commands are sent to commercial stepper motors that move the beam windows.

Integrating EPICS and MDSplus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mastrovito, D.; Davis, W.; Dong, J.; Roney, P.; Sichta, P.

2006-01-01

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has been in operation at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) since 1999. Since then, NSTX has made use of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and MDSplus software packages, among others for control and data acquisition. To date, the two products have been integrated using special 'bridging' programs that include client-components for the EPICS and MDSplus servers. Recent improvements in the EPICS software have made it easier to develop a direct interface with MDSplus. This paper will describe the new EPICS extensions developed at PPPL that provide: (1) a direct data interface between EPICS process variables and MDSplus nodes; and (2) an interface between EPICS events and MDSplus events. These extensions have been developed for use with EPICS on Solaris and are currently being modified for use on real-time operating systems. Separately, an XML-RPC client was written to access EPICS 'trended' data, sampled usually once per minute during a 24 h period. The client extracts and writes a day's worth of trended data to a 'daily' MDSplus tree

Soft real-time EPICS extensions for fast control: A case study applied to a TCV equilibrium algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Romero, J.A.; Vega, J.; Nieto, J.; Ruiz, M.; Sanz, D.; Barrera, E.; De Arcas, G.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Implementation of a soft real-time control system based on EPICS technology. • High data throughput system control implementation. • GPU technology applied to fast control. • EPICS fast control based solution. • Fast control and data acquisition in Linux. - Abstract: For new control systems development, ITER distributes CODAC Core System that is a software package based on Linux RedHat, and includes EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) as software control system solution. EPICS technology is being widely used for implementing control systems in research experiments and it is a very well tested technology, but presents important lacks to meet fast control requirements. To manage and process massive amounts of acquired data, EPICS requires additional functions such as: data block oriented transmissions, links with speed-optimized data buffers and synchronization mechanisms not based on system interruptions. This EPICS limitation turned out clearly during the development of the Fast Plant System Controller Prototype for ITER based on PXIe platform. In this work, we present a solution that, on the one hand, is completely compatible and based on EPCIS technology, and on the other hand, extends EPICS technology for implementing high performance fast control systems with soft-real time characteristics. This development includes components such as: data acquisition, processing, monitoring, data archiving, and data streaming (via network and shared memory). Additionally, it is important to remark that this system is compatible with multiple Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and is able to integrate MatLab code through MatLab engine connections. It preserves EPICS modularity, enabling system modification or extension with a simple change of configuration, and finally it enables parallelization based on data distribution to different processing components. With the objective of illustrating the presented solution in an actual

EPICS release 3.11 specific documentation -- EPICS release notes for 3.11

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

EPICS release 3.11 is now ready for user testing. A person who wants to set up a simplified application environment to boot an IOC and create databases using R3.11 should follow the directions in Appendix B, page 27, of the EPICS Source/Release Control Manual, Sept. 20, 1993. The R3.11 EPICS path at ANL/APS is /net/phebos/epics/R3.11 so the command to get the new release is /net/phebos/epics/R3.11/Unix/share/bin/getrel /net/phebos/epics/R3.11. An existing R3.8 short form report can be copied to this new directory and used to create a database. ANL/APS is currently testing an Application Developers Source/Release control system. It is not yet ready for general distribution. Attached are the EPICS R3.11 release notes

EPICS IOC development on open source RTEMS RTOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bharade, S.K.; Joshi, Gopal; Das, D.

2015-01-01

Modern control systems applications are often built on top of a real time operating system. At LEHIPA beamlines, open source control systems offer a modem solution for cost effectiveness and technical competence. The 'Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System' (EPICS) and the 'Real-Time Operating System for Multiprocessor Systems' (RTEMS) were chosen to develop the core control system. Presently, the EPICS/RTEMS/MVME5500 control system is implemented for RF Protection Interlock system and BPM. This paper shares an experience of building RTEMS for MVME5500, configuring and run EPICS for RTEMS-MVME5500 architecture. It further shows EPICS bench marking results using EPICS catime and hamesstest utilities for this architecture. (author)

Implementation of EPICS based Control System for Radioisotope Beam line

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jae-Ha; Ahn, Tae-Sung; Song, Young-Gi; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

Korea Mult-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC) has been operating 100 MeV proton linear accelerator . For operating 100 MeV linac, various control system has been implemented such as vacuum, power supply, RCCS and etc. KOMAC is operating two beam lines so that clients can use 100 MeV proton beam for their experiment. KOMAC sends beam to beam line and target room using two dipole magnets and several quadrupole magnets. As demand for experiments and Radius Isotope using beam is increased, another beam line is under construction and RI beam line control system is need. To synchronize with KOMAC control system, RI beam line control system is based on Experimental Physics and Industrial control System (EPICS) software. The beam is transported to RI beam line to control magnet power supply and vacuum. Implementation of RI beam line control system is presented and some preliminary results are reported. The base RI beam line control system is implemented. It can control beam direction and vacuum. Comparing archived data and current data, RI beam line and control system will be improved. In the future, scroll pump and gate control system will be implemented using programmable logic controller PLC. RI beam interlock sequence will be added to KOMAC interlock system to protect linac.

Experience using EPICS on PC platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, J.O.; Kasemire, K.U.

1997-03-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has been widely adopted in the accelerator community. Although EPICS is available on many platforms, the majority of implementations have used UNIX workstations as clients, and VME- or VXI-based processors for distributed input output controllers. Recently, a significant portion of EPICS has been ported to personal computer (PC) hardware platforms running Microsoft's operating systems, and also Wind River System's real time vxWorks operating system. This development should significantly reduce the cost of deploying EPICS systems, and the prospect of using EPICS together with the many high quality commercial components available for PC platforms is also encouraging. A hybrid system using both PC and traditional platforms is currently being implemented at LANL for LEDA, the low energy demonstration accelerator under construction as part of the Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) project. To illustrate these developments the authors compare their recent experience deploying a PC-based EPICS system with experience deploying similar systems based on traditional (UNIX-hosted) EPICS hardware and software platforms

ATCA Shelf Manager EPICS device support for ITER CODAC Core System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Bruno, E-mail: bsantos@ipfn.ist.utl.pt [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Carvalho, Paulo F.; Rodrigues, A.P.; Carvalho, Bernardo B.; Sousa, Jorge; Batista, António J.N.; Correia, Miguel; Combo, Álvaro M.; Cruz, Nuno [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Correia, Carlos M.B.A. [Centro de Instrumentação, Departamento de Física, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra (Portugal); Gonçalves, Bruno [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • This architecture targets the health management integration into the NDS. • The developed solution supports the ShM redundancy features, specified by ATCA. • The average RTT was around 59 ms and in 99.9% of the cases was less than 130 ms. • Without losing any update cycle, can monitor a system shelf with approximately 400 sensors. • This solution enables the user to configure the entire system in DB files and st.cmd. - Abstract: The ITER CODAC Core System (CCS) is responsible for plant Instrumentation and Control (I&C) supervising and monitoring. This system uses the Enhanced Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) Channel Access (CA) protocol as the interface with the Plant Operation Network (PON). This paper presents a generic EPICS device support developed for the integration of the ATCA Shelf Manager (ShM) into the ITER CCS, providing scalability and easy configuration. The device support uses the available HTTP interface on Shelf Manager in the communication layer. Both HTTP server and sensors/actuators definitions can be configured using the EPICS database file and the Input/Output Controller (IOC) initialization file. A proposal based on this device is also presented, targeting the Nominal Device Support (NDS) for health management. The EPICS device support running in an IOC provides Process Variables (PV) to the PON network with the system information and these PVs can be used by all CA clients, such as EPICS user interface clients, alarm systems and archive systems. Operation with redundant ATCA ShMs and device support scalability tests were performed and the results are presented.

IFMIF LLRF control system architecture based on EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calvo, J.; Ibarra, A.; Miguel Angel Patricio; Rivers, M.

2012-01-01

The IFMIF-EVEDA (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility - Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activity) linear accelerator will be a 9 MeV, 125 mA CW (Continuous Wave) deuteron accelerator prototype to validate the technical options of the accelerator design for IFMIF. The primary mission of such facility is to test and verify materials performance when subjected to extensive neutron irradiation of the type encountered in a fusion reactor. The RF (Radio Frequency) power system of IFMIF-EVEDA consists of 18 RF chains working at 175 MHz with three amplification stages each. The LLRF (Low-Level Radio Frequency) controls the amplitude and phase of the signal to be synchronized with the beam and it also controls the resonance frequency of the cavities. The system is based on a commercial cPCI (Compact Peripheral Component Interconnect) FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) board provided by Lyrtech and controlled by a Windows Host PC. For this purpose, it is mandatory to communicate the cPCI FPGA Board with an EPICS Channel Access, building an IOC (Input Output Controller). A new software architecture to design a device support, using AsynPortDriver class and CSS as a GUI (Graphical User Interface), is also presented. (authors)

Design and Implementation of a Web-based Monitoring System by using EPICS Channel Access Protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An, Eun Mi; Song, Yong Gi

2009-01-01

Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) has developed a 20MeV proton accelerator, and established a distributed control system based on EPICS for sub-system components such as vacuum unit, beam diagnostics, and power supply system. The control system includes a real-time monitoring and alarm functions. From the aspect of a efficient maintenance of a control system and a additional extension of subsystems, EPICS software framework was adopted. In addition, a control system should be capable of providing an easy access for users and a real-time monitoring on a user screen. Therefore, we have implemented a new web-based monitoring server with several libraries. By adding DB module, the new IOC web monitoring system makes it possible to monitor the system through the web. By integrating EPICS Channel Access (CA) and Database libraries into a Database module, the web-based monitoring system makes it possible to monitor the sub-system status through user's internet browser. In this study, we developed a web based monitoring system by using EPICS IOC (Input Output Controller) with IBM server

Study on managing EPICS database using ORACLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shu; Wang Chunhong; Zhao Jijiu

2007-01-01

EPICS is used as a development toolkit of BEPCII control system. The core of EPICS is a distributed database residing in front-end machines. The distributed database is usually created by tools such as VDCT and text editor in the host, then loaded to front-end target IOCs through the network. In BEPCII control system there are about 20,000 signals, which are distributed in more than 20 IOCs. All the databases are developed by device control engineers using VDCT or text editor. There's no uniform tools providing transparent management. The paper firstly presents the current status on EPICS database management issues in many labs. Secondly, it studies EPICS database and the interface between ORACLE and EPICS database. finally, it introduces the software development and application is BEPCII control system. (authors)

Performance Comparison of EPICS IOC and MARTe in a Hard Real-Time Control Application

Science.gov (United States)

Barbalace, Antonio; Manduchi, Gabriele; Neto, A.; De Tommasi, G.; Sartori, F.; Valcarcel, D. F.

2011-12-01

EPICS is used worldwide mostly for controlling accelerators and large experimental physics facilities. Although EPICS is well fit for the design and development of automation systems, which are typically VME or PLC-based systems, and for soft real-time systems, it may present several drawbacks when used to develop hard real-time systems/applications especially when general purpose operating systems as plain Linux are chosen. This is in particular true in fusion research devices typically employing several hard real-time systems, such as the magnetic control systems, that may require strict determinism, and high performance in terms of jitter and latency. Serious deterioration of important plasma parameters may happen otherwise, possibly leading to an abrupt termination of the plasma discharge. The MARTe framework has been recently developed to fulfill the demanding requirements for such real-time systems that are alike to run on general purpose operating systems, possibly integrated with the low-latency real-time preemption patches. MARTe has been adopted to develop a number of real-time systems in different Tokamaks. In this paper, we first summarize differences and similarities between EPICS IOC and MARTe. Then we report on a set of performance measurements executed on an x86 64 bit multicore machine running Linux with an IO control algorithm implemented in an EPICS IOC and in MARTe.

EPICS V4 in Python

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guobao Shen; Kraimer, M.; Davidsaver, M.

2012-01-01

At NSLS-II, Python has been selected as the primary development language for physics applications. Interest in Python as a rapid application development environment continues to grow. Many large experimental scientific facilities have adopted Python for beam commissioning and the operation. The EPICS control system framework has become the de facto standard for the control of large experimental facilities, where it is in use in over 100 facilities. The next version of EPICS (EPICS V4), under active development will extend the support for physics applications, data acquisition, and data analysis. Python support for EPICS V4 will provide an effective framework to address these requirements. This paper presents design, development and status of activities focused on EPICS V4 in Python

EPICS architecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalesio, L.R.; Kozubal, A.J.; Kraimer, M.R.

1992-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) provides control and data acquisition for the experimental physics community. Because the capabilities required by the experimental physics community for control were not available through industry, we began the design and implementation of EPICS. It is a distributed process control system built on a software communication bus. The functional subsystems, which provide data acquisition, supervisory control, closed loop control, archiving, and alarm management, greatly reduce the need for programming. Sequential control is provided through a sequential control language, allowing the implementer to express state diagrams easily. Data analysis of the archived data is provided through an interactive tool. The timing system provides distributed synchronization for control and time stamped data for data correlation across nodes in the network. The system is scalable from a single test station with a low channel count to a large distributed network with thousands of channels. The functions provided to the physics applications have proven helpful to the experiments while greatly reducing the time to deliver controls. (author)

Multipurpose Controller with EPICS integration and data logging: BPM application for ESS Bilbao

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arredondo, I.; Campo, M. del; Echevarria, P.; Jugo, J.; Etxebarria, V.

2013-01-01

This work presents a multipurpose configurable control system which can be integrated in an EPICS control network, this functionality being configured through a XML configuration file. The core of the system is the so-called Hardware Controller which is in charge of the control hardware management, the set up and communication with the EPICS network and the data storage. The reconfigurable nature of the controller is based on a single XML file, allowing any final user to easily modify and adjust the control system to any specific requirement. The selected Java development environment ensures a multiplatform operation and large versatility, even regarding the control hardware to be controlled. Specifically, this paper, focused on fast control based on a high performance FPGA, describes also an application approach for the ESS Bilbao's Beam Position Monitoring system. The implementation of the XML configuration file and the satisfactory performance outcome achieved are presented, as well as a general description of the Multipurpose Controller itself

Multipurpose Controller with EPICS integration and data logging: BPM application for ESS Bilbao

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arredondo, I., E-mail: iarredondo@essbilbao.org [ESS Bilbao, Edificio Cosimet Paseode Landabarri 2, 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain); Campo, M. del; Echevarria, P. [ESS Bilbao, Edificio Cosimet Paseode Landabarri 2, 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain); Jugo, J.; Etxebarria, V. [University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Department of Electricity and Electronics, Science and Technology Fac., Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain)

2013-10-21

This work presents a multipurpose configurable control system which can be integrated in an EPICS control network, this functionality being configured through a XML configuration file. The core of the system is the so-called Hardware Controller which is in charge of the control hardware management, the set up and communication with the EPICS network and the data storage. The reconfigurable nature of the controller is based on a single XML file, allowing any final user to easily modify and adjust the control system to any specific requirement. The selected Java development environment ensures a multiplatform operation and large versatility, even regarding the control hardware to be controlled. Specifically, this paper, focused on fast control based on a high performance FPGA, describes also an application approach for the ESS Bilbao's Beam Position Monitoring system. The implementation of the XML configuration file and the satisfactory performance outcome achieved are presented, as well as a general description of the Multipurpose Controller itself.

Rapid application development by KEKB accelerator operators using EPICS/Python

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, M.; Satoh, Y.; Kitabayashi, T.

2004-01-01

In the KEKB accelerator facility, the control system is constructed based on the framework of EPICS. By using EPICS/Python API, which is originated from KEK, we can develop an EPICS channel access application based on simple Python technology with only a few knowledge of EPICS channel access protocols. The operator's new tuning ideas are quickly implemented to the control system. In this paper, we introduce the EPICS/Python API and report the effectiveness of rapid application development by the KEKB operators using the API. (author)

EPICS channel access using websocket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchiyama, A.; Furukawa, K.; Higurashi, Y.

2012-01-01

Web technology is useful as a means of widely disseminating accelerator and beam status information. For this purpose, WebOPI was implemented by SNS as a web-based system using Ajax (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) with EPICS. On the other hand, it is often necessary to control the accelerator from different locations as well as the central control room during beam operation and maintenance. However, it is not realistic to replace the GUI-based operator interface (OPI) with a Web-based system using Ajax technology because of interactive performance issue. Therefore, as a next generation OPI over the web using EPICS Channel Access (CA), we developed a client system based on WebSocket, which is a new protocol provided by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for Web-based systems. WebSocket is a web technology that provides bidirectional, full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection. By utilizing Node.js and the WebSocket access library called Socket.IO, a WebSocket server was implemented. Node.js is a server-side JavaScript language built on the Google V8 JavaScript Engine. In order to construct the WebSocket server as an EPICS CA client, an add-on for Node.js was developed in C/C++ using the EPICS CA library, which is included in the EPICS base. As a result, for accelerator operation, Web-based client systems became available not only in the central control room but also with various types of equipment. (author)

Safety control system and its interface to EPICS for the off-line front end of the SPES project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasquez, J.; Andrighetto, A.; Bassato, G.; Costa, L.; Giacchini, M.; Bertocco, M.

2012-01-01

The SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) project is based on a facility for the production of neutron-rich radioactive ion beams using the isotope separation on-line technique. The SPES off-line front-end apparatus involves a number of subsystems and procedures that are potentially dangerous both for human operators and for the equipment. The high voltage power supply, the ion source complex power supplies, the target chamber handling systems and the laser source are some example of these subsystems. For that reason, a safety control system has been developed. It is based on Schneider Electrics Preventa family safety modules that control the power supply of critical subsystems in combination with safety detectors that monitor critical variables. A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), model BMXP342020 from the Schneider Electrics Modicon M340 family, is used for monitoring the status of the system as well as controlling the sequence of some operations in automatic way. A touch screen, model XBTGT5330 from the Schneider Electrics Magelis family, is used as Human Machine Interface (HMI) and communicates with the PLC using MODBUS-TCP. Additionally, an interface to the EPICS control network was developed using a home-made MODBUS-TCP EPICS driver in order to integrate it to the control system of the Front End as well as present the status of the system to the users on the main control panel. (authors)

Simulation using Xorbit with EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, K. Jr.

1995-01-01

The accelerator code Xorbit has an interface to the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). This means that machine data such as magnet settings can be sent to Xorbit via EPICS, and the resulting orbit parameters such as beta functions, etc., can be calculated. In addition, Xorbit can be made to simulate the real machine, whether the latter is running or not. To accomplish this for the APS, there is a database of process variables in an IOC corresponding to each APS ring and beamline. These process variables are very similar to the real process variables that read and set power supplies and read monitors, except that when a setting is changed, Xorbit is notified via a callback, calculates a new orbit, and outputs the appropriate readbacks to the database. By attaching the string ''Xorbit:'' to a control name the control system will respond to the simulation rather than the real system. This allows the testing of control algorithms, orbit diagnostics, and many other components of the control system (as well as EPICS itself). It is fast enough to be visually similar to accessing the real system

Experience with EPICS in a wide variety of applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.R.; Clausen, M.; Lupton, W.; Watson, C.

1997-01-01

Currently more than 70 organizations have obtained permission to use the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a set of software packages for building real-time control systems. In this paper representatives from four of these sites discuss the reasons their sites chose EPICS, provide a brief discussion of their control system development, and discuss additional control system tools obtained elsewhere or developed locally

Experience with EPICS in a wide variety of applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kraimer, M.R. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Clausen, M. [Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron, Hamburg (Germany); Lupton, W. [W.M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela, HI (United States); Watson, C. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)

1997-08-01

Currently more than 70 organizations have obtained permission to use the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a set of software packages for building real-time control systems. In this paper representatives from four of these sites discuss the reasons their sites chose EPICS, provide a brief discussion of their control system development, and discuss additional control system tools obtained elsewhere or developed locally.

Enlisted Personnel Individualized Career System (EPICS) Test and Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

1984-01-01

The EPICS program, which was developed using an integrated personnel systems approach ( IPSA ), delays formal school training until after personnel have...received shipboard on-job training complemented by job performance aids (3PAs). Early phases of the program, which involved developing the IPSA EPICS...detailed description of the conception and development of the EPICS IPSA model, the execution of the front-end job design analyses, 3PA and instructional

The implement of the interface between EPICS and LabVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jia; Wang Chunhong

2009-01-01

The control system of BEPCII (Beijing Electron Positron Collider) is based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). LabVIEW is often used to develop data acquisition system on Windows platform. EPICS IOC version 3.14 or later, can be currently running on windows. The SharedMemory developed by SNS (Spallation Neutron Source) can implement the interface between Windows IOC and LabVIEW. The paper describes the method how to use SharedMemory and a application of magnet measurement system, so that LabVIEW and EPICS can share data each other. (authors)

Three Object-Oriented enhancement for EPICS

Science.gov (United States)

Osberg, E. A.; Dohan, D. A.; Richter, R.; Biggs, R.; Chillara, K.; Wade, D.; Bossom, J.

1994-12-01

In line with our group's intention of producing software using, where possible, Object-Oriented methodologies and techniques in the development of RF control systems, we have undertaken three projects to enhance the EPICS software environment. Two of the projects involve interfaces to EPICs Channel Access from Object-Oriented languages. The third is an enhancement to the EPICS State Notation Language to better support the Shlaer-Mellor Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology. This paper discusses the motivation, approaches, results and future directions of these three projects.

The CEBAF control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, W.A. III.

1995-01-01

CEBAF has recently upgraded its accelerator control system to use EPICS, a control system toolkit being developed by a collaboration among laboratories in the US and Europe. The migration to EPICS has taken place during a year of intense commissioning activity, with new and old control systems operating concurrently. Existing CAMAC hardware was preserved by adding a CAMAC serial highway link to VME; newer hardware developments are now primarily in VME. Software is distributed among three tiers of computers: first, workstations and X terminals for operator interfaces and high level applications; second, VME single board computers for distributed access to hardware and for local control processing; third, embedded processors where needed for faster closed loop operation. This system has demonstrated the ability to scale EPICS to controlling thousands of devices, including hundreds of embedded processors, with control distributed among dozens of VME processors executing more than 125,000 EPICS database records. To deal with the large size of the control system, CEBAF has integrated an object oriented database, providing data management capabilities for both low level I/O and high level machine modeling. A new callable interface which is control system independent permits access to live EPICS data, data in other Unix processes, and data contained in the object oriented database

Implementation of KoHLT-EB DAQ System using compact RIO with EPICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Dae-Sik; Kim, Suk-Kwon; Lee, Dong Won [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Seungyon [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is a collection of software tools collaboratively developed which can be integrated to provide a comprehensive and scalable control system. Currently there is an increase in use of such systems in large Physics experiments like KSTAR, ITER and DAIC (Daejeon Accelerator Ion Complex). The Korean heat load test facility (KoHLT-EB) was installed at KAERI. This facility is utilized for a qualification test of the plasma facing component (PFC) for the ITER first wall and DEMO divertor, and the thermo-hydraulic experiments. The existing data acquisition device was Agilent 34980A multifunction switch and measurement unit and controlled by Agilent VEE. In the present paper, we report the EPICS based newly upgraded KoHLT-EB DAQ system which is the advanced data acquisition system using FPGA-based reconfigurable DAQ devices like compact RIO. The operator interface of KoHLT-EB DAQ system is composed of Control-System Studio (CSS) and another server is able to archive the related data using the standalone archive tool and the archiveviewer can retrieve that data at any time in the infra-network.

Virtualization in control system environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, L.R.; Liu, D.K.; Wan, T.M.

2012-01-01

In large scale distributed control system, there are lots of common service composed an environment for the entire control system, such as the server system for the common software base library, application server, archive server and so on. This paper gives a description of a virtualization realization for control system environment including the virtualization for server, storage, network system and application for the control system. With a virtualization instance of the EPICS based control system environment that was built by the VMware vSphere v4, we tested the whole functionality of this virtualization environment in the SSRF control system, including the common server of the NFS, NIS, NTP, Boot and EPICS base and extension library tools, we also have applied virtualization to application servers such as the Archive, Alarm, EPICS gateway and all of the network based IOC. Specially, we test the high availability and VMotion for EPICS asynchronous IOC successful under the different VLAN configuration of the current SSRF control system network. (authors)

A shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS for real-time applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Sangwon; Neto, André C.; Park, Mikyung; Lee, Sangil; Park, Kaprai

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We implemented a shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS. • We implemented an EPICS module supporting device and driver support. • We implemented an example EPICS IOC and CSS OPI for evaluation. - Abstract: The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a multi-platform C++ middleware designed for the implementation of real-time control systems. It currently supports the Linux, Linux + RTAI, VxWorks, Solaris and MS Windows platforms. In the fusion community MARTe is being used at JET, COMPASS, ISTTOK, FTU and RFX in fusion [1]. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a standard framework for the control systems in KSTAR and ITER, is a set of software tools and applications which provide a software infrastructure for use in building distributed control systems to operate devices. For a MARTe based application to cooperate with an EPICS based application, an interface layer between MARTe and EPICS is required. To solve this issue, a number of interfacing solutions have been proposed and some of them have been implemented. Nevertheless, a new approach is required to mitigate the functional limitations of existing solutions and to improve their performance for real-time applications. This paper describes the design and implementation of a shared memory based interface between MARTe and EPICS

A shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS for real-time applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yun, Sangwon, E-mail: yunsw@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI), Gwahangno 169-148, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of); Neto, André C. [Associação EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Park, Mikyung; Lee, Sangil; Park, Kaprai [National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI), Gwahangno 169-148, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

Highlights: • We implemented a shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS. • We implemented an EPICS module supporting device and driver support. • We implemented an example EPICS IOC and CSS OPI for evaluation. - Abstract: The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a multi-platform C++ middleware designed for the implementation of real-time control systems. It currently supports the Linux, Linux + RTAI, VxWorks, Solaris and MS Windows platforms. In the fusion community MARTe is being used at JET, COMPASS, ISTTOK, FTU and RFX in fusion [1]. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a standard framework for the control systems in KSTAR and ITER, is a set of software tools and applications which provide a software infrastructure for use in building distributed control systems to operate devices. For a MARTe based application to cooperate with an EPICS based application, an interface layer between MARTe and EPICS is required. To solve this issue, a number of interfacing solutions have been proposed and some of them have been implemented. Nevertheless, a new approach is required to mitigate the functional limitations of existing solutions and to improve their performance for real-time applications. This paper describes the design and implementation of a shared memory based interface between MARTe and EPICS.

EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC) application developer's guide. APS Release 3.12

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.R.

1994-11-01

This document describes the core software that resides in an Input/Output Controller (IOC), one of the major components of EPICS. The basic components are: (OPI) Operator Interface; this is a UNIX based workstation which can run various EPICS tools; (IOC) Input/Output Controller; this is a VME/VXI based chassis containing a Motorola 68xxx processor, various I/O modules, and VME modules that provide access to other I/O buses such as GPIB, (LAN), Local Area Network; and this is the communication network which allows the IOCs and OPIs to communicate. Epics provides a software component, Channel Access, which provides network transparent communication between a Channel Access client and an arbitrary number of Channel Access servers

The PSI web interface to the EPICS channel archiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaudenz Jud; Luedeke, A.; Portmann, W.

2012-01-01

the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) channel archiver is used at different facilities at PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute) like the Swiss Light Source or the medical cyclotron. The EPICS channel archiver is a powerful tool to collect control system data of thousands of EPICS process variables with rates of many Hertz each to an archive for later retrieval. Within the package of the channel archiver version 2 you get a Java application for graphical data retrieval and a command line tool for data extraction into different file formats. For the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) we wanted a possibility to retrieve the archived data from a web interface. It was desired to have flexible retrieval functions and to allow interchanging data references by e-mail. This web interface has been implemented by the PSI controls group and has now been in operation for several years. This paper will highlight the special features of the PSI web interface to the EPICS channel archiver

Operational experience from a large EPICS-based accelerator facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciarlette, D.J.; Gerig, R.

1995-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is a third-generation x-ray light source which uses the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) to operate its linear accelerator, positron accumulator ring, booster synchrotron, and storage ring equipment. EPICS has been used at the APS since the beginning of installation and commissioning. Currently, EPICS controls approximately 100 VME crates containing over 100,000 process variables. With this complexity, the APS has had to review some of the methods originally employed and make changes as necessary. In addition, due to commissioning and operational needs, higher-level operator software needed to be created. EPICS has been flexible enough to allow this

The integration of two control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bickley, M.; White, K.

1995-01-01

During the past year the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) has installed a new machine control system, based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The migration from CEBAF's old control system, Thaumaturgic Automated Control Logic (TACL), had to be done concurrently with commissioning of the CEBAF accelerator. The smooth transition to EPICS was made possible by the similarity of the control systems' topological design and network communication protocol. Both systems have operator display computer nodes which are decoupled from the data acquisition and control nodes. The communication between display and control nodes of both control systems is based on making named requests for data, with data being passed on change of value. Due to TACL's use of a central communications process, it was possible to integrate both control systems' network communications in that process. This in turn meant that CEBAF did not require changes to any other software in order to support network communication between TACL and EPICS. CEBAF implemented the machine's control under EPICS in an evolutionary, controlled manner. 4 refs., 3 figs

Web services interface to EPICS channel access

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DUAN Lei; SHEN Liren

2008-01-01

Web services is used in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). Combined with EPICS Channel Access protocol, Web services' high usability, platform independence and language independence can be used to design a fully transparent and uniform software interface layer, which helps us complete channel data acquisition, modification and monitoring functions. This software interface layer, a cross-platform of cross-language,has good interopcrability and reusability.

Web services interface to EPICS channel access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Lei; Shen Liren

2008-01-01

Web services is used in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). Combined with EPICS Channel Access protocol, Web services high usability, platform independence and language independence can be used to design a fully transparent and uniform software interface layer, which helps us complete channel data acquisition, modification and monitoring functions. This software interface layer, a cross-platform of cross-language, has good interoperability and reusability. (authors)

Optimization and test of a digital radio-frequency control system and developments for the EPICS-based accelerator control system at the S-DALINAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burandt, Christoph Warwick

2017-01-01

The first part of this thesis covers multiple extensions of the digital low-level radio-frequency control system of the electron accelerator S-DALINAC. This comprises bringing into regular operation the piezoelectrically driven fine tuners of the superconducting cavities. For this a power supply series has been developed, which is compatible with the existing electronics and can power the piezo elements. Furthermore the flexibility of the radio-frequency control system has been demonstrated on superconducting quarter-wave-resonators of the ion accelerator ALPI. These 160 MHz cavities are quite different to the S-DALINAC's acceleration structures but could be operated successfully with low residual errors in phase and amplitude nevertheless. The second part describes the migration of the accelerator control system to an EPICS-based system. A multitude of devices with a diversity of interfaces and protocols have been integrated and higher-level functionality has been unified. Within the framework of the construction of the third recirculation beam-line, the beam-path-length adjustment mechanism was motorized.

The cryogenic control system of BEPCⅡ

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Gang; WANG Ke-Xiang; ZHAO Ji-Jiu; YUE Ke-Juan; DAI Ming-Sui; HUANG Yi-Ling; JIANG Bo

2008-01-01

A superconducting cryogenic system has been designed and deployed in the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider Upgrade Project(BEPCⅡ).The system consists of a Siemens PLC(ST-PLC,Programmable Logic Controller)for the compressor control,an Allen Bradley(AB)PLC for the cryogenic equipments,and the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System(EPICS)that integrates the PLCs.The system fully automates the superconducting cryogenic control with process control,PID(Proportional-Integral-Differential)control loops,real-time data access and data storage,alarm handler and human machine interface.It is capable of automatic recovery as well.This paper describes the BEPCⅡ cryogenic control system,data communication between ST-PLC and EPICS Input/Output Controllers(IOCs),and the integration of the flow control,the low level interlock,the AB-PLC,and EPICS.

Radiation monitoring system based on EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Weizhen; Li Jianmin; Wang Xiaobing; Hua Zhengdong; Xu Xunjiang

2008-01-01

Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF for short) is a third-generation light source building in China, including a 150 MeV injector, 3.5 GeV booster, 3.5 GeV storage ring and an amount of beam line stations. During operation, a mass of Synchrotron Radiation will be produced by electrons in the booster and the storage ring. Bremsstrahlung and neutrons will also be produced as a result of the interaction between the electrons, especially the beam loss, and the wall of the vacuum beam pipe. SSRF Radiation Monitoring System is established for monitoring the radiation dosage of working area and environment while SSRF operating. The system consists of detectors, intelligent data-collecting modules, monitoring computer, and managing computer. The software system is developed based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System), implementing the collecting and monitoring the data output from intelligent modules, analyzing the data, and so on. (authors)

EPICS data archiver at SSRF beamlines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Zheng; Mi Qingru; Zheng Lifang; Li Zhong

2014-01-01

The control system of SSRF (Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility) is based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). Operation data storage for synchrotron radiation facility is important for its status monitoring and analysis. At SSRF, operation data used to be index files recorded by traditional EPICS Channel Archiver. Nevertheless, index files are not suitable for long-term maintenance and difficult for data analysis. Now, RDB Channel Archiver and MySQL are used for SSRF beamline operation data archiving, so as to promote the data storage reliability and usability. By applying a new uploading mechanism to RDB Channel Archiver, its writing performance is improved. A web-based GUI (Graphics User Interface) is also developed to make it easier to access database. (authors)

Formulation of EPICS record naming conventions in J-PARC linac and RCS. Build process of unique and standardized name

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuta, Shinpei; Kawase, Masato; Kikuzawa, Nobuhiro; Watanabe, Kazuhiko; Sakaki, Hironao; Takahashi, Hiroki

2011-02-01

J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) accelerator devices are controlled by the use of the software called EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). The unique name called an EPICS record is given to a control signal and data acquisition, Accelerator device control is achieved using the EPICS record. The requirement for the EPICS record name is 2 points; (1) no overlap of the EPICS record name, (2) the control contents can be easily imagined from the EPICS record name. To manage the EPICS record using relational database for the information management of the accelerator device in J-PARC, the naming structure is required so that a mechanical process can be performed easily. It was necessary to standardize the EPICS record name and the EPICS record structure to achieve these requirements. Therefore, we have formulated a guideline called 'EPICS record naming conventions' to decide to an EPICS record name uniquely and standardization. The abbreviated key word list of the accelerator devices and the control signal that compose the EPICS record name is appended to the EPICS record naming conventions. (author)

Collaborative development of the EPICS Qt framework Phase I Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayssat, Robert E. [Lyncean Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

2015-01-15

At Lyncean, a private company spun-off from technology developed at the SLAC National Lab, we have been using EPICS for over a decade. EPICS is ubiquitous on our flagship product – the Compact Light Source. EPICS is not only used to control our laser and accelerator systems, but also to control our x-ray beamlines. The goal of this SBIR is for Lyncean Technologies to spearhead a worldwide collaborative effort for the development of control system tools for EPICS using the Qt framework, a C++-based coding environment that could serve as a competitive alternative to the Java-based Control System Studio (CSS). This grant's Phase I, not unlike a feasibility study, is designed for planning and scoping the preparatory work needed for Phase II or other funding opportunities. The three main objectives of this Phase I are (1) to become better acquainted with the existing EPICS Qt software and Qt framework in order to evaluate the best options for ongoing development, (2) to demonstrate that our engineers can lead the EPICS community and jump-start the Qt collaboration, and (3) to identify a scope for our future work with solicited feedback from the EPICS community. This Phase I report includes key technical findings. It clarifies the differences between the two apparently-competing EPICS Qt implementations, caQtDM and the QE Framework; it explains how to create python-bindings, and compares Qt graphical libraries. But this report is also a personal story that narrates the birth of a collaboration. Starting a collaboration is not the work of a single individual, but the work of many. Therefore this report is also an attempt to publicly give credit to many who supported the effort. The main take-away from this grant is the successful birth of an EPICS Qt collaboration, seeded with existing software from the PSI and the Australian Synchrotron. But a lot more needs to be done for the collaboration founders' vision to be realized, and for the collaboration to reach

Centrally managed name resolution schemes for EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jun, D.

1997-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) uses a broadcast method to locate resources and controls distributed across control servers. There are many advantages offered by using a centrally managed name resolution method, in which resources are located using a repository. The suitability of DCE Directory Service as a name resolution method is explored, and results from a study involving DCE are discussed. An alternative nameserver method developed and in use at the Thomas Jefferson national Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) is described and results of integrating this new method with existing EPICS utilities presented. The various methods discussed in the paper are compared

Preliminary design and integration of EPICS operation interface for the Taiwan photon source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Y.S.; Jenny Chen; Chiu, P.C.; Kuo, C.H.; Liao, C.Y.; Hsu, K.T.; Wu, C.Y.

2012-01-01

The TPS (Taiwan Photon Source) is the latest generation 3 GeV synchrotron light source which has been in construction since 2010. The EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) framework is adopted as control system infrastructure for the TPS. The EPICS IOCs (Input Output Controller) and various database records have been gradually implemented to control and monitor available subsystems of the TPS at this moment. The subsystem includes timing, power supply, motion controller, miscellaneous Ethernet compliant devices etc. Through EPICS PVs (Process Variables) channel access, remote access I/O data via Ethernet interface can be observed by the usable graphical tool-kits, such as the EDM (Extensible Display Manager) and MATLAB. The operation interface mainly includes the function of setting, reading, save, restore and etc. Integration of operation interfaces will depend upon properties of each subsystem. In addition, the centralized management method is utilized to serve every client from file servers in order to maintain consistent versions of related EPICS files. (authors)

Vacuum control system of VEC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Anindya; Bhole, R.B.; Bandopadhyay, D.L.; Mukhopadhyay, B.; Pal, Sarbajit; Sarkar, D.

2009-01-01

As a part of modernization of VEC (Variable Energy Cyclotron), the Vacuum Control System is being upgraded to PLC based automated system from initial Relay based Manual system. EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System), a standard open source software tool for designing distributed control system, is chosen for developing the supervisory control software layer, leading towards a unified distributed control architecture of VEC Control System. A Modbus - TCP based IOC (I/O Controller) has been developed to communicate control data to PLC using Ethernet-TCP LAN. Keeping in mind, the operators' familiarity with MS-Windows, a MS-Windows based operator interface is developed using VB6. It is also used to test and evaluate EPICS compatibility to MS Windows. Several MS Windows ActiveX components e.g. text display, image display, alarm window, set-point input etc. have been developed incorporating Channel Access library of EPICS. Use of such components ease the programming complexity and reduce developmental time of the operator interface. The system is in the final phase of commissioning. (author)

Development and implementation of an EPICS-based accelerator control interface and automated beam optimisation at the S-DALINAC; Entwicklung und Implementierung einer EPICS-basierten Beschleuniger-Steuerungsschnittstelle und automatisierten Strahloptimierung am S-DALINAC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schoesser, Thomas

2017-06-12

This thesis is divided into two parts of improvements to the accelerator control system of the S-DALINAC. In the first part the finalisation of the EPICS migration to the S-DALINAC control system is presented. Therefore the input-outputcontrollers(IOCs) of the controls of magnets, the targets, and the video multiplexer are included into the EPICS framework. In addition to that the operator interfaces(OPIs) of the controls of magnets and targets are implemented. To configure these IOCs and OPIs a relational database is used, which was extended within this thesis. In- and output of magnet control is provided by rotating knobs and touch screens, which hardware were modernised. The realised steps are doing their part in reducing perturbations and ease up operations since. The second part covers the automated optimisation of beam optics. Therefore the software AreaDetector was integrated into the S-DALINAC control system. The functionality is shown by the example of setting a quadrupol magnet deflection-free fully automated. Also the flexibility enables other setups to be automatically optimised in the future.

Doing accelerator physics using SDDS, UNIX, and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borland, M.; Emery, L.; Sereno, N.

1995-01-01

The use of the SDDS (Self-Describing Data Sets) file protocol, together with the UNIX operating system and EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Controls System), has proved powerful during the commissioning of the APS (Advanced Photon Source) accelerator complex. The SDDS file protocol has permitted a tool-oriented approach to developing applications, wherein generic programs axe written that function as part of multiple applications. While EPICS-specific tools were written for data collection, automated experiment execution, closed-loop control, and so forth, data processing and display axe done with the SDDS Toolkit. Experiments and data reduction axe implemented as UNIX shell scripts that coordinate the execution of EPICS specific tools and SDDS tools. Because of the power and generic nature of the individual tools and of the UNIX shell environment, automated experiments can be prepared and executed rapidly in response to unanticipated needs or new ideas. Examples are given of application of this methodology to beam motion characterization, beam-position-monitor offset measurements, and klystron characterization

Startup of the experimental physics industrial control system at NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sichta, P.; Dong, J.

1999-01-01

The Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software which is being used as the basis of the National Spherical Torus Experiment's (NSTX) Process Control System, a major element of the NSTX's Central Instrumentation and Control System. EPICS is a result of a co-development effort started by several US Department of Energy National Laboratories. EPICS is actively supported through an international collaboration made up of government and industrial users. EPICS' good points include portability, scalability, and extensibility. A drawback for small experiments is that a wide range of software skills are necessary to get the software tools running for the process engineers. The authors' experience in designing, developing, operating, and maintaining NSTX's EPICS (system) will be reviewed

Integration of the HVCM PLC into the PEFP Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young Gi; Jang, Ji Ho; Kwon, Hyeok Jung; Cho, Yong Sub

2011-01-01

The High Voltage Converter Modulators (HVCM) for the 100-MeV accelerator was installed to drive the 20-MeV linac. There are two klystrons in the 20-MeV linac and one modulator was used to drive two klystrons simultaneously. The HVCM for the 20-MeV linac area in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is shown in Fig. 1. We were faced with the necessity of integrating Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) for the HVCM into the Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) control system. At the PEFP, Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has become the most widely used solution for building control systems for 100MeV proton accelerator. The EPICS as a standard development tool is a distributed architecture that provides several solutions such as independent programming tools for operating system, operator interface tools, and archiving tools. Although EPICS is used directly in our control system, HVCMs were delivered with the Allen-Bradley ControlLogix as a PLC. The industrial PLC has been verified for safety systems. We need to connect an interface from our EPICS control system to AB-PLC using Ethernet/IP (ControlNet over Ethernet) protocol over Ethernet. In this paper, we will present the communication protocol and EPICS IOC installation for the EPICS based PLC control system

EPICS - MDSplus integration in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luchetta, Adriano; Manduchi, Gabriele; Barbalace, Antonio; Soppelsa, Anton; Taliercio, Cesare

2011-01-01

SPIDER, the ITER-size ion-source test bed in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility, is a fusion device requiring a complex central system to provide control and data acquisition, referred to as CODAS. The CODAS software architecture will rely on EPICS and MDSplus, two open-source, collaborative software frameworks, targeted at control and data acquisition, respectively. EPICS has been selected as ITER CODAC middleware and, as the final deliverable of the Neutral Beam Test Facility is the procurement of the ITER Heating Neutral Beam Injector, we decided to adopt this ITER technology. MDSplus is a software package for data management, supporting advanced concepts, such as platform and underlying hardware independence, self description data, and data driven model. The combined use of EPICS and MDSplus is not new in fusion, but their level of integration will be new in SPIDER, achieved by a more refined data access layer. The paper presents the integration software to use effectively EPICS and MDSplus, including the definition of appropriate EPICS records to interact with MDSplus. The MDSplus and EPICS archive concepts are also compared on the basis of performance tests and data streaming is investigated by ad-hoc measurements.

A MySQL Based EPICS Archiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slominski, Christopher

2009-01-01

Archiving a large fraction of the EPICS signals within the Jefferson Lab (JLAB) Accelerator control system is vital for postmortem and real-time analysis of the accelerator performance. This analysis is performed on a daily basis by scientists, operators, engineers, technicians, and software developers. Archiving poses unique challenges due to the magnitude of the control system. A MySQL Archiving system (Mya) was developed to scale to the needs of the control system; currently archiving 58,000 EPICS variables, updating at a rate of 11,000 events per second. In addition to the large collection rate, retrieval of the archived data must also be fast and robust. Archived data retrieval clients obtain data at a rate over 100,000 data points per second. Managing the data in a relational database provides a number of benefits. This paper describes an archiving solution that uses an open source database and standard off the shelf hardware to reach high performance archiving needs. Mya has been in production at Jefferson Lab since February of 2007.

A MySQL Based EPICS Archiver

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christopher Slominski

2009-10-01

Archiving a large fraction of the EPICS signals within the Jefferson Lab (JLAB) Accelerator control system is vital for postmortem and real-time analysis of the accelerator performance. This analysis is performed on a daily basis by scientists, operators, engineers, technicians, and software developers. Archiving poses unique challenges due to the magnitude of the control system. A MySQL Archiving system (Mya) was developed to scale to the needs of the control system; currently archiving 58,000 EPICS variables, updating at a rate of 11,000 events per second. In addition to the large collection rate, retrieval of the archived data must also be fast and robust. Archived data retrieval clients obtain data at a rate over 100,000 data points per second. Managing the data in a relational database provides a number of benefits. This paper describes an archiving solution that uses an open source database and standard off the shelf hardware to reach high performance archiving needs. Mya has been in production at Jefferson Lab since February of 2007.

Optimization and test of a digital radio-frequency control system and developments for the EPICS-based accelerator control system at the S-DALINAC; Optimierung und Test der digitalen Hochfrequenzregelung und Entwicklung fuer das EPICS-basierte Beschleunigungskontrollsystem am S-DALINAC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burandt, Christoph Warwick

2017-07-01

The first part of this thesis covers multiple extensions of the digital low-level radio-frequency control system of the electron accelerator S-DALINAC. This comprises bringing into regular operation the piezoelectrically driven fine tuners of the superconducting cavities. For this a power supply series has been developed, which is compatible with the existing electronics and can power the piezo elements. Furthermore the flexibility of the radio-frequency control system has been demonstrated on superconducting quarter-wave-resonators of the ion accelerator ALPI. These 160 MHz cavities are quite different to the S-DALINAC's acceleration structures but could be operated successfully with low residual errors in phase and amplitude nevertheless. The second part describes the migration of the accelerator control system to an EPICS-based system. A multitude of devices with a diversity of interfaces and protocols have been integrated and higher-level functionality has been unified. Within the framework of the construction of the third recirculation beam-line, the beam-path-length adjustment mechanism was motorized.

The evolution of Jefferson Lab's control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

K. S. White; M. Bickley; W. Watson

1999-01-01

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility's (Jefferson Lab) accelerator controls were initially implemented as a proprietary in-house system. During machine commissioning, problems were encountered leading to a decision to migrate to the Experimental Physics and Industrial Controls System (EPICS). Since then, the accelerator and all other laboratory controls have been successfully converted. In addition to implementing Jefferson Lab's controls using EPICS, new data visualization tools have been developed and existing programs have been enhanced with new capabilities. In order to provide a more generic interface for high level applications development, a device abstraction layer, called Common DEVice (CDEV), was implemented. These additions have been made available to other laboratories and are in use at many sites, including some that do not use EPICS. Control System development is not limited to computer scientists; operators, engineers and physicists frequently add capabilities using EPICS, CDEV, Tel/tk, and other tools. These contributions have tailored the control system for many different types of customers. For the future, the authors envision more intelligent processing and more capable tools for data storage, retrieval and visualization

GDA and EPICS: working in unison for science driven data acquisition and control at Diamond light source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbons, E.P.; Heron, M.T.; Rees, N.P.

2012-01-01

Diamond Light Source has recently received funding for an additional 10 photon beamlines, bringing the total to 32 beamlines and around 40 end-stations. These all use EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) for the control of the underlying instrumentation associated with photon delivery, the experiment and most of the data acquisition hardware. For the scientific users Diamond has developed the Generic Data Acquisition (GDA) application framework to provide a consistent science interface across all beamlines. While each application is customized to the science of its beamline, all applications are built from the framework and predominantly interface to the underlying instrumentation through the EPICS abstraction. We will describe the complete system, illustrate how it can be configured for a specific beamline application, and how other synchrotrons are, and can, adapt these tools for their needs. (authors)

DOE's Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (EPIC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otis, P.T.

1994-05-01

The US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (EPIC) is a computer system intended for the exchange of pollution prevention information DOE-wide. EPIC is being developed as a distributed system that will allow access to other databases and applications. The first prototype of EPIC (Prototype I) was put on-line in January 1994. Prototype I contains information on EM-funded pollution prevention projects; relevant laws, regulations, guidance, and policy; facility and DOE contacts; and meetings and conferences. Prototype I also gives users access to the INEL Hazardous Solvent Substitution Data System (HSSDS) and to information contained on the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPNS) Pollution Prevention Infbrmation Exchange System (PIES) as a test of the distributed system concept. An initial user group of about 35 is testing and providing feedback on Prototype I. Prototype II, with a Graphical User Interface (GUI), is planned for the end of CY94. This paper describes the current state of EPIC in terms of architecture, user interface, and information content. Plans for Prototype II and the final system are then discussed. The EPIC development effort is being coordinated with EPA and US Department of Defense (DoD) efforts to develop or upgrade their pollution prevention information exchange systems

The design status of CSNS experimental control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jian Zhuang; Yuanping Chu; Dapeng Jin; Yuqian Liu; Yinhong Zhang; Zhuoyu Zhang; Kejun Zhu; Libin Ding; Lei Hu; Jiajie Li; Yali, Liu

2012-01-01

To meet the increasing demand from user community, China decided to build a world-class spallation neutron source, called CSNS (China Spallation Neutron Source). It can provide users a neutron scattering platform with high flux, wide wavelength range and high efficiency. CSNS construction is expected to start in 2011 and will last 6.5 years. The control system of CSNS is divided into accelerator control system and experimental control system. CSNS Experimental Control System is based on EPICS architecture, offering device operation and device debug interface, communication between devices, environment monitor, machine and personnel protection, interface to accelerator control system, overall system monitor and database service. The control system is divided into 4 parts, such as front control layer, local and global control layer based on EPICS, database and network service and the others. The front control layer is based on YOKOGAWA PLC and other controllers. EPICS includes local and global control layer provides all system control and information exchange. Embedded PLC YOKOGAWA RP61 and others is to be used as communication node between front layer and EPICS. Database service provides system configuration and historical data. From the experience of BESIII, MySQL is an option. The system will be developed in Dongguan, Guangdong province and Beijing. So VPN will be used to help development. Now, total 9 persons are working on this system. (authors)

A study of some features of the ultra high vacuum systems for EPIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsey, R.J.; Bennett, J.R.J.; Dossett, A.J.

1977-01-01

This report covers the experimental work carried out towards the development of the ultra high vacuum for the proposed electron positron storage ring, EPIC. Experiments included outgassing tests on samples of materials and pump-down tests on full scale aluminium vessels. The effect of baking was investigated. The approval of the similar machine PETRA at Hamburg and the subsequent withdrawal of the EPIC proposal in October 1975 curtailed the vacuum work. The experiments reported here are therefore incomplete, but nevertheless proved useful in showing that there should have been no major problems with building the vacuum system for EPIC. (author)

Perfusion Electronic Record Documentation Using Epic Systems Software.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Jeffrey B; Justison, George A

2015-12-01

The authors comment on Steffens and Gunser's article describing the University of Wisconsin adoption of the Epic anesthesia record to include perfusion information from the cardiopulmonary bypass patient experience. We highlight the current-day lessons and the valuable quality and safety principles the Wisconsin-Epic model anesthesia-perfusion record provides.

Implementation of the Integrated Alarm System for KOMAC facility using EPICS framework and Eclipse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young-Gi; Kim, Jae-Ha; Kim, Han-Sung; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub

2017-01-01

The alarm detecting layer is the component that monitors alarm signals which are transported to the processing part through message queue. The main purpose of the processing part is to transfer the alarm signals connecting an alarm identification and state of the alarm to database system. The operation interface of system level signal links has been developed by EPICS framework. EPICS tools have been used for monitoring device alarm status. The KOMAC alarm system was developed for offering a user-friendly, intuitive user interface. The alarm system is implemented with EPICS IOC for alarm server, eclipse-mars integrated development tool for alarm viewer, and mariadb for alarm log. The new alarm system supports intuitive user interface on alarm information and alarm history. Alarm view has plans to add login function, user permission on alarm acknowledge, user permission of PV import, search and report function.

Quality assurance of the international computerised 24 h dietary recall method (EPIC-Soft).

Science.gov (United States)

Crispim, Sandra P; Nicolas, Genevieve; Casagrande, Corinne; Knaze, Viktoria; Illner, Anne-Kathrin; Huybrechts, Inge; Slimani, Nadia

2014-02-01

The interview-administered 24 h dietary recall (24-HDR) EPIC-Soft® has a series of controls to guarantee the quality of dietary data across countries. These comprise all steps that are part of fieldwork preparation, data collection and data management; however, a complete characterisation of these quality controls is still lacking. The present paper describes in detail the quality controls applied in EPIC-Soft, which are, to a large extent, built on the basis of the EPIC-Soft error model and are present in three phases: (1) before, (2) during and (3) after the 24-HDR interviews. Quality controls for consistency and harmonisation are implemented before the interviews while preparing the seventy databases constituting an EPIC-Soft version (e.g. pre-defined and coded foods and recipes). During the interviews, EPIC-Soft uses a cognitive approach by helping the respondent to recall the dietary intake information in a stepwise manner and includes controls for consistency (e.g. probing questions) as well as for completeness of the collected data (e.g. system calculation for some unknown amounts). After the interviews, a series of controls can be applied by dietitians and data managers to further guarantee data quality. For example, the interview-specific 'note files' that were created to track any problems or missing information during the interviews can be checked to clarify the information initially provided. Overall, the quality controls employed in the EPIC-Soft methodology are not always perceivable, but prove to be of assistance for its overall standardisation and possibly for the accuracy of the collected data.

Association among individual deprivation, glycemic control, and diabetes complications: the EPICES score.

Science.gov (United States)

Bihan, Hélène; Laurent, Silvana; Sass, Catherine; Nguyen, Gérard; Huot, Caroline; Moulin, Jean Jacques; Guegen, René; Le Toumelin, Philippe; Le Clésiau, Hervé; La Rosa, Emilio; Reach, Gérard; Cohen, Régis

2005-11-01

Previous studies have related poor glycemic control and/or some diabetes complications to low socioeconomic status. Some aspects of socioeconomic status have not been assessed in these studies. In the present study, we used an individual index of deprivation, the Evaluation de la Précarité et des Inégalités de santé dans les Centres d'Examens de Santé (Evaluation of Precarity and Inequalities in Health Examination Centers [EPICES]) score, to determine the relationship among glycemic control, diabetes complications, and individual conditions of deprivation. We conducted a cross-sectional prevalence study in 135 consecutive diabetic patients (age 59.41 +/- 13.2 years [mean +/- SD]) admitted in the hospitalization unit of a French endocrine department. Individual deprivation was assessed by the EPICES score, calculated from 11 socioeconomic questions. Glycemic control, lipid levels, blood pressure, retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy were assessed. HbA(1c) level was significantly correlated with the EPICES score (r = 0.366, P < 0.001). The more deprived patients were more likely than the less deprived patients to have poor glycemic control (beta = 1.984 [SE 0.477], P < 0.001), neuropathy (odds ratio 2.39 [95% CI 1.05-5.43], P = 0.037), retinopathy (3.66 [1.39-9.64], P = 0.009), and being less often admitted for 1-day hospitalization (0.32 [0.14-0.74], P = 0.008). No significant relationship was observed with either nephropathy or cardiovascular risk factors. Deprivation status is associated with poor metabolic control and more frequent microvascular complications, i.e., retinopathy and neuropathy. The medical and economic burden of deprived patients is high.

Development of EPICS channel access embedded ActiveX components for GUI development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, A.; Bhole, R.B.; Pal, S.

2012-01-01

The paper describes the integration of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) Channel Access (CA) protocol and Microsoft ActiveX technology towards developing a generalize operator interface (OPI) building facility for Windows platform. EPICS is used as the development architecture of the control system in Superconducting Cyclotron (SCC). Considering the operators' familiarity and compatibility with third party software, it was decided to use MS-Windows platform at operator interface level in SCC during commission. Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) is used on trial basis as OPI building platform to incorporate user specific features e.g. file system access for data storage and analysis, user authentication at OPI level etc. A set of EPICS Channel Access embedded ActiveX components is developed to ease the programming complexity and reduce developmental time of the OPI for Windows platform. OPIs, developed using these components and containing hundreds of process parameters, are being used reliably over a considerable period of time. (author)

The CEBAF control system for the CHL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keesee, M.S.; Bevins, B.S.

1996-01-01

The CEBAF Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) control system consists of independent safety controls located at each subsystem, CAMAC computer interface hardware, and a CEBAF-designed control software called Thaumaturgic Automated Control Logic (TACL). The paper describes how control software was interfaced with the subsystems of the CHL. Topics of configuration, editing, operator interface, datalogging, and internal logic functions are presented as they relate to the operational needs of the helium plant. The paper also describes the effort underway to convert from TACL to the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), the new control system for the CEBAF accelerator. This software change will require customizing EPICS software to cryogenic process control

Status of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System at NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sichta, P.; Dong, J.

2002-01-01

The NSTX achieved first plasma in 1999. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is used to provide data-integration services for monitoring and control of all NSTX engineering subsystems. EPICS is a set of software initially developed at U.S. DOE laboratories. It is currently used and maintained through a global collaboration of hundreds of scientists and engineers. This paper will relate some of our experiences using and supporting the EPICS software. Topics include reliability and maintainability, lessons learned, recently added engineering subsystems, new EPICS software tools, and a review of our first EPICS software upgrade. Steps to modernize the technical infrastructure of EPICS to ensure effective support for NSTX will also be described

EPIC229426032 b and EPIC246067459 b: discovery and characterization of two new transiting hot Jupiters from K2

Science.gov (United States)

Soto, M. G.; Díaz, M. R.; Jenkins, J. S.; Rojas, F.; Espinoza, N.; Brahm, R.; Drass, H.; Jones, M. I.; Rabus, M.; Hartman, J.; Sarkis, P.; Jordán, A.; Lachaume, R.; Pantoja, B.; Vučković, M.; Ciardi, D. R.; Crossfield, I.; Dressing, C.; Gonzales, E.; Hirsch, L.

2018-05-01

We report the discovery of two hot Jupiters orbiting the stars EPIC229426032 and EPIC246067459. We used photometric data from Campaign 11 and 12 of the Kepler K2 Mission and radial velocity data obtained using the HARPS, FEROS, and CORALIE spectrographs. EPIC229426032 b and EPIC246067459 b have masses of 1.60^{+0.11}_{-0.11} and 0.86^{+0.13}_{-0.12}Mjup, radii of 1.65^{+0.07}_{-0.08} and 1.30^{+0.15}_{-0.14} R_{jup}, and are orbiting their host stars in 2.18 and 3.20-day orbits, respectively. The large radius of EPIC229426032 b leads us to conclude that this candidate corresponds to a highly inflated hot Jupiter. EPIC2460674559 b has a radius consistent with theoretical models, considering the high incident flux falling on the planet. We consider EPIC229426032 b to be a excellent system for follow-up studies, since not only is it very inflated, but it also orbits a relatively bright star (V = 11.6).

Operational experience with the CEBAF control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovater, C.; Chowdhary, M.; Karn, J.; Tiefenback, M.; Zeijts, J. van; Watson, W.

1996-01-01

The CEBAF accelerator at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) successfully began its experimental nuclear physics program in November of 1995 and has since surpassed predicted machine availability. Part of this success can be attributed to using the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) control system toolkit. The CEBAF control system is one of the largest accelerator control system now operating. It controls approximately 338 SRF cavities, 2,300 magnets, 500 beam position monitors and other accelerator devices, such as gun hardware and other beam monitoring devices. All told, the system must be able to access over 125,000 database records. The system has been well received by both operators and the hardware designers. The EPICS utilities have made the task of troubleshooting systems easier. The graphical and test-based creation tools have allowed operators to custom build control screens. In addition, the ability to integrate EPICS with other software packages, such as Tcl/Tk, has allowed physicists to quickly prototype high-level application programs, and to provide GUI front ends for command line driven tools. Specific examples of the control system applications are presented in the areas of energy and orbit control, cavity tuning and accelerator tune up diagnostics

An EPICS IOC builder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, M.G.; Cobb, T.

2012-01-01

An EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) is typically assembled from a number of standard components each with potentially quite complex hardware or software initialization procedures intermixed with a good deal of repetitive boiler-plate code. Assembling and maintaining a complex IOC can be a quite difficult and error prone process, particularly if the components are unfamiliar. The EPICS IOC builder is a Python library designed to automate the assembly of a complete IOC from a concise component level description. The dependencies and interactions between components as well as their detailed initialization procedures are automatically managed by the IOC builder through component description files maintained with the individual components. At Diamond Light Source we have a large library of components that can be assembled into EPICS IOCs. The IOC Builder is further finding increasing use in helping non-expert users to assemble an IOC without specialist knowledge. (authors)

Implementation of the DIAC control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Dae-Sik; Jang, Doh-Yun; Jin, Jeong-Tae; Oh, Byung-Hoon [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

DIAC (Daejeon Ion Accelerator Complex) system was developed, and operated at JAEA of Japan by KEK team with a name of TRIAC (Tokai Radioactive Ion Accelerator Complex) during 2004 to 2010. The TRIAC control system was based on LabView and had two independent control units for ion source and accelerator. To be an efficient system, it is necessary to have an integrated control capability. And the control software, which had implemented by using LabView at TRIAC, will be changed with EPICS in order to give an effective beam service to the users. In this presentation, the old TRIAC control system is described, and a new control system for DIAC is discussed. The control system of DIAC is based on TRIAC. But it is gradually improved performance using EPICS toolkits and changing some digital interface hardware of it. Details of the control system will be demonstrated during the conference.

A distributed timing system for sychronizing control and data correlation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stettler, M.; Thout, M.; Dalesio, L.R.; Cole, R.; Fite, C.; Slentz, G.; Warren, D.

1992-01-01

Synchronization is necessary in experimental physics machines to provide positive control over related events. The Ground Test Accelerator (GTA) timing system provides this function through a distributed control system, known as the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The EPICS timing system was designed to take advantage of a distributed architecture, and provides time stamping for synchronous data correlation as well as event control. The system has been successfully demonstrated on over a dozen controller nodes for operation and data analysis. The design of the hardware, software, and operational results are discussed

Old Wine in New Bottles-The SPEAR Control System Upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rarback, Harvey

1999-10-19

The control systems for the SPEAR storage ring and injector were designed almost two decades ago and have worked reliably for us. Both systems are heavily dependent on the OpenVMS operating system and CAMAC. The realtime data reside in shared memory on a single computer for each control system. In order to use more modern client tools while preserving our investment in the hardware and software, we have installed an EPICS Portable Channel Access Server (CAS) on the control computers. The CAS will serve the existing realtime data as EPICS Process Variables (PVs) and allow us to use client tools like dm2k and IDL running on other workstations to more easily build new operator interfaces and develop accelerator physics programs. The CAS will also provide the infrastructure to help integrate new hardware controlled by EPICS Input/Output Controllers (IOCs).

EPIC: an Error Propagation/Inquiry Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, A.L.

1985-01-01

The use of a computer program EPIC (Error Propagation/Inquiry Code) will be discussed. EPIC calculates the variance of a materials balance closed about a materials balance area (MBA) in a processing plant operated under steady-state conditions. It was designed for use in evaluating the significance of inventory differences in the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear plants. EPIC rapidly estimates the variance of a materials balance using average plant operating data. The intent is to learn as much as possible about problem areas in a process with simple straightforward calculations assuming a process is running in a steady-state mode. EPIC is designed to be used by plant personnel or others with little computer background. However, the user should be knowledgeable about measurement errors in the system being evaluated and have a limited knowledge of how error terms are combined in error propagation analyses. EPIC contains six variance equations; the appropriate equation is used to calculate the variance at each measurement point. After all of these variances are calculated, the total variance for the MBA is calculated using a simple algebraic sum of variances. The EPIC code runs on any computer that accepts a standard form of the BASIC language. 2 refs., 1 fig., 6 tabs

Automation of Aditya vacuum control system based on CODAC Core System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raulji, Vismaysinh D., E-mail: vismay@ipr.res.in; Pujara, Harshad; Arambhadiya, Bharat; Jadeja, Kumarpalsinh; Bhatt, Shailesh; Rajpal, Rachana

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Monitor and control of vacuum control system based on CODAC Core System. • Communication between SIEMENS PLC and open source software EPICS. • With CODAC Core easy to configure and programming of slow controller. - Abstract: The main objective of vacuum control system is to provide ultrahigh vacuum for Aditya Tokamak operations. Aditya Vacuum vessel is having four vacuum pumping lines. To demonstrate implementation of automation; a study case is under taken by automating single Pumping Line of the Aditya vacuum system using CODAC Core System (CCS). Currently, vacuum system is operated manually. The CCS based control system allows remote control, monitoring, alarm handling of vacuum parameters. The CODAC Core System is the Linux based software package that is distributed by ITER Organization for the development of Plant System I&C software. CODAC Core System includes EPICS, CSS (Control System Studio) etc. CSS is used for HMI (Human Machine Interface), alarms and archives. SDD (Self Description Data) tool is used to configure plant system I&C. SDD Editor is an Eclipse based application to define the plant system, interface, I&C component, interfaced signals, configure variable. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system is developed in CSS. Data is transferred between PLC and CSS through EPICS. The complete system is tested with Aditya Vacuum Control System with process interlocks. Operator interface is also developed using Lab VIEW as a choice of the user. This paper will describe the salient features of the developed control system in detail.

A distributed timing system for synchronizing control and data correlation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stettler, M.; Thuot, M.; Dalesio, L.R.; Cole, R.; Fite, C.; Slentz, G.; Warren, D.

1992-01-01

Synchronization is necessary in experimental physics machines to provide positive control over related events. The Ground Test Accelerator (GTA) timing system provides this function through a distributed control system, known as the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The EPICS timing system was designed to take advantage of a distributed architecture, and provides time stamping for synchronous data correlation as well as event control. The system has been successfully demonstrated on over a dozen controller nodes for operation and data analysis. The design of the hardware, software, and operational results are discussed. (author). 2 refs., 4 figs

Software engineering practices for control system reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

S. K. Schaffner; K. S White

1999-01-01

This paper will discuss software engineering practices used to improve Control System reliability. The authors begin with a brief discussion of the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (CMM) which is a framework for evaluating and improving key practices used to enhance software development and maintenance capabilities. The software engineering processes developed and used by the Controls Group at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) for accelerator control, are described. Examples are given of how their procedures have been used to minimized control system downtime and improve reliability. While their examples are primarily drawn from their experience with EPICS, these practices are equally applicable to any control system. Specific issues addressed include resource allocation, developing reliable software lifecycle processes and risk management

Study of 3D visualization of fast active reflector based on openGL and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Mingcheng; Wu Wenqing; Liu Jiajing; Tang Pengyi; Wang Jian

2014-01-01

Active Reflector is the one of the innovations of Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). Its performance will influence the performance of whole telescope and for display all status of ARS in real time, the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is used to develop the control system of ARS and virtual 3D technology-OpenGL is used to visualize the status. For the real-time performance of EPICS, the status visualization is also display in real time for users to improve the efficiency of telescope observing. (authors)

Control System of 3 GeV Rapid Cycling Synchrotron at J-PARC

CERN Document Server

Takahashi, Hiroki; Kato, Yuko; Kawase, Masato; Sakaki, Hironao; Sako, Hiroyuki; Sugimoto, Makoto; Yoshikawa, Hiroshi

2005-01-01

Since the 3GeV RCS produces huge beam power of 1 MW, extreme cares must be taken to design the control system in order to minimize radiation due to beam loss. Another complexity appears in the control system, because each beam bunch of 25 Hz is required to be injected either into the MLF* or into the 50GeV MR.** Therefore, each bunch of 25 Hz must be operated separately, and the data acquisition system must collect synchronized data within each pulse. To achieve these goals, a control system via reflective memory and wave endless recorders has been developed. EPICS is adopted in the control system. Since the number of devices is huge, the management of EPICS records and their configurations require huge amount of time and man power. To reduce this work significantly, a RDB*** for static machine information has been developed. This RDB stores (1) EPICS related information of devices, interfaces, and IOC's**** with a capability to generate EPICS records automatically, and (2) machine geometrical information wit...

Versatile Data Acquisition and Controls for EPICS using VME-based FPGAs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trent Allison; Roger Flood

2001-01-01

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have provided versatile VME based data acquisition and control systems with minimal development times for the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). FPGAs have been used to interface with VME controllers using both standard A16 and A24 address modes. VME vector-interrupt capability has also been implemented for timing issues in some applications. FPGA designs have additionally been used to provide controls for various systems by interfacing with Analog to Digital Converters (DAC), interlocks, and other drive signals. These controls can be molded to the individual needs of each system and can provide operators with indicators and controls in EPICS via a VME interface. This allows the developer to choose components and make specifications that are not available commercially. Jefferson Lab has begun developing standard FPGA libraries that result in quick turnaround times and inexpensive designs. There have been approximately eight VME based FPGA designs implanted in one department at Jefferson Lab and they are becoming more widespread. FPGAs continue to become larger and faster enabling systems to be incorporated on one integrated circuit. Inherently, FPGAs can process data faster than many microprocessors due to the small processing overhead associated with a custom FPGA design. The ability to modify FPGA code enables the developer to easily implement future additions to a system, making the design flexible and expandable. This work supported by the U.S. DOE Contract No. DE-AC05-84ER40150

A development environment for the SSC control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murray, Doug; Martinsen, Garth; Wang, Judy

1994-01-01

The SSC is developing a design environment for control system development within the context of EPICS. The environment is aimed at developers of applications using the EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC). The unique aspect of this effort is our emphasis on providing a simple and intuitive development environment compared with tools currently available. Our most important goal in this effort has been to hide the complexity of EPICS IOC development from the developers. This paper describes two tools which are under development; The Function Block Editor (FBE) and the State Machine Editor (SME). The FBE provides a visual editing environment for graphically describing control processes as a set of related functional blocks. The configuration of functional blocks is then translated into IOC records and executed. SME allows the user to visually construct a sequence using a notation we are modeling after Grafcet [1]. State machines are translated into EPICS State Notation Language programs and executed. Future extensions will be described. ((orig.))

Challenges in Comparative Oral Epic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Miles Foley

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Originally written in 2001 and subsequently published in China, this collaborative essay explores five questions central to comparative oral epic with regard to Mongolian, South Slavic, ancient Greek, and Old English traditions: “What is a poem in oral epic tradition?” “What is a typical scene or theme in oral epic tradition?” “What is a poetic line in oral epic tradition?” “What is a formula in an oral epic tradition?” “What is the register in oral epic poetry?” Now available for the first time in English, this essay reflects a foundational stage of what has become a productive and long-term collaboration between the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition and the Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The new control system of HLS linac and transport line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Gongfa; Li Weimin; Li Jingyi; Li Chuan; Cheng Liping; Bao Xun; Wang Jigang; Xuan Ke

2005-01-01

The new linac and transport line control system of Hefei Light Source (HLS) is a distributed control system based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). Industrial PC (IPC) is widely used as not only Input/Output Controller (IOC) but also device controller. Besides industrial PC, PLC and microcontroller are also used as device controllers. The software for industrial PC based device controller is developed based on VxWorks real-time operating system. The software for PLC and microcontroller are written with ladder software package and assemble language, respectively. PC with Linux and SUN workstation with Solaris are used as operator interfaces (OPI). High level control is made up of some EPICS tools and Tcl/Tk scripts. (authors)

Time Stamp Synchronization of PEFP Distributed Control Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young Gi; An, Eun Mi; Kwon, Hyeok Jung; Cho, Yong Sub

2010-01-01

Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) proton linac consists of several types of control systems, such as soft Input Output Controllers (IOC) and embedded IOC based on Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) for each subsection of PEFP facility. One of the important factors is that IOC's time clock is synchronized. The synchronized time and time stamp can be achieved with Network Time Protocol (NTP) and EPICS time stamp record without timing hardware. The requirement of the time accuracy of IOCs is less than 1 second. The main objective of this study is to configure a master clock and produce Process Variable (PV) time stamps using local CPU time synchronized from the master clock. The distributed control systems are attached on PEFP control network

Advanced Data Acquisition System Implementation for the ITER Neutron Diagnostic Use Case Using EPICS and FlexRIO Technology on a PXIe Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz, D.; Ruiz, M.; Castro, R.; Vega, J.; Afif, M.; Monroe, M.; Simrock, S.; Debelle, T.; Marawar, R.; Glass, B.

2016-04-01

To aid in assessing the functional performance of ITER, Fission Chambers (FC) based on the neutron diagnostic use case deliver timestamped measurements of neutron source strength and fusion power. To demonstrate the Plant System Instrumentation & Control (I&C) required for such a system, ITER Organization (IO) has developed a neutron diagnostics use case that fully complies with guidelines presented in the Plant Control Design Handbook (PCDH). The implementation presented in this paper has been developed on the PXI Express (PXIe) platform using products from the ITER catalog of standard I&C hardware for fast controllers. Using FlexRIO technology, detector signals are acquired at 125 MS/s, while filtering, decimation, and three methods of neutron counting are performed in real-time via the onboard Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Measurement results are reported every 1 ms through Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) Channel Access (CA), with real-time timestamps derived from the ITER Timing Communication Network (TCN) based on IEEE 1588-2008. Furthermore, in accordance with ITER specifications for CODAC Core System (CCS) application development, the software responsible for the management, configuration, and monitoring of system devices has been developed in compliance with a new EPICS module called Nominal Device Support (NDS) and RIO/FlexRIO design methodology.

EPIC 219217635: A Doubly Eclipsing Quadruple System Containing an Evolved Binary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borkovits, T.; Albrecht, S.; Rappaport, S.

2018-01-01

We have discovered a doubly eclipsing, bound, quadruple star system in the field of K2 Campaign 7. EPIC 219217635 is a stellar image with Kp = 12.7 that contains an eclipsing binary (‘EB’) with PA = 3.59470 d and a second EB with PB = 0.61825 d. We have obtained followup radial-velocity (‘RV’) sp...

The EPICS process variable Gateway Version 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, K.

2005-01-01

The EPICS Process Variable Gateway is both a Channel Access Server and Channel Access Client that provides a means for many clients, typically on different subnets, to access a process variable while making only one connection to the server that owns the process variable. It also provides additional access security beyond that implemented on the server. It thus protects critical servers while providing suitably restricted access to needed process variables. The original version of the Gateway worked with EPICS Base 3.13 but required a special version, since the changes necessary for its operation were never incorporated into EPICS Base. Version 2 works with any standard EPICS Base 3.14.6 or later and has many improvements in both performance and features over the older version. The Gateway is now used at many institutions and has become a stable, high-performance application. It is capable of handling tens of thousands of process variables with hundreds of thousands of events per second. It has run for over three months in a production environment without having to be restarted. It has many internal process variables that can be used to monitor its state using standard EPICS client tools, such as MEDM and StripTool. Other internal process variables can be used to stop the Gateway, make several kinds of reports, or change the access security without stopping the Gateway. It can even be started on remote workstations from MEDM by using a Secure Shell script. This paper will describe the new Gateway and how it is used. The Gateway is both a server (like an EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC)) and a client (like the EPICS Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM), StripTool, and others). Clients connect to the server side, and the client side connects to IOCs and other servers, possibly other Gateways. See Fig. 1. There are perhaps three principal reasons for using the Gateway: (1) it allows many clients to access a process variable while making only one connection to

EPICS V4 Evaluation for SNS Neutron Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kasemir, Kay [ORNL; Pearson, Matthew R [ORNL; Guyotte, Greg S [ORNL

2015-01-01

Version 4 of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) toolkit allows defining application-specific structured data types (pvData) and offers a network protocol for their efficient exchange (pvAccess). We evaluated V4 for the transport of neutron events from the detectors of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) to data acquisition and experiment monitoring systems. This includes the comparison of possible data structures, performance tests, and experience using V4 in production on a beam line.

Calibration of the DSCOVR EPIC Visible and NIR Channels using MODIS Terra and Aqua Data and EPIC Lunar Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Geogdzhayev, Igor V.; Marshak, Alexander

2018-01-01

The unique position of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) at the Lagrange 1 point makes an important addition to the data from currently operating low Earth orbit observing instruments. EPIC instrument does not have an onboard calibration facility. One approach to its calibration is to compare EPIC observations to the measurements from polar-orbiting radiometers. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a natural choice for such comparison due to its well-established calibration record and wide use in remote sensing. We use MODIS Aqua and Terra L1B 1km reflectances to infer calibration coefficients for four EPIC visible and NIR channels: 443, 551, 680 and 780 nm. MODIS and EPIC measurements made between June 2015 and 2016 are employed for comparison. We first identify favorable MODIS pixels with scattering angle matching temporarily collocated EPIC observations. Each EPIC pixel is then spatially collocated to a subset of the favorable MODIS pixels within 25 km radius. Standard deviation of the selected MODIS pixels as well as of the adjacent EPIC pixels is used to find the most homogeneous scenes. These scenes are then used to determine calibration coefficients using a linear regression between EPIC counts/sec and reflectances in the close MODIS spectral channels. We present thus inferred EPIC calibration coefficients and discuss sources of uncertainties. The lunar EPIC observations are used to calibrate EPIC O2 absorbing channels (688 and 764 nm), assuming that there is a small difference between moon reflectances separated by approx.10 nm in wavelength provided the calibration factors of the red (680 nm) and near-IR (780 nm) are known from comparison between EPIC and MODIS.

Integrated application of human factors to a power plant control room information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fish, H.C. Jr.; Gutierrez, R.

1988-01-01

The human factors plan was developed as a methodology to apply human factors from the conceptual design of the EPIC system to the functional verification conducted at the plant. An integral part of the Human Factors Plan was the Functional Verification Plan. Developed in parallel, this second plan and its resultant programs verified functional appropriateness of the SPDS display, NSSS displays, EOP displays, man-machine interfaces (MMI), and workstation designs. The functional verification process was performed at the hardware/software developer's factory and at the JAFNPP, following installation of the EPIC system. Because the EPIC system replaces existing control room equipment, it is important that human factors be applied in a systematic manner consistent with other control room displays and controls. To ensure that this goal was met, a human factors plan was developed

Enhancement of real-time EPICS IOC PV management for the data archiving system

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Ha

2015-10-01

The operation of a 100-MeV linear proton accelerator, the major driving values and experimental data need to be archived. According to the experimental conditions, different data are required. Functions that can add new data and delete data in real time need to be implemented. In an experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) input output controller (IOC), the value of process variables (PVs) are matched with the driving values and data. The PV values are archived in text file format by using the channel archiver. There is no need to create a database (DB) server, just a need for large hard disk. Through the web, the archived data can be loaded, and new PV values can be archived without stopping the archive engine. The details of the implementation of a data archiving system with channel archiver are presented, and some preliminary results are reported.

Calibration of the DSCOVR EPIC visible and NIR channels using MODIS Terra and Aqua data and EPIC lunar observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. V. Geogdzhayev

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The unique position of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC at the Lagrange 1 point makes an important addition to the data from currently operating low Earth orbit observing instruments. EPIC instrument does not have an onboard calibration facility. One approach to its calibration is to compare EPIC observations to the measurements from polar-orbiting radiometers. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS is a natural choice for such comparison due to its well-established calibration record and wide use in remote sensing. We use MODIS Aqua and Terra L1B 1 km reflectances to infer calibration coefficients for four EPIC visible and NIR channels: 443, 551, 680 and 780 nm. MODIS and EPIC measurements made between June 2015 and 2016 are employed for comparison. We first identify favorable MODIS pixels with scattering angle matching temporarily collocated EPIC observations. Each EPIC pixel is then spatially collocated to a subset of the favorable MODIS pixels within 25 km radius. Standard deviation of the selected MODIS pixels as well as of the adjacent EPIC pixels is used to find the most homogeneous scenes. These scenes are then used to determine calibration coefficients using a linear regression between EPIC counts s−1 and reflectances in the close MODIS spectral channels. We present thus inferred EPIC calibration coefficients and discuss sources of uncertainties. The lunar EPIC observations are used to calibrate EPIC O2 absorbing channels (688 and 764 nm, assuming that there is a small difference between moon reflectances separated by  ∼  10 nm in wavelength and provided the calibration factors of the red (680 nm and NIR (780 nm are known from comparison between EPIC and MODIS.

3D virtual world remote laboratory to assist in designing advanced user defined DAQ systems based on FlexRIO and EPICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carpeño, A., E-mail: antonio.cruiz@upm.es [Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM, Madrid (Spain); Contreras, D.; López, S.; Ruiz, M.; Sanz, D.; Arcas, G. de; Esquembri, S. [Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM, Madrid (Spain); Vega, J.; Castro, R. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Assist in the design of FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO. • Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios. • Virtual actions simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process. • Virtual actions can make real changes remotely in the physical ITER’s Fast Controller. - Abstract: iRIO-3DLab is a platform devised to assist developers in the design and implementation of intelligent and reconfigurable FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO technologies. Although these architectures are very powerful in defining the behavior of DAQ systems, this advantage comes at the price of greater difficulty in understanding how the system works, and how it should be configured and built according to the hardware available and the processing demanded by the requirements of the diagnostics. In this regard, Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios due to their ability to provide immersive training experiences and collaborative environments. The designed remote laboratory is based on a 3D virtual world developed in Opensim, which is accessible through a standard free 3D viewer. Using a client-server architecture, the virtual world connects with a service running in a Linux-based computer executing EPICS. Through their avatars, users interact with virtual replicas of this equipment as they would in real-life situations. Some actions can be used to simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process, while others can be used to make real changes remotely in the physical system.

3D virtual world remote laboratory to assist in designing advanced user defined DAQ systems based on FlexRIO and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carpeño, A.; Contreras, D.; López, S.; Ruiz, M.; Sanz, D.; Arcas, G. de; Esquembri, S.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Assist in the design of FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO. • Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios. • Virtual actions simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process. • Virtual actions can make real changes remotely in the physical ITER’s Fast Controller. - Abstract: iRIO-3DLab is a platform devised to assist developers in the design and implementation of intelligent and reconfigurable FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO technologies. Although these architectures are very powerful in defining the behavior of DAQ systems, this advantage comes at the price of greater difficulty in understanding how the system works, and how it should be configured and built according to the hardware available and the processing demanded by the requirements of the diagnostics. In this regard, Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios due to their ability to provide immersive training experiences and collaborative environments. The designed remote laboratory is based on a 3D virtual world developed in Opensim, which is accessible through a standard free 3D viewer. Using a client-server architecture, the virtual world connects with a service running in a Linux-based computer executing EPICS. Through their avatars, users interact with virtual replicas of this equipment as they would in real-life situations. Some actions can be used to simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process, while others can be used to make real changes remotely in the physical system.

Test bed for real-time image acquisition and processing systems based on FlexRIO, CameraLink, and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrera, E.; Ruiz, M.; Sanz, D.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.; Juárez, E.; Salvador, R.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The test bed allows for the validation of real-time image processing techniques. • Offers FPGA (FlexRIO) image processing that does not require CPU intervention. • Is fully compatible with the architecture of the ITER Fast Controllers. • Provides flexibility and easy integration in distributed experiments based on EPICS. - Abstract: Image diagnostics are becoming standard ones in nuclear fusion. At present, images are typically analyzed off-line. However, real-time processing is occasionally required (for instance, hot-spot detection or pattern recognition tasks), which will be the objective for the next generation of fusion devices. In this paper, a test bed for image generation, acquisition, and real-time processing is presented. The proposed solution is built using a Camera Link simulator, a Camera Link frame-grabber, a PXIe chassis, and offers software interface with EPICS. The Camera Link simulator (PCIe card PCIe8 DVa C-Link from Engineering Design Team) generates simulated image data (for example, from video-movies stored in fusion databases) using a Camera Link interface to mimic the frame sequences produced with diagnostic cameras. The Camera Link frame-grabber (FlexRIO Solution from National Instruments) includes a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for image acquisition using a Camera Link interface; the FPGA allows for the codification of ad-hoc image processing algorithms using LabVIEW/FPGA software. The frame grabber is integrated in a PXIe chassis with system architecture similar to that of the ITER Fast Controllers, and the frame grabber provides a software interface with EPICS to program all of its functionalities, capture the images, and perform the required image processing. The use of these four elements allows for the implementation of a test bed system that permits the development and validation of real-time image processing techniques in an architecture that is fully compatible with that of the ITER Fast Controllers

Lessons learned on the Ground Test Accelerator control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozubal, A.J.; Weiss, R.E.

1994-01-01

When we initiated the control system design for the Ground Test Accelerator (GTA), we envisioned a system that would be flexible enough to handle the changing requirements of an experimental project. This control system would use a developers' toolkit to reduce the cost and time to develop applications for GTA, and through the use of open standards, the system would accommodate unforeseen requirements as they arose. Furthermore, we would attempt to demonstrate on GTA a level of automation far beyond that achieved by existing accelerator control systems. How well did we achieve these goals? What were the stumbling blocks to deploying the control system, and what assumptions did we make about requirements that turned out to be incorrect? In this paper we look at the process of developing a control system that evolved into what is now the ''Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System'' (EPICS). Also, we assess the impact of this system on the GTA project, as well as the impact of GTA on EPICS. The lessons learned on GTA will be valuable for future projects

Laboratory Instrumentation Design Research for Scalable Next Generation Epitaxy: Non-Equilibrium Wide Application Epitaxial Patterning by Intelligent Control (NEW-EPIC). Volume 1. 3D Composition/Doping Control via Micromiror Patterned Deep UV Photodesorption: Revolutionary in situ Characterization/Control

Science.gov (United States)

2009-02-19

34 (to be submitted to APL) " Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy of Annealed and As-grown Be-doped GaN" (to be submitted to APL - delayed by the...WIDE APPLICATION EPITAXIAL PATTERNING BY INTELLIGENT CONTROL (NEW-EPIC) 6. AUTHOR(S) DRS DOOLITTILE, FRAZIER, BURNHAM, PRITCHETT, BILLINGSLEY...NEXT GENERATION EPITAXY: NON-EQUILIBRIUM WIDE APPLICATION EPITAXIAL PATTERNING BY INTELLIGENT CONTROL (NEW-EPIC) VOLUME I 3D COMPOSITION/DOPING

Lessons learned enhancing EPICS CA for LANSCE timed and flavored data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Jeffrey O.

2009-01-01

A previous paper described an upgrade to EPICS enabling client side tools at LANSCE to receive subscription updates filtered selectively to match a logical configuration of LANSCE beam gates, as configured by the control room. The upgrade required fundamental changes in the EPICS core components. First, the event queue in the EPICS server was upgraded to buffer record (function block) and device specific parameters accessed generically via software interfaces for introspection of 3rd party data. In contrast, event queues in previous versions of EPICS were strictly limited to buffering only value, timestamp, and alarm status tuples. Second, the Channel Access server is being upgraded to filter subscription updates. In this follow on paper some necessary design changes mid-project and the lessons learned during the software development will be described.

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System architecture: Past, present, and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalesio, L.R.; Hill, J.O.; Kraimer, M.; Lewis, S.; Murray, D.; Hunt, S.; Claussen, M.; Watson, W.

1993-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), has been used at a number of sites for performing data acquisition, supervisory control, closed-loop control, sequential control, and operational optimization. The EPICS architecture was originally developed by a group with diverse backgrounds in physics and industrial control. The current architecture represents one instance of the ''standard model.'' It provides distributed processing and communication from any LAN device to the front end controllers. This paper will present the genealogy, current architecture, performance envelope, current installations, and planned extensions for requirements not met by the current architecture

ISAC EPICS on Linux: the march of the penguins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richards, J.; Nussbaumer, R.; Rapaz, S.; Waters, G.

2012-01-01

The DC linear accelerators of the ISAC radioactive beam facility at TRIUMF do not impose rigorous timing constraints on the control system. Therefore a real-time operating system is not essential for device control. The ISAC Control System is completing a move to the use of the Linux operating system for hosting all EPICS IOCs. The IOC platforms include GE-Fanuc VME based CPUs for control of most optics and diagnostics, rack mounted servers for supervising PLCs, small desktop PCs for GPIB and RS232 instruments, as well as embedded ARM processors controlling CAN-bus devices that provide a suitcase sized control system. This article focuses on the experience of creating a customized Linux distribution for front-end IOC deployment. Rationale, a road-map of the process, and efficiency advantages in personnel training and system management realized by using a single OS will be discussed. (authors)

77 FR 73655 - Epic Marketplace, Inc., and Epic Media Group, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-11

... action or make final the agreement's proposed order. Epic Marketplace, Inc. (``Epic'') is an advertising company that engages in online behavioral advertising, which is the practice of tracking a consumer's online activities in order to deliver advertising targeted to the consumer's interests. Epic is a wholly...

NEW EPICS/RTEMS IOC BASED ON ALTERA SOC AT JEFFERSON LAB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, Jianxun [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Seaton, Chad [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Allison, Trent L. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Bevins, Brian S. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Cuffe, Anthony W. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)

2018-02-01

A new EPICS/RTEMS IOC based on the Altera System-on-Chip (SoC) FPGA is being designed at Jefferson Lab. The Altera SoC FPGA integrates a dual ARM Cortex-A9 Hard Processor System (HPS) consisting of processor, peripherals and memory interfaces tied seamlessly with the FPGA fabric using a high-bandwidth interconnect backbone. The embedded Altera SoC IOC has features of remote network boot via U-Boot from SD card or QSPI Flash, 1Gig Ethernet, 1GB DDR3 SDRAM on HPS, UART serial ports, and ISA bus interface. RTEMS for the ARM processor BSP were built with CEXP shell, which will dynamically load the EPICS applications at runtime. U-Boot is the primary bootloader to remotely load the kernel image into local memory from a DHCP/TFTP server over Ethernet, and automatically run RTEMS and EPICS. The first design of the SoC IOC will be compatible with Jefferson Lab’s current PC104 IOCs, which have been running in CEBAF 10 years. The next design would be mounting in a chassis and connected to a daughter card via standard HSMC connectors. This standard SoC IOC will become the next generation of low-level IOC for the accelerator controls at Jefferson Lab.

ITER Fast Plant System Controller prototype based on PXIe platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruiz, M.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.; Sanz, D.; López, J.M.; Arcas, G. de; Barrera, E.; Nieto, J.; Gonçalves, B.; Sousa, J.; Carvalho, B.; Utzel, N.; Makijarvi, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Implementation of Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) for ITER CODAC. ► Efficient data acquisition and data movement using EPICS. ► Performance of PCIe technologies in the implementation of FPSC. - Abstract: The ITER Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) is based on embedded technologies. The FPSC will be devoted to both data acquisition tasks (sampling rates higher than 1 kHz) and control purposes (feedback loop actuators). Some of the essential requirements of these systems are: (a) data acquisition and data preprocessing; (b) interfacing with different networks and high speed links (Plant Operation Network, timing network based on IEEE1588, synchronous data transference and streaming/archiving networks); and (c) system setup and operation using EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) process variables. CIEMAT and UPM have implemented a prototype of FPSC using a PXIe (PCI eXtension for Instrumentation) form factor in a R and D project developed in two phases. The paper presents the main features of the two prototypes developed that have been named alpha and beta. The former was implemented using LabVIEW development tools as it was focused on modeling the FPSC software modules, using the graphical features of LabVIEW applications, and measuring the basic performance in the system. The alpha version prototype implements data acquisition with time-stamping, EPICS monitoring using waveform process variables (PVs), and archiving. The beta version prototype is a complete IOC implemented using EPICS with different software functional blocks. These functional blocks are integrated and managed using an ASYN driver solution and provide the basic functionalities required by ITER FPSC such as data acquisition, data archiving, data pre-processing (using both CPU and GPU) and streaming.

Control and data acquisition system for the macromolecular crystallography beamline of SSRF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Qisheng; Huang Sheng; Sun Bo; Tang Lin; He Jianhua

2012-01-01

The macromolecular crystallography beamline BL17U1 of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) is an important platform for structure biological science. High performance of the beamline would benefit the users greatly in their experiment and data acquisition. To take full advantage of the state-of-the-art mechanical and physical design of the beamline, we have made a series of efforts to develop a robust control and data acquisition system, with user-friendly GUI. These were done by adopting EPICS and Blu-Ice systems on the BL17U1 beamline, with considerations on easy accommodation of new beeline components. In this paper, we report the integration of EPICS and Blu-Ice systems. By using the EPICS gateway interface and several new DHS, Blu-Ice was successfully established for the BL17U1 beamline. As a result, the experiment control and data acquisition system is reliable and functional for users. (authors)

Effect of introduction of a new electronic anesthesia record (Epic) system on the safety and efficiency of patient care in a gastrointestinal endoscopy suite-comparison with historical cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Goudra, B; Singh, P M; Borle, A; Gouda, G

2016-01-01

Use of electronic medical record systems has increased in the recent years. Epic is one such system gaining popularity in the USA. Epic is a private company, which invented the electronic documentation system adopted in our hospital. In spite of many presumed advantages, its use is not critically analyzed. Some of the perceived advantages are increased efficiency and protection against litigation as a result of accurate documentation. In this study, retrospective data of 305 patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (wherein electronic charting was used - "Epic group") were compared with 288 patients who underwent the same procedure with documentation saved on a paper chart ("paper group"). Time of various events involved in the procedure such as anesthesia start, endoscope insertion, endoscope removal, and transfer to the postanesthesia care unit were routinely documented. From this data, the various time durations were calculated. Both "anesthesia start to scope insertion" times and "scope removal to transfer" times were significantly less in the Epic group compared to the paper group. Use of Epic system led to a saving of 4 min of procedure time per patient. However, the mean oxygen saturation was significantly less in the Epic group. In spite of perceived advantages of Epic documentation system, significant hurdles remain with its use. Although the system allows seamless flow of patients, failure to remove all artifacts can lead to errors and become a source of potential litigation hazard.

Using a Nameserver to Enhance Control System Efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joan Sage; Karen White; Matthew Bickley

2001-01-01

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility control system uses a nameserver to reduce system response time and to minimize the impact of client name resolution on front-end computers. The control system is based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), which uses name-based broadcasts to initiate data communication. By default, when EPICS process variables are requested by client applications, all front-end computers receive the broadcasts and perform name resolution processing against local channel name lists. The nameserver is used to offload the name resolution task to a single node. This processing, formerly done on all front-end computers, is now done only by the nameserver. In a control system with heavily loaded front-end computers and high peak client connection loads, a significant performance improvement is seen. This paper describes the name server in more detail, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of making name resolution a centralized service. This work was supported by the U.S. DOE contract No. DE-AC05-84ER40150

Process instrumentation and control for cryogenic system of VECC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pal, Sandip

2017-01-01

Superconducting Cyclotron, which comprises of superconducting main magnet and cryopanels operating at 4.3 K, are operational at VECC in three phases starting from 2005; finally without interruption from July, 2010 to November, 2016. Cryogenic loads of the Cyclotron are catered by any of the two helium liquefiers/refrigerators (250W and 415W @ 4.5K) and associated cryogen distribution system with extensive helium gas management system. The system also consists of 31 K liters of liquid Nitrogen (LN_2) storage and delivery system, necessary of radiation shield. EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) architecture is open source, flexible and has unlimited tags as compared to the commercial Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) packages. Hence, it has been adopted to design the SCADA module. The EPICS Input Output Controller (IOC) communicates with four PLCs over Ethernet based control LAN to control/monitor 618 numbers of field Inputs/ Outputs (I/O). The control system is fully automated and does not require any human intervention for routine operation. Since these two liquefiers share the same high pressure (HP) and low pressure (LP) pipelines, any pressure fluctuation due to rapid change in flow sometimes causes trip of the liquefiers. Few modifications are made in the control scheme in HP and LP zones to avoid liquefier trip. The plant is running very reliably round the clock and the historical data of important parameters during plant operation are archived for plant maintenance, easy diagnosis and future modifications. Total pure helium cycle gas inventory is monitored through EPICS for early detection of helium loss from its trend

Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC)

Science.gov (United States)

Clampin, Mark

2009-01-01

The Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is a proposed NASA Exoplanet Probe mission to image and characterize extrasolar giant planets. EPIC will provide insights into the physical nature and architecture of a variety of planets in other solar systems. Initially, it will detect and characterize the atmospheres of planets identified by radial velocity surveys, determine orbital inclinations and masses and characterize the atmospheres around A and F type stars which cannot be found with RV techniques. It will also observe the inner spatial structure of exozodiacal disks. EPIC has a heliocentric Earth trailing drift-away orbit, with a 5 year mission lifetime. The robust mission design is simple and flexible ensuring mission success while minimizing cost and risk. The science payload consists of a heritage optical telescope assembly (OTA), and visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) instrument. The instrument achieves a contrast ratio of 10^9 over a 5 arcsecond field-of-view with an unprecedented inner working angle of 0.13 arcseconds over the spectral range of 440-880 nm. The telescope is a 1.65 meter off-axis Cassegrain with an OTA wavefront error of lambda/9, which when coupled to the VNC greatly reduces the requirements on the large scale optics.

A Consistent EPIC Visible Channel Calibration Using VIIRS and MODIS as a Reference.

Science.gov (United States)

Haney, C.; Doelling, D. R.; Minnis, P.; Bhatt, R.; Scarino, B. R.; Gopalan, A.

2017-12-01

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite constantly images the sunlit disk of Earth from the Lagrange-1 (L1) point in 10 spectral channels spanning the UV, VIS, and NIR spectrums. Recently, the DSCOVR EPIC team has publicly released version 2 dataset, which has implemented improved navigation, stray-light correction, and flat-fielding of the CCD array. The EPIC 2-year data record must be well-calibrated for consistent cloud, aerosol, trace gas, land use and other retrievals. Because EPIC lacks onboard calibrators, the observations made by EPIC channels must be calibrated vicariously using the coincident measurements from radiometrically stable instruments that have onboard calibration systems. MODIS and VIIRS are best-suited instruments for this task as they contain similar spectral bands that are well-calibrated onboard using solar diffusers and lunar tracking. We have previously calibrated the EPIC version 1 dataset by using EPIC and VIIRS angularly matched radiance pairs over both all-sky ocean and deep convective clouds (DCC). We noted that the EPIC image required navigations adjustments, and that the EPIC stray-light correction provided an offset term closer to zero based on the linear regression of the EPIC and VIIRS ray-matched radiance pairs. We will evaluate the EPIC version 2 navigation and stray-light improvements using the same techniques. In addition, we will monitor the EPIC channel calibration over the two years for any temporal degradation or anomalous behavior. These two calibration methods will be further validated using desert and DCC invariant Earth targets. The radiometric characterization of the selected invariant targets is performed using multiple years of MODIS and VIIRS measurements. Results of these studies will be shown at the conference.

Software architecture considerations for ion source control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinclair, J.W.

1997-09-01

General characteristics of distributed control system software tools are examined from the perspective of ion source control system requirements. Emphasis is placed on strategies for building extensible, distributed systems in which the ion source element is one component of a larger system. Vsystem, a commercial software tool kit from Vista Control Systems was utilized extensively in the control system upgrade of the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility. Part of the control system is described and the characteristics of Vsystem are examined and compared with those of EPICS, the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System

Transient Tolerant Automated Control System for the LEDA 75kV Injector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thuot, M.E.; Dalesio, L.R.; Harrington, M.; Hodgkins, D.; Kerstiens, D.M.; Stettler, M.W.; Warren, D.S.; Zaugg, T.; Arvin, A.; Bolt, S.; Richards, M.

1999-01-01

The Low-Energy Demonstration Accelerator (LEDA) injector is designed to inject 75-keV, 110-mA, proton beams into the LEDA RFQ. The injector operation has been automated to provide long term, high availability operation using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). Automated recovery from spark-downs demands reliable spark detection and sequence execution by the injector controller. Reliable computer control in the high-energy transient environment required transient suppression and isolation of hundreds of analog and binary data lines connecting the EPICS computer controller to the injector and it's power supplies and diagnostics. A transient suppression design based on measured and modeled spark transient parameters provides robust injector operation. This paper describes the control system hardware and software design, implementation and operational performance

Usability of human Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip for mouse DNA methylation studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Needhamsen, Maria; Ewing, Ewoud; Lund, Harald; Gomez-Cabrero, David; Harris, Robert Adam; Kular, Lara; Jagodic, Maja

2017-11-15

The advent of array-based genome-wide DNA methylation methods has enabled quantitative measurement of single CpG methylation status at relatively low cost and sample input. Whereas the use of Infinium Human Methylation BeadChips has shown great utility in clinical studies, no equivalent tool is available for rodent animal samples. We examined the feasibility of using the new Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip for studying DNA methylation in mouse. In silico, we identified 19,420 EPIC probes (referred as mEPIC probes), which align with a unique best alignment score to the bisulfite converted reference mouse genome mm10. Further annotation revealed that 85% of mEPIC probes overlapped with mm10.refSeq genes at different genomic features including promoters (TSS1500 and TSS200), 1st exons, 5'UTRs, 3'UTRs, CpG islands, shores, shelves, open seas and FANTOM5 enhancers. Hybridization of mouse samples to Infinium Human MethylationEPIC BeadChips showed successful measurement of mEPIC probes and reproducibility between inter-array biological replicates. Finally, we demonstrated the utility of mEPIC probes for data exploration such as hierarchical clustering. Given the absence of cost and labor convenient genome-wide technologies in the murine system, our findings show that the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip platform is suitable for investigation of the mouse methylome. Furthermore, we provide the "mEPICmanifest" with genomic features, available to users of Infinium Human MethylationEPIC arrays for mouse samples.

ETHERNET BASED EMBEDDED SYSTEM FOR FEL DIAGNOSTICS AND CONTROLS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jianxun Yan; Daniel Sexton; Steven Moore; Albert Grippo; Kevin Jordan

2006-01-01

An Ethernet based embedded system has been developed to upgrade the Beam Viewer and Beam Position Monitor (BPM) systems within the free-electron laser (FEL) project at Jefferson Lab. The embedded microcontroller was mounted on the front-end I/O cards with software packages such as Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and Real Time Executive for Multiprocessor System (RTEMS) running as an Input/Output Controller (IOC). By cross compiling with the EPICS, the RTEMS kernel, IOC device supports, and databases all of these can be downloaded into the microcontroller. The first version of the BPM electronics based on the embedded controller was built and is currently running in our FEL system. The new version of BPM that will use a Single Board IOC (SBIOC), which integrates with an Field Programming Gate Array (FPGA) and a ColdFire embedded microcontroller, is presently under development. The new system has the features of a low cost IOC, an open source real-time operating system, plug and play-like ease of installation and flexibility, and provides a much more localized solution

Development of Remote Control and Interlock System for the PEFP Microwave Ion Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young Gi; Seol, Kyung Tae; Kwon, Hyeok Jung; Jang, Ji Ho; Cho, Yong Sub

2011-01-01

The control system for a microwave ion source as an isolated high voltage device is a main part of the PEFP distributed control system. The system is used to control two sets of microwave ion sources, the remote control and the interlock system. A VME system with an embedded Power PC CPU is used as main computer. The VME system is dedicated to control and monitoring of the ion source operation. An isolated control system has been designed and developed for remote control and monitoring of a microwave generator and various power supplies. As the source is placed on high voltage platform, optical fiber isolation has been used between the serial to optical fiber VME I/O board and the control system on the high voltage platform. These are connected through RS232 serial interface. A fast Ethernet is used to communicate between the microwave ion source control system and other control stations in the PEFP control system. EPICS toolkit is adopted to provide network programming and user interface by using EPICS Channel Access (CA)

A rule-based expert system for generating control displays at the Advanced Photon Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coulter, K.J.

1993-01-01

The integration of a rule-based expert system for generating screen displays for controlling and monitoring instrumentation under the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is presented. The expert system is implemented using CLIPS, an expert system shell from the Software Technology Branch at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The user selects the hardware input and output to be displayed and the expert system constructs a graphical control screen appropriate for the data. Such a system provides a method for implementing a common look and feel for displays created by several different users and reduces the amount of time required to create displays for new hardware configurations. Users are able to modify the displays as needed using the EPICS display editor tool

A rule-based expert system for generating control displays at the advanced photon source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coulter, K.J.

1994-01-01

The integration of a rule-based expert system for generating screen displays for controlling and monitoring instrumentation under the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is presented. The expert system is implemented using CLIPS, an expert system shell from the Software Technology Branch at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The user selects the hardware input and output to be displayed and the expert system constructs a graphical control screen appropriate for the data. Such a system provides a method for implementing a common look and feel for displays created by several different users and reduces the amount of time required to create displays for new hardware configurations. Users are able to modify the displays as needed using the EPICS display editor tool. ((orig.))

Supporting multiple control systems at Fermilab

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nicklaus, Dennis J.; /Fermilab

2009-10-01

The Fermilab control system, ACNET, is used for controlling the Tevatron and all of its pre-accelerators. However, other smaller experiments at Fermilab have been using different controls systems, in particular DOOCS and EPICS. This paper reports some of the steps taken at Fermilab to integrate support for these outside systems. We will describe specific tools that we have built or adapted to facilitate interaction between the architectures. We also examine some of the difficulties that arise from managing this heterogeneous environment. Incompatibilities as well as common elements will be described.

PC-based input/output controllers from a VME perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, J.O.

1999-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has been widely adopted in the accelerator community. Although EPICS is available on many platforms, the majority of sites have deployed VME- or VXI-based input output controllers running the vxWorks real time operating system. Recently, a hybrid approach using vxWorks on both PC and traditional platforms is being implemented at LANL. To illustrate these developments the author compares his recent experience deploying PC-based EPICS input output controllers with experience deploying similar systems based on traditional EPICS platforms

Spallation Neutron Source Accelerator Facility Target Safety and Non-safety Control Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battle, Ronald E.; DeVan, B.; Munro, John K. Jr.

2006-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is a proton accelerator facility that generates neutrons for scientific researchers by spallation of neutrons from a mercury target. The SNS became operational on April 28, 2006, with first beam on target at approximately 200 W. The SNS accelerator, target, and conventional facilities controls are integrated by standardized hardware and software throughout the facility and were designed and fabricated to SNS conventions to ensure compatibility of systems with Experimental Physics Integrated Control System (EPICS). ControlLogix Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) interface to instruments and actuators, and EPICS performs the high-level integration of the PLCs such that all operator control can be accomplished from the Central Control room using EPICS graphical screens that pass process variables to and from the PLCs. Three active safety systems were designed to industry standards ISA S84.01 and IEEE 603 to meet the desired reliability for these safety systems. The safety systems protect facility workers and the environment from mercury vapor, mercury radiation, and proton beam radiation. The facility operators operated many of the systems prior to beam on target and developed the operating procedures. The safety and non-safety control systems were tested extensively prior to beam on target. This testing was crucial to identify wiring and software errors and failed components, the result of which was few problems during operation with beam on target. The SNS has continued beam on target since April to increase beam power, check out the scientific instruments, and continue testing the operation of facility subsystems

EPICS: Channel Access security design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.; Hill, J.

1994-05-01

This document presents the design for implementing the requirements specified in: EPICS -- Channel Access Security -- functional requirements, Ned. D. Arnold, 03/09/92. Use of the access security system is described along with a summary of the functional requirements. The programmer's interface is given. Security protocol is described and finally aids for reading the access security code are provided

Management tools for distributed control system in KSTAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sangil Lee; Jinseop Park; Jaesic Hong; Mikyung Park; Sangwon Yun

2012-01-01

The integrated control system of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) has been developed with distributed control systems based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) middle-ware. It has the essential role of remote operation, supervising of tokamak device and conducting of plasma experiments without any interruption. Therefore, the availability of the control system directly impacts on the entire device performance. For the non-interrupted operation of the KSTAR control system, we have developed a tool named as Control System Monitoring (CSM) to monitor the resources of EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC) servers (utilization of memory, cpu, disk, network, user-defined process and system-defined process), the soundness of storage systems (storage utilization, storage status), the status of network switches using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the network connection status of every local control sever using Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), and the operation environment of the main control room and the computer room (temperature, humidity, electricity) in real time. When abnormal conditions or faults are detected by the CSM, it alerts abnormal or fault alarms to operators. Especially, if critical fault related to the data storage occurs, the CSM sends the simple messages to operator's mobile phone. The operators then quickly restored the problems according to the emergency procedure. As a result of this process, KSTAR was able to perform continuous operation and experiment without interruption for 4 months

LabVIEW Library to EPICS Channel Access

CERN Document Server

Liyu, Andrei; Thompson, Dave H

2005-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) accelerator systems will deliver a 1.0 GeV, 1.4 MW proton beam to a liquid mercury target for neutron scattering research. The accelerator complex consists of a 1 GeV linear accelerator, an accumulator ring and associated transport lines. The SNS diagnostics platform is PC-based and will run Windows for its OS and LabVIEW as its programming language. Data acquisition hardware will be based on PCI cards. There will be about 300 rack-mounted computers. The Channel Access (CA) protocol of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is the SNS control system communication standard. This paper describes the approaches, implementation, and features of LabVIEW library to CA for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. We also discuss how the library implements the asynchronous CA monitor routine using LabVIEW's occurrence mechanism instead of a callback function (which is not available in LabVIEW). The library is used to acquire accelerator data and applications have been ...

CAFE, a modern C++ interface to the EPICS channel access library

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chrin, J.; Sloan, M.C.

2012-01-01

CAFE (Channel Access interface) is a C++ library that provides a modern, multifaceted interface to the EPICS-based control system that we may find in particle accelerators for instance. CAFE makes extensive use of templates and containers with multiple STL-compatible access methods to enhance efficiency, flexibility and performance. Stability and robustness are accomplished by ensuring that connectivity to EPICS channels remains in a well defined state in every eventuality, and results of all synchronous and asynchronous operations are captured and reported with integrity. CAFE presents the user with a number of options for writing and retrieving data to and from the control system. In addition to basic read and write operations, a further abstraction layer provides transparency to more intricate functionalities involving logical sets of data; such 'group' objects are easily instantiated through an XML-based configuration mechanism. CAFE's suitability for use in a broad spectrum of applications is demonstrated. These range from high performance Qt GUI (Graphical User Interface) control widgets, to event processing agents that propagate data through the Object Managements Group's Data Distribution Service (OMG-DDS), to script-like frameworks such as MATLAB. The methodology for the modular use of CAFE serves to improve maintainability by enforcing a logical boundary between the channel access components and the programming extensions of the application framework at hand. (authors)

SNS online display technologies for EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasemir, K.U.; Chen, X.; Purcell, J.; Danilova, E.

2012-01-01

The ubiquitousness of web clients from personal computers to cell phones results in a growing demand for web-based access to control system data. At the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) we have investigated different technical approaches to provide read access to data in the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) for a wide variety of web client devices. The core web technology, HTTP, is less than ideal for online control system displays. Appropriate use of Ajax, especially the Long Poll paradigm, can alleviate fundamental HTTP limitations. The SNS Status web uses basic Ajax technology to generate generic displays for a wide audience. The Dashboard uses Long Poll and more client-side Java-Script to offer more customization and faster updates for users that need specialized displays. The Web OPI uses RAP for web access to any BOY display, offering utmost flexibility because users can create their own BOY displays in CSS. These three approaches complement each other. Users can access generic status displays with zero effort, invest time in creating their fully customized displays for the Web OPI, or use the Dashboard as an intermediate solution

Psychometric Assessment of the Chinese Version of the Abbreviated Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) and the Clinical Practice Version (EPIC-CP) in Chinese Men With Prostate Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Wendy W T; Tse, Michael A; Ng, Chris N L; Chung, Edward K M; Fielding, Richard

2017-06-01

The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) instrument was designed to assess a range of health-related quality-of-life issues specifically relevant to patients with prostate cancer. This study examined the validity and reliability of Chinese versions of the 26-item EPIC and of the 16-item EPIC for Clinical Practice (EPIC-CP) in Chinese patients with prostate cancer. A Chinese version of the 26-item EPIC and the 16-item EPIC-CP were self-completed by 252 Chinese patients with prostate cancer who were recruited from three community-based cancer service centers. Confirmatory factors analysis assessed the factor structures of the EPIC and the EPIC-CP. Internal consistency and construct and clinical validities of the factor structures were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the original factor structure of both EPIC-26 and EPIC-CP showed good fit to this sample. A correlated model was superior to a hierarchical model in both EPIC-26 and EPIC-CP supporting the utility of the domain scores over the total scores. Cronbach α ranged from 0.55 to 0.91 for EPIC-26 and 0.44 to 0.67 for EPIC-CP. Construct validity was supported by correlations between EPIC-26/EPIC-CP and psychological distress measures. Clinical validity was supported by differentiation between patients with and without prostatectomy. These Chinese versions of the five-factor EPIC-26 and the EPIC-CP are valid and practical measures for assessing a range of health-related quality-of-life issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, highlighting their utility in assessing health-related quality of life for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The EPIC nutrient database project (ENDB): a first attempt to standardize nutrient databases across the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Deharveng, G.; Unwin, I.

2007-01-01

because there is currently no European reference NDB available. Design: A large network involving national compilers, nutritionists and experts on food chemistry and computer science was set up for the 'EPIC Nutrient DataBase' ( ENDB) project. A total of 550-1500 foods derived from about 37 000...... standardized EPIC 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRS) were matched as closely as possible to foods available in the 10 national NDBs. The resulting national data sets ( NDS) were then successively documented, standardized and evaluated according to common guidelines and using a DataBase Management System...

A Woman Voice in an Epic: Tracing Gendered Motifs in Anne Vabarna's Peko

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Kalkun

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In the article the gendered motifs found in Anne Vabarna’s Seto epic Peko are analysed. Besides the narrative telling of the life of the male hero, the motives regarding eating, refusing to eat or offering food, and the aspect of the female body or its control deserve to be noticed. These scenes do not communicate the main plot, they are often related to minor characters of the epic and slow down the narrative, but at the same time they clearly carry artistic purpose and meaning. I consider these motifs, present in the liminal parts of the epic, to be the dominant symbols of the epic where the author’s feminine world is being exposed. Observing these motifs of Peko in the context of Seto religious worldview, the life of Anne Vabarna and the social position of Seto women, the symbols become eloquent and informative.

Virtual IO controllers at J-PARC MR using Xen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamikubota, N.; Yamada, S.; Yamamoto, N.; Iitsuka, T.; Motohashi, S.; Takagi, M.; Yoshida, S.; Nemoto, H.

2012-01-01

The control system for J-PARC accelerator complex has been developed based on the EPICS tool-kit. About 90 traditional ('real') VME-bus computers are used as EPICS IOCs (Input/Output Controller) in the control system for J-PARC MR (Main Ring). In 2010-2011, we demonstrated a 'virtual' IOC using Xen, an open-source virtual machine monitor. Scientific Linux with an EPICS IOC runs on a Xen virtual machine. EPICS records for oscilloscopes (network devices) are configured. Advantages of virtual IOC are discussed. In addition, future directions are discussed. Plan view of virtual IOCs for MR operation will be given. (authors)

The control system for SSRF injection and extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Qibing; Gu Ming; Wang Ruiping; Cheng Zhihao; Fan Xuerong; Zhu Haijun

2007-01-01

This paper introduces the injection and extraction control system design for SSRF, which is a distributed control system aimed at stability and reliability of the pulse power supplies, PPS (Personnel Protection System) and MPS (Machine Protection System). The hardware environment is mainly based on PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), and ARM (Advanced RISC Machine) is also applied for studying stability of the power supplies. WinCC and EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) have been selected as the platforms of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). For unifying the interfacing to the control computer, all front-end equipments are connected via Industrial Ethernet. (authors)

Sensitivity of an Integrated Mesoscale Atmosphere and Agriculture Land Modeling System (WRF/CMAQ-EPIC) to MODIS Vegetation and Lightning Assimilation

Science.gov (United States)

Ran, L.; Cooter, E. J.; Gilliam, R. C.; Foroutan, H.; Kang, D.; Appel, W.; Wong, D. C.; Pleim, J. E.; Benson, V.; Pouliot, G.

2017-12-01

The combined meteorology and air quality modeling system composed of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model is an important decision support tool that is used in research and regulatory decisions related to emissions, meteorology, climate, and chemical transport. The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) is a cropping model which has long been used in a range of applications related to soil erosion, crop productivity, climate change, and water quality around the world. We have integrated WRF/CMAQ with EPIC using the Fertilizer Emission Scenario Tool for CMAQ (FEST-C) to estimate daily soil N information with fertilization for CMAQ bi-directional ammonia flux modeling. Driven by the weather and N deposition from WRF/CMAQ, FEST-C EPIC simulations are conducted on 22 different agricultural production systems ranging from managed grass lands (e.g. hay and alfalfa) to crop lands (e.g. corn grain and soybean) with rainfed and irrigated information across any defined conterminous United States (U.S.) CMAQ domain and grid resolution. In recent years, this integrated system has been enhanced and applied in many different air quality and ecosystem assessment projects related to land-water-atmosphere interactions. These enhancements have advanced this system to become a valuable tool for integrated assessments of air, land and water quality in light of social drivers and human and ecological outcomes. This presentation will focus on evaluating the sensitivity of precipitation and N deposition in the integrated system to MODIS vegetation input and lightning assimilation and their impacts on agricultural production and fertilization. We will describe the integrated modeling system and evaluate simulated precipitation and N deposition along with other weather information (e.g. temperature, humidity) for 2011 over the conterminous U.S. at 12 km grids from a coupled WRF/CMAQ with MODIS and lightning assimilation

Use of EPICS and Python technology for the development of a computational toolkit for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugandhi, Ritesh, E-mail: ritesh@ipr.res.in; Swamy, Rajamannar, E-mail: rajamannar@ipr.res.in; Khirwadkar, Samir, E-mail: sameer@ipr.res.in

2016-11-15

Highlights: • An integrated approach to software development for computational processing and experimental control. • Use of open source, cross platform, robust and advanced tools for computational code development. • Prediction of optimized process parameters for critical heat flux model. • Virtual experimentation for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components. - Abstract: The high heat flux testing and characterization of the divertor and first wall components are a challenging engineering problem of a tokamak. These components are subject to steady state and transient heat load of high magnitude. Therefore, the accurate prediction and control of the cooling parameters is crucial to prevent burnout. The prediction of the cooling parameters is based on the numerical solution of the critical heat flux (CHF) model. In a test facility for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components (PFC), the integration of computations and experimental control is an essential requirement. Experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) provides powerful tools for steering controls, data simulation, hardware interfacing and wider usability. Python provides an open source alternative for numerical computations and scripting. We have integrated these two open source technologies to develop a graphical software for a typical high heat flux experiment. The implementation uses EPICS based tools namely IOC (I/O controller) server, control system studio (CSS) and Python based tools namely Numpy, Scipy, Matplotlib and NOSE. EPICS and Python are integrated using PyEpics library. This toolkit is currently under operation at high heat flux test facility at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) and is also useful for the experimental labs working in the similar research areas. The paper reports the software architectural design, implementation tools and rationale for their selection, test and validation.

Use of EPICS and Python technology for the development of a computational toolkit for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugandhi, Ritesh; Swamy, Rajamannar; Khirwadkar, Samir

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An integrated approach to software development for computational processing and experimental control. • Use of open source, cross platform, robust and advanced tools for computational code development. • Prediction of optimized process parameters for critical heat flux model. • Virtual experimentation for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components. - Abstract: The high heat flux testing and characterization of the divertor and first wall components are a challenging engineering problem of a tokamak. These components are subject to steady state and transient heat load of high magnitude. Therefore, the accurate prediction and control of the cooling parameters is crucial to prevent burnout. The prediction of the cooling parameters is based on the numerical solution of the critical heat flux (CHF) model. In a test facility for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components (PFC), the integration of computations and experimental control is an essential requirement. Experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) provides powerful tools for steering controls, data simulation, hardware interfacing and wider usability. Python provides an open source alternative for numerical computations and scripting. We have integrated these two open source technologies to develop a graphical software for a typical high heat flux experiment. The implementation uses EPICS based tools namely IOC (I/O controller) server, control system studio (CSS) and Python based tools namely Numpy, Scipy, Matplotlib and NOSE. EPICS and Python are integrated using PyEpics library. This toolkit is currently under operation at high heat flux test facility at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) and is also useful for the experimental labs working in the similar research areas. The paper reports the software architectural design, implementation tools and rationale for their selection, test and validation.

Construction of new data archive system in RIKEN RI beam factory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komiyama, M.; Fukunishi, N.; Uchiyama, A.

2012-01-01

RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF) is a cyclotron-based next-generation radioactive beam facility. RIBF uses two types of control systems; an experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS)-based system and a group of several non-EPICS-based systems. For each control system there is a corresponding data archiving system in operation, and in order to unify these two data archives, since October 2009 we have been developing a new archiving system. This new data archive system, named RIBF Control Data Archive System (RIBFCAS), is required, at intervals between 1 - 60 s, to collect and store more than 3000 data generated by EPICS controlled devices through EPICS input/output controllers (IOCs). In addition, RIBFCAS must be able to combine the existing non-EPICS-based systems. To fulfill these requirements, a Java-based platform has been created, and client applications are based on Adobe AIR runtime. The RIBFCAS hardware system, therefore, consists of an application server, a database server and client-PCs. Presently, we have succeeded in stably acquiring approximately 3000 data from 22 IOCs every 10 s. Moreover, incorporation of the non-EPICS-based data archive system into RIBFCAS is now in progress. (authors)

Vegetation Earth System Data Record from DSCOVR EPIC Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Knyazikhin, Y.; Song, W.; Yang, B.; Mottus, M.; Rautiainen, M.; Stenberg, P.

2017-12-01

The NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission was launched on February 11, 2015 to the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L1 point where it began to collect radiance data of the entire sunlit Earth every 65 to 110 min in June 2015. It provides imageries in near backscattering directions with the scattering angle between 168° and 176° at ten ultraviolet to near infrared (NIR) narrow spectral bands centered at 317.5 (band width 1.0) nm, 325.0 (2.0) nm, 340.0 (3.0) nm, 388.0 (3.0) nm, 433.0 (3.0) nm, 551.0 (3.0) nm, 680.0 (3.0) nm, 687.8 (0.8) nm, 764.0 (1.0) nm and 779.5 (2.0) nm. This poster presents current status of the Vegetation Earth System Data Record of global Leaf Area Index (LAI), solar zenith angle dependent Sunlit Leaf Area Index (SLAI), Fraction vegetation absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from the DSCOVR EPIC observations. Whereas LAI is a standard product of many satellite missions, the SLAI is a new satellite-derived parameter. Sunlit and shaded leaves exhibit different radiative response to incident Photosynthetically Active Radiation (400-700 nm), which in turn triggers various physiological and physical processes required for the functioning of plants. FPAR, LAI and SLAI are key state parameters in most ecosystem productivity models and carbon/nitrogen cycle. The product at 10 km sinusoidal grid and 65 to 110 min temporal frequency as well as accompanying Quality Assessment (QA) variables will be publicly available from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center. The Algorithm Theoretical Basis (ATBD) and product validation strategy are also discussed in this poster.

Creating an EPICS Based Test Stand Development System for a BPM Digitizer of the Linac Coherent Light Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is required to deliver a high quality electron beam for producing coherent X-rays. As a result, high resolution beam position monitoring is required. The Beam Position Monitor (BPM) digitizer acquires analog signals from the beam line and digitizes them to obtain beam position data. Although Matlab is currently being used to test the BPM digitizer?s functions and capability, the Controls Department at SLAC prefers to use Experimental Physics and Industrial Control Systems (EPICS). This paper discusses the transition of providing similar as well as enhanced functionalities, than those offered by Matlab, to test the digitizer. Altogether, the improved test stand development system can perform mathematical and statistical calculations with the waveform signals acquired from the digitizer and compute the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the signals. Finally, logging of meaningful data into files has been added.

Status report on the Advanced Light Source control system, 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, J.; Brown, W. Jr.; Cork, C.

1993-10-01

The Advanced Light Source (ALS), under construction for the past seven years, has become operational. The accelerator has been successfully commissioned using a control system based on hundreds of controllers of our own design and high performance personal computers which are the operator interface. The first beamlines are being commissioned using a control system based on VME hardware and the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) software. The two systems are being integrated, and this paper reports on the current work being done

The rebirth of the epic from the Nietzsche's Philosophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Samim

2016-12-01

Full Text Available his philosophy with Iranian mysticism. Such identification is fundamentally flawed and contradicts Nietzsche's ontological principles and moral values. Some of the Iranian commentators, expert in Nietzsche's philosophy, identified Nietzsche's thought is pregnant from the epic universal values, not the mystical patterns. Understanding of Nietzsche's Philosophy is possible with the help of Shahnameh and Iliad not mysticism. The reason of this fundamental error lies in the fact that these Iranian commentators fail to distinguish the subtle differences between mysticism and epic, and this failure, has led to their mixing Nietzsche's thought with the Iranian mysticism. Epic and mysticism are related in the differences not the similarities. Although there could be some similarities between the mystical worldview and that of epic, they are merely outward and superficial. In effect, in the matter of epistemic, moral and ontological principles, epic contradicts mysticism. At the best, mysticism can be considered to be the negative correspondence of epic and called “Negative Epic”. Nietzsche's thought has been affected to a greater extent by the Greek culture than and prior to the Iranian traditions. Nietzche's symbolic recourse to Zoroaster cannot be a cogent basis for these commentators' claim. Moreover, Nietzche's grasp of Zoroastrian worldview is so much blurred and incomplete. He appreciates the Greek culture not the Iranian traditions. Therefore, autonomy, voluntarism, appreciation of life and denunciation of passivity are the set of values and principles associating Nietzsche's philosophy with epic. These are exactly the principles disregarded and even denied in mystical thought. In other words, Nietzsche's philosophy can be considered the rebirth of the epic in the sphere of philosophical thought.

The slow control system of the HADES RPC wall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gil, A.; Blanco, A.; Castro, E.; Díaz, J.; Garzón, J.A.; Gonzalez-Diaz, D.; Fouedjio, L.; Kolb, B.W.; Palka, M.; Traxler, M.; Trebacz, R.; Zumbruch, P.

2012-01-01

The control and monitoring system for the new HADES RPC time of flight wall installed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH (Darmstadt, Germany), is described. The slow control system controls/monitors about 6000 variables from different physical devices via a distributed architecture, which uses intensively the 1-wire ® bus. The software implementation is based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) software tool kit providing low cost, reliability and adaptability without requiring large hardware resources. The control and monitoring system attends five different subsystems: front-end electronics, low voltage, high voltage, gases, and detector.

HyperArchiver: an EPICS archiver prototype based on Hypertable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giacchini, M.; Giovannini, L.; Montis, M.; Bassato, G.; Vasquez, J.A.; Prete, G.; Andrighetto, A.; Petkus, R.; Lange, R.; Kasemir, K.; Del Campo, M.; Jugo, J.

2012-01-01

This work started in the context of NSLS2 project at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The NSLS2 control system foresees a very high number of PV variables and has strict requirements in terms of archiving/retrieving rate: our goal was to store 10 K PV/sec and retrieve 4 K PV/sec for a group of 4 signals. The HyperArchiver is an EPICS Archiver implementation engined by Hypertable, an open source database whose internal architecture is derived from Google's Big Table. We discuss the performance of HyperArchiver and present the results of some comparative tests. (authors)

Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC): visible nulling cornagraph testbed results

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker; Woodruff, Robert; Vasudevan, Gopal

2008-07-01

The Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is a NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept under study for the upcoming Exoplanet Probe. EPIC's mission would be to image and characterize extrasolar giant planets, and potential super-Earths, in orbits with semi-major axes between 2 and 10 AU. EPIC will provide insights into the physical nature of a variety of planets in other solar systems complimenting radial velocity (RV) and astrometric planet searches. It will detect and characterize the atmospheres of planets identified by radial velocity surveys and potentially some transits, determine orbital inclinations and masses, characterize the atmospheres of gas giants around A and F stars, observed the inner spatial structure and colors of inner Spitzer selected debris disks. EPIC would be launched into a heliocentric Earth trailing drift-away orbit, with a 3-year mission lifetime (5 year goal) and will revisit planets at least three times. The starlight suppression approach consists of a visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) that enables high order starlight suppression in broadband light. To demonstrate the VNC approach and advance it's technology readiness the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Lockheed-Martin have developed a laboratory VNC and have demonstrated white light nulling. We will discuss our ongoing VNC work and show the latest results from the VNC testbed.

Feasibility of the Enhancing Participation In the Community by improving Wheelchair Skills (EPIC Wheels) program: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Giesbrecht, Edward M; Miller, William C; Eng, Janice J; Mitchell, Ian M; Woodgate, Roberta L; Goldsmith, Charles H

2013-10-24

Many older adults rely on a manual wheelchair for mobility but typically receive little, if any, training on how to use their wheelchair effectively and independently. Standardized skill training is an effective intervention, but limited access to clinician trainers is a substantive barrier. Enhancing Participation in the Community by Improving Wheelchair Skills (EPIC Wheels) is a 1-month monitored home training program for improving mobility skills in older novice manual wheelchair users, integrating principles from andragogy and social cognitive theory. The purpose of this study is to determine whether feasibility indicators and primary clinical outcome measures of the EPIC Wheels program are sufficiently robust to justify conducting a subsequent multi-site randomized controlled trial. A 2 × 2 factorial randomized controlled trial at two sites will compare improvement in wheelchair mobility skills between an EPIC Wheels treatment group and a computer-game control group, with additional wheelchair use introduced as a second factor. A total of 40 community-dwelling manual wheelchair users at least 55 years old and living in two Canadian metropolitan cities (n = 20 × 2) will be recruited. Feasibility indicators related to study process, resources, management, and treatment issues will be collected during data collection and at the end of the study period, and evaluated against proposed criteria. Clinical outcome measures will be collected at baseline (pre-randomization) and post-intervention. The primary clinical outcome measure is wheelchair skill capacity, as determined by the Wheelchair Skills Test, version 4.1. Secondary clinical outcome measures include wheelchair skill safety, satisfaction with performance, wheelchair confidence, life-space mobility, divided-attention, and health-related quality of life. The EPIC Wheels training program offers several innovative features. The convenient, portable, economical, and adaptable tablet-based, home program model

On the Issue of Origin of the Yakut Epic Olonkho

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasiliy Nikolayevich Ivanov

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The issue on the origin of the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho was covered in works in history and ethnography of the Yakuts back in the 19th century, for instance, in the famous monograph Yakuts. Experience of ethnographic research by a Polish exile V.L. Seroshevskiy (1896. Since that time, this issue was interesting for many, but no special monograph research has been done yet. Currently, the issue of Olonkho origin is gaining special scientific and general cultural significance, as on November 25, 2005 the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho according to the historical decision of UNESCO was granted the high status “Masterpiece of oral and non-material heritage of humanity”. The Yakut epic is a part of the multicomponent epic creative work of the Turkic nations but it was the only one to get such a high international recognition. This paper aims to revive the scientific interest to the issue of the Yakut epic’s genesis. To date, some rich source-related and historiographical material has been accumulated for broader generalizations – the main point is that the Yakut epic is becoming an important object of comparative historical analysis of the origin of all Turkic epics. The thing is that epic researchers admit that almost a thousand years of existence isolated from the whole Turkic world in the North-East of Asia kept many archaic features of the epics of the ancient ancestors – natives of Central Asia and Southern Siberia. It became clear that Olonkho origin is organically linked with the ethnic history of its nation.The paper follows this comprehensive process reflected in works by archeologists, ethnographers, historians and linguists. Their latest achievements are impressive, bringing a lot of novelty into the conventional views of origins and development of the Yakut epic. The paper attempts to specify that novelty and rationalize the idea that time has come to introduce that novelty into science to solve the long-standing issue of origin of

Development of the electron gun control system of SSRF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Dayong; Lin Guoqiang; Liu Dekang; Shen Liren

2010-01-01

An electron gun is the key part of a linac, the beam quality of which depends on beam quality of the electron gun, hence the need of a stable control system of the electron gun to ensure its safe operation.In this paper, we report our progresses in developing the linac's electron gun control system of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). It uses PLC as the device controllers, with the monitoring software developed on EPICS. The whole system is connected by Ethernet. The PLC and Ethernet technology ensures good reliability and easy maintenance of the electron gun control system. (authors)

A versatile trigger and synchronization module with IEEE1588 capabilities and EPICS support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez, J.M.; Ruiz, M.; Borrego, J.; Arcas, G. de; Barrera, E.; Vega, J.

2010-01-01

Event timing and synchronization are two key aspects to improve in the implementation of distributed data acquisition (dDAQ) systems such as the ones used in fusion experiments. It is also of great importance the integration of dDAQ in control and measurement networks. This paper analyzes the applicability of the IEEE1588 and EPICS standards to solve these problems, and presents a hardware module implementation based in both of them that allow adding these functionalities to any DAQ. The IEEE1588 standard facilitates the integration of event timing and synchronization mechanisms in distributed data acquisition systems based on IEEE 803.3 (Ethernet). An optimal implementation of such system requires the use of network interface devices which include specific hardware resources devoted to the IEE1588 functionalities. Unfortunately, this is not the approach followed in most of the large number of applications available nowadays. Therefore, most solutions are based in software and use standard hardware network interfaces. This paper presents the development of a hardware module (GI2E) with IEEE1588 capabilities which includes USB, RS232, RS485 and CAN interfaces. This permits to integrate any DAQ element that uses these interfaces in dDAQ systems in an efficient and simple way. The module has been developed with Motorola's Coldfire MCF5234 processor and National Semiconductors's PHY DP83640T, providing it with the possibility to implement the PTP protocol of IEEE1588 by hardware, and therefore increasing its performance over other implementations based in software. To facilitate the integration of the dDAQ system in control and measurement networks the module includes a basic Input/Output Controller (IOC) functionality of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) architecture. The paper discusses the implementation details of this module and presents its applications in advanced dDAQ applications in the fusion community.

A study on the fusion reactor - Design study for tokamak control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ko, In Soo; Nam, Kung Won; Cho, Moo Hyun; Kim, Ji Hwa; Kim, Jae Myung; Kim, Sung Chul; Lee, Ki Sun [Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

1996-09-01

Based on the experience accumulated during the construction of Pohang Light Source, we strongly suggest that the control system must have a hierarchical structure linked with multiple ethernets. Some UNIX-based workstation are recommended in the top layer where KSTAR operators are faced with several control/monitoring windows. As a supervisors to individual subsystem, realtime computers such as VME system are recommended. Choice of realtime operating system is up to the actual developer. However, we strongly suggest to use Lynx which is UNIX-based realtime OS and is getting more attentions after its introduction in the market. Graphic interface for operators will be developed by adopting development toolkit such as RTWorks and EPICS. We also recommend to use EPICS because it is introduced by Los Alamos National Laboratory, U. S. A. and several laboratories around world are now adopting it to their control system. This report is also pointing out several key issues relating the system development. Among them are the cabling plan, signal list, and noise suppressions. It is also suggested that early decision of communication protocol will help to integrated control system in the future. 11 refs., 5 tabs., 4 figs. (author)

AFECS. multi-agent framework for experiment control systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gyurjyan, V; Abbott, D; Heyes, G; Jastrzembski, E; Timmer, C; Wolin, E [Jefferson Lab, 12000 Jefferson Ave. MS-12B3, Newport News, VA 23606 (United States)], E-mail: gurjyan@jlab.org

2008-07-01

AFECS is a pure Java based software framework for designing and implementing distributed control systems. AFECS creates a control system environment as a collection of software agents behaving as finite state machines. These agents can represent real entities, such as hardware devices, software tasks, or control subsystems. A special control oriented ontology language (COOL), based on RDFS (Resource Definition Framework Schema) is provided for control system description as well as for agent communication. AFECS agents can be distributed over a variety of platforms. Agents communicate with their associated physical components using range of communication protocols, including tcl-DP, cMsg (publish-subscribe communication system developed at Jefferson Lab), SNMP (simple network management protocol), EPICS channel access protocol and JDBC.

AFECS. Multi-Agent Framework for Experiment Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vardan Gyurjyan; David Abbott; William Heyes; Edward Jastrzembski; Carl Timmer; Elliott Wolin

2008-01-23

AFECS is a pure Java based software framework for designing and implementing distributed control systems. AFECS creates a control system environment as a collection of software agents behaving as finite state machines. These agents can represent real entities, such as hardware devices, software tasks, or control subsystems. A special control oriented ontology language (COOL), based on RDFS (Resource Definition Framework Schema) is provided for control system description as well as for agent communication. AFECS agents can be distributed over a variety of platforms. Agents communicate with their associated physical components using range of communication protocols, including tcl-DP, cMsg (publish-subscribe communication system developed at Jefferson Lab), SNMP (simple network management protocol), EPICS channel access protocol and JDBC.

AFECS. multi-agent framework for experiment control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyurjyan, V; Abbott, D; Heyes, G; Jastrzembski, E; Timmer, C; Wolin, E

2008-01-01

AFECS is a pure Java based software framework for designing and implementing distributed control systems. AFECS creates a control system environment as a collection of software agents behaving as finite state machines. These agents can represent real entities, such as hardware devices, software tasks, or control subsystems. A special control oriented ontology language (COOL), based on RDFS (Resource Definition Framework Schema) is provided for control system description as well as for agent communication. AFECS agents can be distributed over a variety of platforms. Agents communicate with their associated physical components using range of communication protocols, including tcl-DP, cMsg (publish-subscribe communication system developed at Jefferson Lab), SNMP (simple network management protocol), EPICS channel access protocol and JDBC

Design and implementation of a standard framework for KSTAR control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Woongryol; Park, Mikyung; Lee, Taegu; Lee, Sangil; Yun, Sangwon; Park, Jinseop; Park, Kaprai

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We performed a standardized of control system in KSTAR. • EPICS based software framework is developed for the realization of various control systems. • The applicability of the framework is widened from a simple command dispatcher to the real time application. • Our framework supports the implementation of embedded IOC in FPGA board. - Abstract: Standardization of control system is an important issue in KSTAR which is organized with various heterogeneous systems. Diverse control systems in KSTAR have been adopting new application software since 2010. Development of this software was launched for easy implementation of a data acquisition system but it is extended to as a Standard Framework (SFW) of control system in KSTAR. It is composed with a single library, database, template, and descriptor files. The SFW based controller has common factors. It has non-blocking control command method with a thread. The internal sequence handler makes it can be synchronized with KSTAR experiment. It also has a ring buffer pool mechanism for streaming input data handling. Recently, there are two important functional improvements in the framework. Processor embedded FPGA was proposed as a standard hardware platform for specific application. These are also manipulated by the SFW based embedded application. This approach gives single board system an ability of low level distributed control under the EPICS environments. We also developed a real time monitoring system as a real time network inspection tool in 2012 campaign using the SFW

The Cosmopolitan Epics of 2004: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Assoc. Prof. Saverio Giovacchini

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In 2004 Hollywood produced three purportedly blockbuster epic films:Troy, King Arthur and Alexander. Many critics suggested a direct linkbetween the 1950s “sword and sandal” epic and this new crop of movies.Similarities between the two cycles certainly exist but in this essay I want to emphasize a crucial difference between the contemporary,cosmopolitan, epic and the previous, more nation-bound, 1950s cycle.Rather than being in tune with key elements of American foreign policy, the new cycle of “sword and sandal” films offers a somber assessment of American imperial adventures. I shall contend, in fact, that the new crop of epic films had to choose between two generic conventions that are, at present, not compatible. On the one hand, epic films had traditionally been the bearers of the foreign policy vision of the country that produced them. On the other, their inflated budgets made them dependent on an international market. Deeply aware of a globalized and rising opposition to US foreign policy and of the fact that foreign box office now exceeds the domestic take of a blockbuster, it may be no wonder that the makers of these films chose to craft them into citizens of the world.

The Philippine Epics and Ballads Multimedia Archive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole Revel

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This essay offers an introduction to the Philippine Epics and Ballads Archive. This collection is a joint endeavor between singers, scholars, knowledgeable local persons, and technical assistants. This archive exemplifies a part of the cultural heritage among 15 national cultural communities and their respective languages. A multi-media eCompanion offers an interactive version of a Palawan epic song.

Are metabolic signatures mediating the relationship between lifestyle factors and hepatocellular carcinoma risk? Results from a nested case-control study in EPIC.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Assi, Nada; Thomas, Duncan C; Leitzman, Michael; Stepien, Magdalena; Chajes, Veronique; Philip, Thierry; Vineis, Paolo; Bamia, Christina; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Sandanger, Torkjel M; Molinuevo, Amaia; Boshuizen, Hendriek C; Sundkvist, Anneli; Kühn, Tilman; Travis, Ruth C; Overvad, Kim; Riboli, Elio; Gunter, Marc J; Scalbert, Augustin; Jenab, Mazda; Ferrari, Pietro; Viallon, Vivian

2018-01-01

The "meeting-in-the-middle" (MITM) is a principle to identify exposure biomarkers that are also predictors of disease. The MITM statistical framework was applied in a nested case-control study of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within EPIC where healthy lifestyle index (HLI) variables were related to

A Cloud Top Pressure Algorithm for DSCOVR-EPIC

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Q.; Morgan, E. C.; Yang, Y.; Marshak, A.; Davis, A. B.

2017-12-01

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) sensor on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite presents unique opportunities to derive cloud properties of the entire daytime Earth. In particular, the Oxygen A- and B-band and corresponding reference channels provide cloud top pressure information. In order to address the in-cloud penetration depth issue—and ensuing retrieval bias—a comprehensive sensitivity study has been conducted to simulate satellite-observed radiances for a wide variety of cloud structures and optical properties. Based on this sensitivity study, a cloud top pressure algorithm for DSCOVR-EPIC has been developed. Further, the algorithm has been applied to EPIC measurements.

Asynchronous data change notification between database server and accelerator controls system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, W.; Morris, J.; Nemesure, S.

2011-01-01

Database data change notification (DCN) is a commonly used feature. Not all database management systems (DBMS) provide an explicit DCN mechanism. Even for those DBMS's which support DCN (such as Oracle and MS SQL server), some server side and/or client side programming may be required to make the DCN system work. This makes the setup of DCN between database server and interested clients tedious and time consuming. In accelerator control systems, there are many well established software client/server architectures (such as CDEV, EPICS, and ADO) that can be used to implement data reflection servers that transfer data asynchronously to any client using the standard SET/GET API. This paper describes a method for using such a data reflection server to set up asynchronous DCN (ADCN) between a DBMS and clients. This method works well for all DBMS systems which provide database trigger functionality. Asynchronous data change notification (ADCN) between database server and clients can be realized by combining the use of a database trigger mechanism, which is supported by major DBMS systems, with server processes that use client/server software architectures that are familiar in the accelerator controls community (such as EPICS, CDEV or ADO). This approach makes the ADCN system easy to set up and integrate into an accelerator controls system. Several ADCN systems have been set up and used in the RHIC-AGS controls system.

Exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC markers for non-model teleost fishes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riethoven Jean-Jack M

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC markers have three advantages over anonymous genomic sequences in studying evolution of natural populations. First, the universal primers designed in exon regions can be applied across a broad taxonomic range. Second, the homology of EPIC-amplified sequences can be easily determined by comparing either their exon or intron portion depending on the genetic distance between the taxa. Third, having both the exon and intron fragments could help in examining genetic variation at the intraspecific and interspecific level simultaneously, particularly helpful when studying species complex. However, the paucity of EPIC markers has hindered multilocus studies using nuclear gene sequences, particularly in teleost fishes. Results We introduce a bioinformatics pipeline for developing EPIC markers by comparing the whole genome sequences between two or more species. By applying this approach on five teleost fishes whose genomes were available in the Ensembl database http://www.ensembl.org, we identified 210 EPIC markers that have single-copy and conserved exon regions with identity greater than 85% among the five teleost fishes. We tested 12 randomly chosen EPIC markers in nine teleost species having a wide phylogenetic range. The success rate of amplifying and sequencing those markers varied from 44% to 100% in different species. We analyzed the exon sequences of the 12 EPIC markers from 13 teleosts. The resulting phylogeny contains many traditionally well-supported clades, indicating the usefulness of the exon portion of EPIC markers in reconstructing species phylogeny, in addition to the value of the intron portion of EPIC markers in interrogating the population history. Conclusions This study illustrated an effective approach to develop EPIC markers in a taxonomic group, where two or more genome sequences are available. The markers identified could be amplified across a broad taxonomic range of teleost

CLS A Fully Open-Source Control System

CERN Document Server

Matias, Elder; Johnson, Terry; Tanner, Robby; Wilson, Tony; Wright, Glen; Zhang, Hao

2005-01-01

The Canadian Light Source is one of the first major accelerator facility to adopt a fully open source control system. The control system is based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) in use at may other facilities. From the outset CLS utilised RTEMS and Linux as the underlying operating systems for real-time control computers, operator interface computers and servers. When communicating with PLC and other intelligent devices CLS has also adopted a policy of using open communications protocols where possible. Combined these strategies have lead to a system that can easily evolve over the life of the facility without being tied to specific hardware or software suppliers. The operational experience over the past few years has indicates the selected architecture is sufficiently robust and reliable.

Development of the integrated control system for the microwave ion source of the PEFP 100-MeV proton accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Young-Gi; Seol, Kyung-Tae; Jang, Ji-Ho; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub

2012-07-01

The Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) 20-MeV proton linear accelerator is currently operating at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The ion source of the 100-MeV proton linac needs at least a 100-hour operation time. To meet the goal, we have developed a microwave ion source that uses no filament. For the ion source, a remote control system has been developed by using experimental physics and the industrial control system (EPICS) software framework. The control system consists of a versa module europa (VME) and EPICS-based embedded applications running on a VxWorks real-time operating system. The main purpose of the control system is to control and monitor the operational variables of the components remotely and to protect operators from radiation exposure and the components from critical problems during beam extraction. We successfully performed the operation test of the control system to confirm the degree of safety during the hardware performance.

Potential substitution of mineral P fertilizer by manure: EPIC development and implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Azevedo, Ligia B.; Vadas, Peter A.; Balkovič, Juraj; Skalský, Rastislav; Folberth, Christian; van der Velde, Marijn; Obersteiner, Michael

2016-04-01

Sources of mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizers are non-renewable. Although the longevity of P mines and the risk of future P depletion are highly debated P scarcity may be detrimental to agriculture in various ways. Some of these impacts include increasing food insecurity and nitrogen (N) and P imbalances, serious fluctuations in the global fertilizer and crop market prices, and contribution in geopolitical conflicts. P-rich waste produced from livestock production activities (i.e. manure) are an alternative to mineral P fertilizer. The substitution of mineral fertilizer with manure (1) delays the depletion of phosphate rock stocks, (2) reduces the vulnerability of P fertilizer importing countries to sudden changes in the fertilizer market, (3) reduces the chances of geopolitical conflicts arising from P exploitation pressures, (4) avoids the need for environmental protection policies in livestock systems, (5) is an opportunity for the boosting of crop yields in low nutrient input agricultural systems, and (6) contributes to the inflow of not only P but also other essential nutrients to agricultural soils. The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model (EPIC) is a widely used process-based, crop model integrating various environmental flows relevant to crop production as well as environmental quality assessments. We simulate crop yields using a powerful computer cluster infra-structure (known as EPIC-IIASA) in combination with spatially-explicit EPIC input data on climate, management, soils, and landscape. EPIC-IIASA contains over 131,000 simulation units and it has 5 arc-min resolution. In this work, we implement two process-based models of manure biogeochemistry into EPIC-IIASA, i.e. SurPhos (for P) and Manure DNDC (for N and carbon) and a fate model model describing nutrient outflows from fertilizer via runoff. For EGU, we will use EPIC-IIASA to quantify the potential of mineral P fertilizer substitution with manure. Specifically, we will estimate the relative

Programming PLCS under EPICS at the SNS Project : Further Experiences in Collaboration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

P. A. Gurd; W. H. Strong; J. D. Creel

2003-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is an accelerator-based neutron source being built in Tennessee by a partnership of six national laboratories. The control system components for the SNS were produced by personnel at the collaborating laboratories, by vendors of the equipment, and by commercial contractors. A number of different approaches were used to provide the programming for both the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and the input-output controllers (IOCs) which were all based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). For conventional facilities, both the PLCs and the IOCs were programmed under a commercial contract. The PLCs for the high power radio frequency system (HPRF) were programmed by the vendors of the equipment, while the IOCs were programmed by the collaborating laboratory. Finally, while the IOCs for the cryogenic systems were programmed at Oak Ridge, three different approaches were used to produce the PLC programming: some were programmed at Oak Ridge, some at TJNAF, and some at vendor sites. This paper discusses the status of the PLCs in the control system and the integration challenges encountered in the various approaches

Machine interlock and protection system based on PLC for the SSRF linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chou Wenjun; Zhou Dayong; Chen Jianfeng; Shen Liren; Liu Yajuan

2008-01-01

This paper describes a machine interlock and protection system used for accelerators based on EPICS (Experimental physics and industrial control system). The system is composed of a front-end computer and an FM-3R logic controller PLC. The alarm signal is passed by the hardware directly, and would be deal with PLC. The reporting, recording and analyst of the event are accomplished by EPICS control software. And PLC is linked to the EPICS by Internet. (authors)

Compressing Control System Data for Efficient Storage and Retrieval

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christopher Larrieu

2003-01-01

The controls group at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), acquires multiple terabytes of EPICS control system data per year via CZAR, its new archiving system. By heuristically applying a combination of rudimentary compression techniques, in conjunction with several specialized data transformations and algorithms, the CZAR storage engine reduces the size of this data by approximately 88 percent, without any loss of information. While the compression process requires significant memory and processor time, the decompression routine suffers only slightly in this regard

A System for Exchanging Control and Status Messages in the NOvA Data Acquisition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biery, K.A.; Cooper, R.G.; Foulkes, S.C.; Guglielmo, G.M.; Piccoli, L.P.; Votava, M.E.V.; Fermilab

2007-01-01

In preparation for NOvA, a future neutrino experiment at Fermilab, we are developing a system for passing control and status messages in the data acquisition system. The DAQ system will consist of applications running on approximately 450 nodes. The message passing system will use a publish-subscribe model and will provide support for sending messages and receiving the associated replies. Additional features of the system include a layered architecture with custom APIs tailored to the needs of a DAQ system, the use of an open source messaging system for handling the reliable delivery of messages, the ability to send broadcasts to groups of applications, and APIs in Java, C++, and Python. Our choice for the open source system to deliver messages is EPICS. We will discuss the architecture of the system, our experience with EPICS, and preliminary test results

A System for Exchanging Control and Status Messages in the NOvA Data Acquisition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biery, K.A.; Cooper, R.G.; Foulkes, S.C.; Guglielmo, G.M.; Piccoli, L.P.; Votava, M.E.V.; /Fermilab

2007-04-01

In preparation for NOvA, a future neutrino experiment at Fermilab, we are developing a system for passing control and status messages in the data acquisition system. The DAQ system will consist of applications running on approximately 450 nodes. The message passing system will use a publish-subscribe model and will provide support for sending messages and receiving the associated replies. Additional features of the system include a layered architecture with custom APIs tailored to the needs of a DAQ system, the use of an open source messaging system for handling the reliable delivery of messages, the ability to send broadcasts to groups of applications, and APIs in Java, C++, and Python. Our choice for the open source system to deliver messages is EPICS. We will discuss the architecture of the system, our experience with EPICS, and preliminary test results.

EPICS SCA CLIENTS ON THE .NET X64 PLATFORM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timossi, Chris; Nishimura, Hiroshi

2006-01-01

We have developed a .NET assembly, which we call SCA.NET, which we have been using for building EPICS based control room applications at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). In this paper we report on our experiences building a 64-bit version of SCA.NET and the underlying channel access libraries for Windows XP x64 (using a dual core AMD Athlon CPU). We also report on our progress in building new accelerator control applications for this environment

EPIC: Helping School Life and Family Support Each Other.

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, David

1992-01-01

Born out of a 1981 murder, Buffalo (New York) Public Schools' EPIC (Effective Parenting Information for Children) program successfully combines parenting, effective teaching, and community programs to help family and school life support each other. Under EPIC, teachers are advised to help students acquire 23 skills involving self-esteem, rules,…

Evolutionary Process for Integrating COTS-Based Systems (EPIC): An Overview. Key Elements in Building, Fielding, and Supporting Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) Based Solutions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Albert, Cecilia

2002-01-01

.... The Evolutionary Process for Integrating COTS-based systems (EPIC) redefines acquisition, management, and engineering practices to more effectively leverage the COTS marketplace and other sources of pre-existing components...

The control architecture of the D0 experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

J. Fredrick Bartlett et al.

2002-01-01

From a controls viewpoint, contemporary high energy physics collider detectors are comparable in complexity to small to medium size accelerators: however, their controls requirements often differ significantly. D0, one of two collider experiments at Fermilab, has recently started a second, extended running period that will continue for the next five years. EPICS [1], an integrated set of software building blocks for implementing a distributed control system, has been adapted to satisfy the slow controls needs of the D0 detector by (1) extending the support for new device types and an additional field bus, (2) by the addition of a global event reporting system that augments the existing EPICS alarm support, and (3) by the addition of a centralized database with supporting tools for defining the configuration of the control system. This paper discusses the control architecture of the current D0 experiment, how the EPICS system was extended to meet the control requirements of a large, high-energy physics detector, and how a formal control system contributes to the management of detector operations

Hardware and software architecture for the integration of the new EC waves launcher in FTU control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boncagni, L. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione – ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, 45 00045 Frascati (RM) (Italy); Centioli, C., E-mail: cristina.centioli@enea.it [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione – ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, 45 00045 Frascati (RM) (Italy); Galperti, C.; Alessi, E.; Granucci, G. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA-CNR sulla Fusione – IFP-CNR, Via Roberto Cozzi, 53 20125 Milano (Italy); Grosso, L.A. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione – ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, 45 00045 Frascati (RM) (Italy); Marchetto, C. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA-CNR sulla Fusione – IFP-CNR, Via Roberto Cozzi, 53 20125 Milano (Italy); Napolitano, M. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione – ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, 45 00045 Frascati (RM) (Italy); Nowak, S. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA-CNR sulla Fusione – IFP-CNR, Via Roberto Cozzi, 53 20125 Milano (Italy); Panella, M. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione – ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, 45 00045 Frascati (RM) (Italy); Sozzi, C. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA-CNR sulla Fusione – IFP-CNR, Via Roberto Cozzi, 53 20125 Milano (Italy); Tilia, B.; Vitale, V. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione – ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, 45 00045 Frascati (RM) (Italy)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► The integration of a new ECRH launcher to FTU legacy control system is reported. ► Fast control has been developed with a three-node RT cluster within MARTe framework. ► Slow control was implemented with a Simatic S7 PLC and an EPICS IOC-CA application. ► The first results have assessed the feasibility of the launcher control architecture. -- Abstract: The role of high power electron cyclotron (EC) waves in controlling magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in tokamaks has been assessed in several experiments, exploiting the physical effects induced by resonant heating and current drive. Recently a new EC launcher, whose main goal is controlling tearing modes and possibly preventing their onset, is being implemented on FTU. So far most of the components of the launcher control strategy have been realized and successfully tested on plasma experiments. Nevertheless the operations of the new launcher must be completely integrated into the existing one, and to FTU control system. This work deals with this final step, proposing a hardware and software architecture implementing up to date technologies, to achieve a modular and effective control strategy well integrated into a legacy system. The slow control system of the new EC launcher is based on a Siemens S7 Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), integrated into FTU control system supervisor through an EPICS input output controller (IOC) and an in-house developed Channel Access client application creating an abstraction layer that decouples the IOC and the PLC from the FTU Supervisor software. This architecture could enable a smooth migration to an EPICS-only supervisory control system. The real time component of the control system is based on the open source MARTe framework relying on a Linux real time cluster, devoted to the detection of MHD instabilities and the calculation of the injection angles and the time reference for the radiofrequency power enable commands for the EC launcher.

Hyperarchiver: an evolution of EPICS channel archiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campo, M. del; Arredondo, I.; Jugo, J.; Giacchini, M.; Giovannini, L.

2012-01-01

Data storage is a primary issue in any research facility. In the EPICS middleware based accelerator community, Channel Archiver has been always considered the main reference. It works with Oracle and MySQL, probably the best well known relational databases. However, demanding requirements at minimum costs have fostered the development of a wide range of alternatives, like MDSPlus (Consorzio RFX), SciDB (BNL) or Hypertable (IFNF). This document launches a tool called HyperArchiver, which was firstly developed at IFNF (Italy) and eventually customised by ESS Bilbao (Spain). Based on a NoSQL database named Hypertable, it focuses on large data sets management with maximum scalability, reliability and performance. Besides the update and further customization made at ESS Bilbao, HyperArchiver is presented with a set of GUIs, in order to provide an easy use and integration with any general control system. A LabVIEW VI and two cross-platform PyQt GUIs for both Hypertable data retrieval and HyperArchiver control have been developed and successfully tested at ESS Bilbao. (author)

Design for Change : EPIC pillars for Persuasive Design for Health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tjin-Kam-Jet-Siemons, Liseth; van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E.W.C.

2016-01-01

What makes technology now truly empathic? How to develop designs that matter? We apply the EPIC for change model for persuasive and empathic designs. EPIC stands for: • Engagement: Creating experience, flow using persuasive strategies and triggers in development, using positive psychology concepts;

The EPIC nitinol stent system in the treatment of iliac artery lesions: one-year results from the ORION clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Clair, Daniel G; Adams, Julie; Reen, Bernard; Feldman, Robert; Starr, Jean; Diaz-Cartelle, Juan; Dawkins, Keith D

2014-04-01

To report the 1-year results of a pivotal study for a new-generation nitinol stent for the treatment of iliac atherosclerotic lesions. The ORION trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00896337) was a single-arm, non-randomized, prospective, multicenter clinical trial that enrolled 125 patients (81 men; mean age 61.1±9.3 years) implanted with the EPIC self-expanding nitinol stent system in 166 de novo or restenotic iliac artery lesions ≤13 cm long. The primary endpoint was the 9-month major adverse event rate [i.e., device- or procedure-related death within 30 days, myocardial infarction during the index hospitalization, target vessel revascularization (TVR), or index limb amputation]. Follow-up occurred at hospital discharge and at 1, 9, and 12 months. An independent core laboratory evaluated ultrasound results at 1, 9, and 12 months. The primary endpoint met the prespecified performance goal, with only 3.4% (4/117) of patients experiencing a major adverse event by 9 months (p<0.0001). By 12 months, 6 (5.4%) of 111 patients had TVR; none had an index limb amputation. The ankle-brachial index, Walking Impairment Questionnaire, and Rutherford classifications all showed sustained improvements through 12 months. Primary patency was 94.4% with comparable results for lesions classified as complex (TASC II C/D 95.5%) or non-complex (TASC II A/B 95.0%). The EPIC stent system demonstrated safety and effectiveness through 12 months, including improvements for complex lesions. The EPIC stent is a viable alternative to surgery for patients with either complex or non-complex lesions.

Chronicle and the epic: Machado de Assis in homeric verses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionara Satin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to show the presence of classical epic, Homer's Iliad, in the chronicle of Machado de Assis, analyzing the intertextual dialogue between Machado de Assis and the epic poem by Homer, considering the concept of intertextuality developed by Julia Kristeva from philosophical conceptions of Bakhtin. In the chronicle of March 18, 1894 for the newspaper Gazeta de Notícias on sunday column "A Semana", Machado de Assis crosses Homer's epic to his chronicle, rewrites the epic text for the daily issues of his weekly column. To Tiphaine Samoyault, writing is rewriting, "stand on the existing foundations and contribute to a continued creation" (2008, p. 77 one of the principles of intertextuality. It was observed that from the reading and assimilation of the classic poem, Machado de Assis can approach so far genres, bringing the verses to his prose, leaving it closer to poetry. In this sense, we can see the richness of Machado de Assis chronicles, often left on the sidelines in favor of his short stories and romances. In addition, the dialogue, to rewrite the epic in his chronicle, Machado seems to contribute to this "continuous creation", reviving the memory of literature and emphasizing the permanence of classical work.

Pirate Alterity and Mimesis in Colonial Epic Poetry

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Javier de Navascués

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Pirate representation is studied in a series of Epic poems in the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century. The ambiguous image of the English enemy is read in texts by Juan de Miramontes, Pedro de Oña, Martín del Barco Centenera and Juan de Castellanos, among others. On the one hand, Colonial Epic ignores some important differences between privateers and pirates since the privateering had been legally accepted by all European nations, including Spain. Besides, Pirate is always called «Lutheran» and revealing its absolute otherness with respect to the Catholic model. On the other hand, it proposes a laudatory epics enemy painting from the imitation of the values accepted by the colonial society. The relationship between the Spanish hero and the privateer is represented not in a vertical direction, as could happen between colonizer and colonized subject, but on a level of rivalry.

EPIC: A Framework for Using Video Games in Ethics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Schrier, Karen

2015-01-01

Ethics education can potentially be supplemented through the use of video games. This article proposes a novel framework (Ethics Practice and Implementation Categorization [EPIC] Framework), which helps educators choose games to be used for ethics education purposes. The EPIC Framework is derived from a number of classic moral development,…

Using a Control System Ethernet Network as a Field Bus

CERN Document Server

De Van, William R; Lawson, Gregory S; Wagner, William H; Wantland, David M; Williams, Ernest

2005-01-01

A major component of a typical accelerator distributed control system (DCS) is a dedicated, large-scale local area communications network (LAN). The SNS EPICS-based control system uses a LAN based on the popular IEEE-802.3 set of standards (Ethernet). Since the control system network infrastructure is available throughout the facility, and since Ethernet-based controllers are readily available, it is tempting to use the control system LAN for "fieldbus" communications to low-level control devices (e.g. vacuum controllers; remote I/O). These devices may or may not be compatible with the high-level DCS protocols. This paper presents some of the benefits and risks of combining high-level DCS communications with low-level "field bus" communications on the same network, and describes measures taken at SNS to promote compatibility between devices connected to the control system network.

Connect high speed analog-digital converter with EPICS based on LabVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Wei; Chi Yunlong

2008-01-01

This paper introduce a method to connect high speed analog-digital converter (ADC212/100) with EPICS on Windows platform using LabVIEW. We use labVIEW to communicate with the converter, then use interface sub-VIs between LabVIEW and EPICS to access the EPICS IOC by Channel Access (CA). For the easy use graph programming language of LabVIEW, this method could shorten the develop period and reduce manpower cost. (authors)

Butterflies and Dragon-Eagles: Processing Epics from Southwest China

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Mark Bender

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In the mountains of southwest China, epic narratives are part of the traditional performance-scapes of many ethnic minority cultures. In some cases locals participate in the preservation of oral or oral-connected epics from their respective areas. This article discusses the dynamics of acquiring and translating texts from two major ethnic minority groups in cooperation with local tradition-bearers, poets, and scholars.

STAR Online Meta-Data Collection Framework: Integration with the Pre-existing Controls Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhipkin, D.; Lauret, J.

2017-10-01

One of the STAR experiment’s modular Messaging Interface and Reliable Architecture framework (MIRA) integration goals is to provide seamless and automatic connections with the existing control systems. After an initial proof of concept and operation of the MIRA system as a parallel data collection system for online use and real-time monitoring, the STAR Software and Computing group is now working on the integration of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) with MIRA’s interfaces. This integration goals are to allow functional interoperability and, later on, to replace the existing/legacy Detector Control System components at the service level. In this report, we describe the evolutionary integration process and, as an example, will discuss the EPICS Alarm Handler conversion. We review the complete upgrade procedure starting with the integration of EPICS-originated alarm signals propagation into MIRA, followed by the replacement of the existing operator interface based on Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM) with modern portable web-based Alarm Handler interface. To achieve this aim, we have built an EPICS-to-MQTT [8] bridging service, and recreated the functionality of the original Alarm Handler using low-latency web messaging technologies. The integration of EPICS alarm handling into our messaging framework allowed STAR to improve the DCS alarm awareness of existing STAR DAQ and RTS services, which use MIRA as a primary source of experiment control information.

NetCDF based data archiving system applied to ITER Fast Plant System Control prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Vega, J.; Ruiz, M.; De Arcas, G.; Barrera, E.; López, J.M.; Sanz, D.; Gonçalves, B.; Santos, B.; Utzel, N.; Makijarvi, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Implementation of a data archiving solution for a Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) for ITER CODAC. ► Data archiving solution based on scientific NetCDF-4 file format and Lustre storage clustering. ► EPICS control based solution. ► Tests results and detailed analysis of using NetCDF-4 and clustering technologies on fast acquisition data archiving. - Abstract: EURATOM/CIEMAT and Technical University of Madrid (UPM) have been involved in the development of a FPSC (Fast Plant System Control) prototype for ITER, based on PXIe (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation). One of the main focuses of this project has been data acquisition and all the related issues, including scientific data archiving. Additionally, a new data archiving solution has been developed to demonstrate the obtainable performances and possible bottlenecks of scientific data archiving in Fast Plant System Control. The presented system implements a fault tolerant architecture over a GEthernet network where FPSC data are reliably archived on remote, while remaining accessible to be redistributed, within the duration of a pulse. The storing service is supported by a clustering solution to guaranty scalability, so that FPSC management and configuration may be simplified, and a unique view of all archived data provided. All the involved components have been integrated under EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System), implementing in each case the necessary extensions, state machines and configuration process variables. The prototyped solution is based on the NetCDF-4 (Network Common Data Format) file format in order to incorporate important features, such as scientific data models support, huge size files management, platform independent codification, or single-writer/multiple-readers concurrency. In this contribution, a complete description of the above mentioned solution is presented, together with the most relevant results of the tests performed, while focusing in the

EPIC'S NEW REMOTE SENSING DATA AND INFORMATION TOOLS AVAILABLE FOR EPA CUSTOMERS

Science.gov (United States)

EPIC's New Remote Sensing Data and Information Tools Available for EPA Customers Donald Garofalo Environmental Photographic Interpretation Center (EPIC) Landscape Ecology Branch Environmental Sciences Division National Exposure Research Laboratory Several new too...

The IFR Online Detector Control system at the BaBar Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paolucci, Pierluigi

1999-01-01

The Instrumented Flux Return (IFR)[1] is one of the five subdetectors of the BaBar[2] experiment on the PEP II accelerator at SLAC. The IFR consists of 774 Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) detectors, covering an area of about 2,000 m 2 and equipped with 3,000 Front-end Electronic Cards (FEC) reading about 50,000 channels (readout strips). The first aim of a B-factory experiment is to run continuously without any interruption and then the Detector Control system plays a very important role in order to reduce the dead-time due to the hardware problems. The I.N.F.N. group of Naples has designed and built the IFR Online Detector Control System (IODC)[3] in order to control and monitor the operation of this large number of detectors and of all the IFR subsystems: High Voltage, Low Voltage, Gas system, Trigger and DAQ crates. The IODC consists of 8 custom DAQ stations, placed around the detector and one central DAQ station based on VME technology and placed in electronic house. The IODC use VxWorks and EPICS to implement slow control data flow of about 2500 hardware channels and to develop part of the readout module consisting in about 3500 records. EPICS is interfaced with the BaBar Run Control through the Component Proxy and with the BaBar database (Objectivity) through the Archiver and KeyLookup processes

BLED: a top-down approach to accelerator control system design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobnar, J.; Zagar, K.

2012-01-01

In many existing controls projects the central database/inventory was introduced late in the project, usually to support installation or maintenance activities. Thus construction of this database was done in a bottom-up fashion by reverse engineering of the installation. However, there are several benefits if the central database is introduced early in the machine design, such as the ability to simulate the system as a whole without having all the IOCs in place, it can be used as an input to the installation/commissioning plan, or act as an enforcer of certain conventions and quality processes. Based on our experience with control systems, we have designed a central database BLED, which is used for storage of machine configuration and parameters as well as control system configuration, inventory, and cabling. The first implementation of BLED supports EPICS, meaning it is capable of storage and generation of EPICS templates and substitution files as well as archive, alarm and other configurations. With a goal in mind to provide functionality of several existing central databases (IRMIS, SNS db, DBSF etc.) a lot of effort has been made to design the database in a way to handle extremely large set-ups, consisting of millions of control system points. Furthermore, BLED also stores the lattice data, thus providing additional information (e.g. survey data) required by different engineering groups. The lattice import/export tools among others support MAD and TraceWin tools formats which are widely used in the machine design community. (author)

Status of the Advanced Photon Source and its accelerator control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDowell, W.; Knott, M.; Kraimer, K.M.

1993-01-01

This paper presents the current status of the Advanced Photon Source (APS), its control system and the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) tools being used to implement this control system. The status of the physical plant and each of the accelerators as well as detailed descriptions of the software tools used to build the accelerator control system are presented. The control system uses high-performance graphic workstations and the X-windows graphical user interface (GUI) at the operator interface level. It connects to VME/VXI-based microprocessors at the field level using TCP/IP protocols over high-performance networks. This strategy assures the flexibility and expansibility of the control system. A defined interface between the system components will allow the system to evolve with the direct addition of future, improved equipment and new capabilities

Survey of hardware supported by the Control System at the Advanced Photon Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coulter, K.J.; Nawrocki, G.J.

1993-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial control System (EPICS) has been under development at Los Alamos and Argonne National Laboratories for over six years. A wide variety of instrumentation is now supported. This presentation will give an overview of the types of hardware and subsystems which are currently supported and will discuss future plans for addressing additional hardware requirements at the APS. Supported systems to be discussed include: motion control, vacuum pump control and system monitoring, standard laboratory instrumentation (ADCs, DVMs, pulse generators, etc.), image processing, discrete binary and analog I/O, and standard temperature, pressure and flow monitoring

On Collecting and Publishing the Albanian Oral Epic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arbnora Dushi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to examine how the Albanian epic known as the ‘Cycle of the Frontier Warriors’ has been presented in Albanian folklore collections. I will examine seven written versions of the song ‘The Wedding of Ali Bajraktari’, which belongs to this epic cycle. The ‘Cycle of the Frontier Warriors’, has been an object of collection since the beginning of the twentieth century. There are now dozens of volumes published, but the studies published to date concentrate on historical, thematic and comparative rather than contextual and textual issues.

HIGH-LEVEL CONTROL SYSTEM IN C*

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, Hiroshi; Timossi, Chris; Portmann, Greg; Urashka, Michael; Ikami, Craig; Beaudrow, M.

2008-01-01

We have started upgrading the control room programs for the injector at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). We chose to program in C* exclusively on the .NET Framework to create EPICS client programs on Windows Vista PCs. This paper reports the status of this upgrade project

Infrastructure of Taiwan photon source control network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Y.T.; Kuo, C.H.; Cheng, Y.S.; Jenny Chen; Hsu, S.Y.; Wu, C.Y.; Hu, K.H.; Hsu, K.T.

2012-01-01

A reliable, flexible and secure network is essential for the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS) control system which is based upon the EPICS tool-kit framework. Subsystem sub-nets will connect to control system via EPICS based CA gateways for forwarding data and reducing network traffic. Combining cyber security technologies such as fire-wall, NAT and VLAN, control network is isolated to protect IOCs and accelerator components. Network management tools are used to improve network performance. Remote access mechanism will be constructed for maintenance and troubleshooting. The Ethernet is also used as field-bus for instruments such as power supplies. This paper will describe the system architecture for the TPS control network. Cabling topology, redundancy and maintainability are also discussed. (authors)

Study on the utilization of the cognitive architecture EPIC to the task analysis of a nuclear power plant operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, Herculano Vieira

2003-02-01

This work presents a study of the use of the integrative cognitive architecture EPIC - Executive-Process - Interactive-Control, designed to evaluate the performance of a person performing tasks in parallel in a man-machine interface, as a methodology for Cognitive Task Analysis of a nuclear power plant operator. A comparison of the results obtained by the simulation by EPIC and the results obtained by application of the MHP model to the tasks performed by a shift operator during the execution of the procedure PO-E-3 - Steam Generator Tube Rupture of Angra 1 Nuclear Power Plant is done. To subsidize that comparison, an experiment was performed at the Angra 2 Nuclear Power Plant Full Scope Simulator in which three operator tasks were executed, its completion time measured and compared with the results of MHP and EPIC modeling. (author)

Continuity with Creole Epic and Innovation in the «History of New Mexico», 1610

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Pedro Cebollero

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This is an introductory study to Gaspar de Villagrá’s History of New Mexico (1610 in the context of the Cortés epic cycle tradition. The concept of «epic continuity» is utilized in order to better understand how the poem adheres to epic tradition at the same time that it goes through formal changes needed for its renovation. Part of the renovation is the inclusion of prose as a legal defense strategy, and its use as a vehicle for the struggles of Mexican Creoles. It is proposed that this poem belongs in a Frontier Creole epic sub-cycle.

A framework for back-up and restore under the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karonis, N.T.

1992-12-01

EPICS is a system that allows one to design and implement a controls system. At its foundation, i.e., the level closest to the devices being controlled, are autonomous computers, each called an Input/Output Controller or IOC. In EPICS, devices controlled by an IOC are represented by software entities called process variables. All devices are monitored/controlled by reading/writing values from/to their associated process variables. Under this schema, distributing processing over a number of IOCs and representing devices with process variables, there are a variety of ways one can view or group the information in the control system. Two of the more common groupings are by IOC (location) and by devices (function). Simply stated, the authors require a system capable of restoring the state of the machine, in their case the Advanced Photon Source, to a known desired state from somewhere in the past. To that end, they propose a framework which describes a system that periodically records and preserves the values of key process variables so that later on, those values can be written to the machine in an attempt to restore it to that same state. One of the more powerful notions that must be preserved in any system that solves this problem is the independence between the specification of what is monitored and the specification of what is written. In other words, grouping process variables for monitoring must be kept independent of the number of different ways to group process variables (e.g., by IOC, by device, etc.) when they are written

Crawling the Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larrieu, Theodore

2009-01-01

Information about accelerator operations and the control system resides in various formats in a variety of places on the lab network. There are operating procedures, technical notes, engineering drawings, and other formal controlled documents. There are programmer references and API documentation generated by tools such as doxygen and javadoc. There are the thousands of electronic records generated by and stored in databases and applications such as electronic logbooks, training materials, wikis, and bulletin boards and the contents of text-based configuration files and log files that can also be valuable sources of information. The obvious way to aggregate all these sources is to index them with a search engine that users can then query from a web browser. Toward this end, the Google 'mini' search appliance was selected and implemented because of its low cost and its simple web-based configuration and management. In addition to crawling and indexing electronic documents, the appliance provides an API that has been used to supplement search results with live control system data such as current values of EPICS process variables and graphs of recent data from the archiver.

DSCOVR/EPIC observations of SO2 reveal dynamics of young volcanic eruption clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Carn, S. A.; Krotkov, N. A.; Taylor, S.; Fisher, B. L.; Li, C.; Bhartia, P. K.; Prata, F. J.

2017-12-01

Volcanic emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ash have been measured by ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) sensors on US and European polar-orbiting satellites since the late 1970s. Although successful, the main limitation of these observations from low Earth orbit (LEO) is poor temporal resolution (once per day at low latitudes). Furthermore, most currently operational geostationary satellites cannot detect SO2, a key tracer of volcanic plumes, limiting our ability to elucidate processes in fresh, rapidly evolving volcanic eruption clouds. In 2015, the launch of the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) provided the first opportunity to observe volcanic clouds from the L1 Lagrange point. EPIC is a 10-band spectroradiometer spanning UV to near-IR wavelengths with two UV channels sensitive to SO2, and a ground resolution of 25 km. The unique L1 vantage point provides continuous observations of the sunlit Earth disk, from sunrise to sunset, offering multiple daily observations of volcanic SO2 and ash clouds in the EPIC field of view. When coupled with complementary retrievals from polar-orbiting UV and IR sensors such as the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), we demonstrate how the increased observation frequency afforded by DSCOVR/EPIC permits more timely volcanic eruption detection and novel analyses of the temporal evolution of volcanic clouds. Although EPIC has detected several mid- to high-latitude volcanic eruptions since launch, we focus on recent eruptions of Bogoslof volcano (Aleutian Islands, AK, USA). A series of EPIC exposures from May 28-29, 2017, uniquely captures the evolution of SO2 mass in a young Bogoslof eruption cloud, showing separation of SO2- and ice-rich regions of the cloud. We show how analyses of these sequences of EPIC SO2 data can elucidate poorly understood processes in transient eruption

Communication Patterns in the Perioperative Environment During Epic Electronic Health Record System Implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Friend, Tynan H; Jennings, Samantha J; Levine, Wilton C

2017-02-01

In April 2016, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) went live with the Epic electronic health records (EHR) system, replacing a variety of EHRs that previously existed in different departments throughout the hospital. At the time of implementation, the Vocera® Badge Communication System, a wireless hands-free communication device distributed to perioperative team members, had increased perioperative communication flow and efficiency. As a quality improvement effort to better understand communication patterns during an EHR go-live, we monitored our Vocera call volume and user volume before, during and after our go-live. We noticed that call volume and user volume significantly increased during our immediate go-live period and quickly returned to baseline levels. We also noticed that call volume increased during periods of unplanned EHR downtime long after our immediate go-live period. When planning the implementation of a new EHR, leadership must plan for and support this critical communication need at the time of the go-live and must also be aware of these needs during unplanned downtime.

Packaging of control system software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagar, K.; Kobal, M.; Saje, N.; Zagar, A.; Sabjan, R.; Di Maio, F.; Stepanov, D.

2012-01-01

Control system software consists of several parts - the core of the control system, drivers for integration of devices, configuration for user interfaces, alarm system, etc. Once the software is developed and configured, it must be installed to computers where it runs. Usually, it is installed on an operating system whose services it needs, and also in some cases dynamically links with the libraries it provides. Operating system can be quite complex itself - for example, a typical Linux distribution consists of several thousand packages. To manage this complexity, we have decided to rely on Red Hat Package Management system (RPM) to package control system software, and also ensure it is properly installed (i.e., that dependencies are also installed, and that scripts are run after installation if any additional actions need to be performed). As dozens of RPM packages need to be prepared, we are reducing the amount of effort and improving consistency between packages through a Maven-based infrastructure that assists in packaging (e.g., automated generation of RPM SPEC files, including automated identification of dependencies). So far, we have used it to package EPICS, Control System Studio (CSS) and several device drivers. We perform extensive testing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, but we have also verified that packaging works on CentOS and Scientific Linux. In this article, we describe in greater detail the systematic system of packaging we are using, and its particular application for the ITER CODAC Core System. (authors)

COMMON QUALITIES IN STORIES THAT MAKE UP DEDE KORKUT EPIC / DEDE KORKUT KİTABINI OLUŞTURAN DESTANLARDAKİ ORTAK ÖZELLİKLER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kerime ÜSTÜNOVA

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Presence of common qualities in texts shows that the flow of events, heroes, traditions and customs, the course lead upon the events, attitudes and behaviors are very similar and repeated nearly in all texts. The only thing that changes is the hero that the story is arrayed in the name of. Every text more or less repeats itself. At the end, it is found that repetition movement is handled and executed in Dede Korkut epics like a system; repetitions are very strong and play a great role in constitution of both text and macro text. In addition, repetitions serve greatly in view of Dede Korkut epics as a whole. Repetitions that we see in the subject, time, place, character names, tradition, order of event flow etc. give wholeness to the epics as content. On the other hand, construct of every text in a similar style appears as an indication that integrity has not been achieved in epics in terms of composition.

Improvement of Control Infrastructure and High Level Application for KOMAC LINAC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Young-Gi; Kim, Jae-Ha; Ahn, Tae-Sung; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

The Korea multi-purpose accelerator complex (KOMAC) has two beam extraction points at 20 and 100 MeV for proton beam utilization. There are about 70 control systems for controlling the KOMAC subsystems, such as the ion source, the radio frequency, the diagnostic devices, the magnet power supply, and the cooling system. The infrastructure which includes network system, local controllers, and control system environment was required to be changed to process increasing process variables without fail. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) based high level control environment which includes alarm, data archiving was changed to support the improved infrastructure of KOMAC control system. In this paper, we will describe the improvement of infrastructures for the KOMAC control system and EPICS based high level application. We improved the control network environment and EPCIS based high level application for enhancement of the KOMAC control system.

The coal epic at Freyming-Merlebach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This information document has been realized on the closure of the Merlebach site. It is devoted to the coal epic at Freyming-Merlebach. The historical aspects of the exploitation, the working conditions, the economic and environmental aspects of the mine and the today situation are detailed. (A.L.B.)

Development of a LabVIEW-based surface with innovative controls for the control system of the spin-polarized electron test source Photo-CATCH

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roesch, Heidi Ayse; Enders, Joachim; Espig, Martin; Fritzsche, Yuliya; Wagner, Markus [TU Darmstadt, Institut fuer Kernphysik (Germany)

2016-07-01

Operations of the spin-polarized electron source of the S-DALINAC will be supported by a photo-cathode activation, test and cleaning system, Photo-CATCH. Besides cathode-performance studies, this teststand produces spin-polarized electron bunches from a GaAs photo-cathode that are then transported, manipulated, and characterized by devices in a low-energy beam line. To set and monitor the various components of the beamline, a control system was developed, based on the EPICS framework. As interfaces, LabVIEW was used in combination with a gamepad as a controlling device.

A portable accelerator control toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watson, W.A. III

1997-06-01

In recent years, the expense of creating good control software has led to a number of collaborative efforts among laboratories to share this cost. The EPICS collaboration is a particularly successful example of this trend. More recently another collaborative effort has addressed the need for sophisticated high level software, including model driven accelerator controls. This work builds upon the CDEV (Common DEVice) software framework, which provides a generic abstraction of a control system, and maps that abstraction onto a number of site-specific control systems including EPICS, the SLAC control system, CERN/PS and others. In principle, it is now possible to create portable accelerator control applications which have no knowledge of the underlying and site-specific control system. Applications based on CDEV now provide a growing suite of tools for accelerator operations, including general purpose displays, an on-line accelerator model, beamline steering, machine status displays incorporating both hardware and model information (such as beam positions overlaid with beta functions) and more. A survey of CDEV compatible portable applications will be presented, as well as plans for future development.

A portable accelerator control toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, W.A. III.

1997-01-01

In recent years, the expense of creating good control software has led to a number of collaborative efforts among laboratories to share this cost. The EPICS collaboration is a particularly successful example of this trend. More recently another collaborative effort has addressed the need for sophisticated high level software, including model driven accelerator controls. This work builds upon the CDEV (Common DEVice) software framework, which provides a generic abstraction of a control system, and maps that abstraction onto a number of site-specific control systems including EPICS, the SLAC control system, CERN/PS and others. In principle, it is now possible to create portable accelerator control applications which have no knowledge of the underlying and site-specific control system. Applications based on CDEV now provide a growing suite of tools for accelerator operations, including general purpose displays, an on-line accelerator model, beamline steering, machine status displays incorporating both hardware and model information (such as beam positions overlaid with beta functions) and more. A survey of CDEV compatible portable applications will be presented, as well as plans for future development

Replica sizing strategy for aortic valve replacement improves haemodynamic outcome of the epic supra valve.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez-Lopez, David; Faerber, Gloria; Diab, Mahmoud; Amorim, Paulo; Zeynalov, Natig; Doenst, Torsten

2017-10-01

Current sizing strategies suggest valve selection based on annulus diameter despite supra-annular placement of biological prostheses potentially allowing placement of a larger size. We assessed the frequency of selecting a larger prosthesis if prosthesis size was selected using a replica (upsizing) and evaluated its impact on haemodynamics. We analysed all discharge echocardiograms between June 2012 and June 2014, where a replica sizer was used for isolated aortic valve replacement (Epic Supra: 266 patients, Trifecta: 49 patients). Upsizing was possible in 71% of the Epic Supra valves (by 1 size: 168, by 2 sizes: 20) and in 59% of the Trifectas (by 1 size: 26, by 2 sizes: 3). Patients for whom upsizing was possible had the lowest pressure gradients within their annulus size groups. The difference was significant in annulus diameters of 21-22 or 25-26 mm (Epic Supra) and 23-24 mm (Trifecta). Trifecta gradients were the lowest. However, the ability to upsize the Epic Supra by 2 sizes eliminated the differences between Epic Supra and Trifecta. Upsizing did not cause intraoperative complications. Using replica sizers for aortic prosthesis size selection allows the implantation of bigger prostheses than recommended in most cases and reduces postoperative gradients, specifically for Epic Supra. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

EPIC Calibration/Validation Experiment Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koch, Steven E [National Severe Storm Laboratory/NOAA; Chilson, Phillip [University of Oklahoma; Argrow, Brian [University of Colorado

2017-03-15

A field exercise involving several different kinds of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and supporting instrumentation systems provided by DOE/ARM and NOAA/NSSL was conducted at the ARM SGP site in Lamont, Oklahoma on 29-30 October 2016. This campaign was part of a larger National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) UAS Program Office program awarded to the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL). named Environmental Profiling and Initiation of Convection (EPIC). The EPIC Field Campaign (Test and Calibration/Validation) proposed to ARM was a test or “dry-run” for a follow-up campaign to be requested for spring/summer 2017. The EPIC project addresses NOAA’s objective to “evaluate options for UAS profiling of the lower atmosphere with applications for severe weather.” The project goal is to demonstrate that fixed-wing and rotary-wing small UAS have the combined potential to provide a unique observing system capable of providing detailed profiles of temperature, moisture, and winds within the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) to help determine the potential for severe weather development. Specific project objectives are: 1) to develop small UAS capable of acquiring needed wind and thermodynamic profiles and transects of the ABL using one fixed-wing UAS operating in tandem with two different fixed rotary-wing UAS pairs; 2) adapt and test miniaturized, high-precision, and fast-response atmospheric sensors with high accuracy in strong winds characteristic of the pre-convective ABL in Oklahoma; 3) conduct targeted short-duration experiments at the ARM Southern Great Plains site in northern Oklahoma concurrently with a second site to be chosen in “real-time” from the Oklahoma Mesonet in coordination with the (National Weather Service (NWS)-Norman Forecast Office; and 4) gain valuable experience in pursuit of NOAA’s goals for determining the value of airborne, mobile observing systems for monitoring rapidly evolving high-impact severe weather

Implementation of an EPICS IOC on an Embedded Soft Core Processor Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douglas Curry; Alicia Hofler; Hai Dong; Trent Allison; J. Hovater; Kelly Mahoney

2005-01-01

At Jefferson Lab, we have been evaluating soft core processors running an EPICS IOC over μClinux on our custom hardware. A soft core processor is a flexible CPU architecture that is configured in the FPGA as opposed to a hard core processor which is fixed in silicon. Combined with an on-board Ethernet port, the technology incorporates the IOC and digital control hardware within a single FPGA. By eliminating the general purpose computer IOC, the designer is no longer tied to a specific platform, e.g. PC, VME, or VXI, to serve as the intermediary between the high level controls and the field hardware. This paper will discuss the design and development process as well as specific applications for JLab's next generation low-level RF controls and Machine Protection Systems

75 FR 65985 - Safety Zone: Epic Roasthouse Private Party Firework Display, San Francisco, CA

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-27

... the navigable waters of San Francisco Bay 1,000 yards off Epic Roasthouse Restaurant, San Francisco.... Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulatory... waters of San Francisco Bay, 1,000 yards off Epic Roasthouse Restaurant, San Francisco, CA. The fireworks...

Education for Change: Epic Charter School

Science.gov (United States)

EDUCAUSE, 2015

2015-01-01

The student-centered school model of Epic Charter School in Oakland, California, framed around a hero's journey empowers middle school students with sense of unity and purpose in life, where they can feel part of a culture with a shared experience and with more opportunities to experiences growth and accomplishment. Design and engineering is front…

New development of EPICS based data acquisition system for H-Alpha diagnostic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Taegu, E-mail: glory@nfri.re.kr; Lee, Woongryol; Son, Souhun; Park, Jinseop

2015-10-15

Highlights: • The H-Alpha DAQ system was modified to measure the low current signal from the PMT. • We developed a new H-Alpha data acquisition system with a CPCI based digitizer. • We developed a signal conditioning box for converting the current to voltage. • The new signal condition box (SCB) has three input range level (400 nA, 1 μA and 2 μA). • It was successfully performed and stably operates more than the previous DAQ system. - Abstract: The H-Alpha diagnostic system has been developed to measure the line integrated intensity in the direction of toroidal and poloidal. The data acquisition (DAQ) system for H-Alpha diagnostics of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) at the beginning of the first plasma in 2008 was developed with VME form factor digitizer in the Linux OS platform. The VME digitizer module of H-Alpha data acquisition system was modified to measure the low current signal from the photo-multiplier tubes (PMT). The input maximum current values of modified digitizer module are 400 nA and low current data is expressed as the value of the voltage between −10 V and +10 V. At first time, there was no problem to measure H-Alpha signal, but it could not measure the H-Alpha data signal as the KSTAR Plasma density increased. It exceeds digitizer input range, which means the H-Alpha signal is over 400 nA, so we should manually change the resistor on the digitizer board to measure the 400 nA over current. This is not easy to do and showed instability in the long time operation with high sampling data acquisition. In order to overcome these weak points, a new H-Alpha data acquisition system has been developed with a compact PCI (cPCI) based digitizer and a signal conditioning box for converting the current to voltage in the Linux OS platform. The new data acquisition system was developed based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) framework like other KSTAR diagnostics with standard framework (SFW

Workshop Engages PCs in Accelerator Controls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthew Bickley

2006-01-01

To discuss the rapidly growing and changing use of personal computers (PCs) in accelerator control systems, 80 accelerator controls specialists from 26 institutions in North America, Europe and Asia attended the 6. International Workshop on Personal Computers and Particle Accelerator Controls, PCaPAC2006, held October 24-27 at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia. PCs have become increasingly applicable to the control of accelerators as their computing capacities have increased exponentially over the last 10 years. Capabilities that once required the power available only from expensive, small-market systems offered by DEC, Sun or IBM can now be obtained with commodity hardware offered by many vendors. The price/performance ratio presented by any standard PC makes a compelling case for using PC hardware in accelerator controls wherever possible. The PCaPAC meeting underscored the importance of collaborative control system development. Several talks focused on additions to three such systems, TINE, TANGO and EPICS. The diverse contributions to these toolkits, both in content and source, demonstrate the power of leveraged software development across a number of facilities. TINE originated in DESY's desire to give users a unified software bus above disparate underlying platforms. TINE discussions at PCaPAC centered on the toolkit's interface layers, including address redirection and integration with other control systems. TANGO has been a collaborative effort from its inception. Based on CORBA, this open-source controls toolkit is a registered project in the source forge system. The workshop TANGO presentation discussed contributions from four TANGO institutions, and mentioned a broad range of new tools, from user interface applications to code generators and database integration software. EPICS, which was started at LANL in the 1980s, includes contributions from dozens of institutions around the world. EPICS-related PCaPAC discussions included virtual machines at

Epic and Romance in The Lord Of The Rings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Simonson

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In the field of comparative literature The Lord of the Rings has been most frequently studied within the contexts of romance and epic. This approach, however, leaves out important generic aspects of the global picture, such as the narrative’s strong adherence to the novel genre and to mythic traditions beyond romance and epic narratives. If we choose one particular genre as the yardstick against which to measure the work’s success in narrative terms, we tend to end up with the conclusion that The Lord of the Rings does not quite make sense within the given limits of the genre in question. In Tolkien’s work there is a narrative and stylistic exploration of the different genres’ constraints in which the Western narrative traditions – myth, epic, romance, the novel, and their respective subgenres – interact in a previously unknown but still very much coherent world that, because of the particular cohesion required by such a chronotope, exhibits a clear contextualization of references to the previous traditions. As opposed to many contemporary literary expressions, the ensuing absence of irony and parody creates a generic dialogue, in which the various narrative traditions explore and interrogate each other’s limits without rendering the others absurdly incompatible, ridiculous or superfluous.

78 FR 69363 - Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, California, Heavenly Mountain Resort Epic Discovery Project

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-19

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, California, Heavenly Mountain Resort Epic Discovery Project AGENCY: Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Forest Service, USDA...: The Epic Discovery Project is intended to enhance summer activities in response to the USDA Forest...

Development of Multi-Sensor Global Cloud and Radiance Composites for DSCOVR EPIC Imager with Subpixel Definition

Science.gov (United States)

Khlopenkov, K. V.; Duda, D. P.; Thieman, M. M.; Sun-Mack, S.; Su, W.; Minnis, P.; Bedka, K. M.

2017-12-01

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) is designed to study the daytime Earth radiation budget by means of onboard Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). EPIC imager observes in several shortwave bands (317-780 nm), while NISTAR measures the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) whole-disk radiance in shortwave and total broadband windows. Calculation of albedo and outgoing longwave flux requires a high-resolution scene identification such as the radiance observations and cloud property retrievals from low earth orbit and geostationary satellite imagers. These properties have to be co-located with EPIC imager pixels to provide scene identification and to select anisotropic directional models, which are then used to adjust the NISTAR-measured radiance and subsequently obtain the global daytime shortwave and longwave fluxes. This work presents an algorithm for optimal merging of selected radiances and cloud properties derived from multiple satellite imagers to obtain seamless global hourly composites at 5-km resolution. The highest quality observation is selected by means of an aggregated rating which incorporates several factors such as the nearest time relative to EPIC observation, lowest viewing zenith angle, and others. This process provides a smoother transition and avoids abrupt changes in the merged composite data. Higher spatial accuracy in the composite product is achieved by using the inverse mapping with gradient search during reprojection and bicubic interpolation for pixel resampling. The composite data are subsequently remapped into the EPIC-view domain by convolving composite pixels with the EPIC point spread function (PSF) defined with a half-pixel accuracy. Within every EPIC footprint, the PSF-weighted average radiances and cloud properties are computed for each cloud phase and then stored within five data subsets (clear-sky, water cloud, ice cloud, total cloud, and no

Implementation of Epic Beaker Clinical Pathology at an academic medical center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew D Krasowski

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Epic Beaker Clinical Pathology (CP is a relatively new laboratory information system (LIS operating within the Epic suite of software applications. To date, there have not been any publications describing implementation of Beaker CP. In this report, we describe our experience in implementing Beaker CP version 2012 at a state academic medical center with a go-live of August 2014 and a subsequent upgrade to Beaker version 2014 in May 2015. The implementation of Beaker CP was concurrent with implementations of Epic modules for revenue cycle, patient scheduling, and patient registration. Methods: Our analysis covers approximately 3 years of time (2 years preimplementation of Beaker CP and roughly 1 year after using data summarized from pre- and post-implementation meetings, debriefings, and the closure document for the project. Results: We summarize positive aspects of, and key factors leading to, a successful implementation of Beaker CP. The early inclusion of subject matter experts in the design and validation of Beaker workflows was very helpful. Since Beaker CP does not directly interface with laboratory instrumentation, the clinical laboratories spent extensive preimplementation effort establishing middleware interfaces. Immediate challenges postimplementation included bar code scanning and nursing adaptation to Beaker CP specimen collection. The most substantial changes in laboratory workflow occurred with microbiology orders. This posed a considerable challenge with microbiology orders from the operating rooms and required intensive interventions in the weeks following go-live. In postimplementation surveys, pathology staff, informatics staff, and end-users expressed satisfaction with the new LIS. Conclusions: Beaker CP can serve as an effective LIS for an academic medical center. Careful planning and preparation aid the transition to this LIS.

[Is the socioeconomic deprivation EPICES score useful in obstetrics?].

Science.gov (United States)

Convers, M; Langeron, A; Sass, C; Moulin, J-J; Augier, A; Varlet, M-N; Seffert, P; Chêne, G

2012-04-01

To describe a validated and multifactorial deprivation score to study the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and perinatal risks. The index of deprivation EPICES (Evaluation of Precarity and Inequalities in Health Examination Centers) was used to characterize the deprivation status of 234 women in post-partum in comparison with perinatal morbidity. The cutoff value of 30.7 was the threshold to define deprivation. Two hundred and eight patients were included in this retrospective study from whom 48 (23%) had a score of deprivation higher than 30.7. Maternofetal morbidity was more severe in deprived patients. The current results show that the EPICES score could be a useful obstetrical tool for the identification of deprived women during pregnancy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Synchrotron Radiation Beam Line of Piezoelectric Monochromator Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Shengan; LIU Ping; Zheng Lifang

2009-01-01

It describes a Piezo Amplifier and Servo-controller module applied in the LN2-cooled Monochromator control system. The application of RS232 communication based on EPICS software environment and its software are implemented. (authors)

Phytosterol plasma concentrations and coronary heart disease in the prospective Spanish EPIC cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Escurriol, Verónica; Cofán, Montserrat; Moreno-Iribas, Concepción; Larrañaga, Nerea; Martínez, Carmen; Navarro, Carmen; Rodríguez, Laudina; González, Carlos A.; Corella, Dolores; Ros, Emilio

2010-01-01

Phytosterol intake with natural foods, a measure of healthy dietary choices, increases plasma levels, but increased plasma phytosterols are believed to be a coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor. To address this paradox, we evaluated baseline risk factors, phytosterol intake, and plasma noncholesterol sterol levels in participants of a case control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Spanish cohort who developed CHD (n = 299) and matched controls (n = 584) who remained free of CHD after a 10 year follow-up. Sitosterol-to-cholesterol ratios increased across tertiles of phytosterol intake (P = 0.026). HDL-cholesterol level increased, and adiposity measures, cholesterol/HDL ratios, and levels of glucose, triglycerides, and lathosterol, a cholesterol synthesis marker, decreased across plasma sitosterol tertiles (P phytosterol intake and plasma sitosterol. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for CHD across the lowest to highest plasma sitosterol tertile was 0.59 (95% confidence interval, 0.36–0.97). Associations were weaker for plasma campesterol. The apolipoprotein E genotype was unrelated to CHD risk or plasma phytosterols. The data suggest that plasma sitosterol levels are associated with a lower CHD risk while being markers of a lower cardiometabolic risk in the EPIC-Spain cohort, a population with a high phytosterol intake. PMID:19786566

Modernization of control system of the beam critical parameters at a lu-10 industrial electron accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomatsalyuk, R.I.; Uvarov, V.L.; Shevchenko, V.A.; Shlyakhov, I.N.

2017-01-01

Continuous control and monitoring of critical parameters of radiation processing of products is one of the requirements of the international standard ISO 11137. The current system to monitoring the parameters of radiation treatment of products at the LU-10 accelerator is being in operation for more than 15 years. The life-time of the mayor part of measuring modules is over, and those modules are no longer produced. Modernization of monitoring system with the use of the multi-functional USB modules, single-board mini-computers and EPICS control system (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is considered. The architecture and software for a new monitoring system have been developed. Debugging and operation of the system in a test mode is performed

POPULARIZING EPIC NARRATIVE IN GEORGE R.R. MARTIN'S A GAME OF THRONES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ida Rochani Adi

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This research is intended to show the sustainability of epic in latest years of human history through the most phenomenal fantasy in American literature, A Game of Thrones. Along with the capability of human beings in thinking dearly and sensibly, it is commonsensical that people tend to free themselves from irrationality. The reality shows, however, that the existence of epic fantasy still has power in appealing audiences or readers. This is the case with A Game of Thrones written by George RR Martin who was given the award of One of The Most Influential People in 2011 by Time magazine. This qualitative march, using genre approach, finds out that in order to be compatible with today's society, an epic seen in A Game of Thrones, which is commonly known as a story centering on the legendary hero and his heroic deed in oral folk tradition, keeps its power as an epic fantasy narrative through certain archetypes and formulas. Through genre analysis using semiotic approach, the research brings about conclusions that the elements of high fantasy, elements built through rational representation, and a smart combination of convention and invention brings about its popularity. It is also concluded that there is a close relationship between the myth and the mode of people living even in the most modern context.

Quantitative food intake in the EPIC-Germany cohorts. European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, M B; Brandstetter, B R; Kroke, A; Wahrendorf, J; Boeing, H

1999-01-01

The EPIC-Heidelberg and the EPIC-Potsdam studies with about 53,000 study participants represent the German contribution to the EPIC (European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) cohort study. Within the EPIC study, standardized 24-hour dietary recalls were applied as a quantitative calibration method in order to estimate the amount of scaling bias introduced by the varying center-specific dietary assessment methods. This article presents intake of food items and food groups in the two German cohorts estimated by 24-hour quantitative dietary recalls. Recalls from 1,013 men and 1,078 women in Heidelberg and 1,032 men and 898 women in Potsdam were included in the analysis. The intake of recorded food items or recipe ingredients as well as fat used for cooking was summarized into 16 main food groups and a variety of different subgroups stratified by sex and weighted for the day of the week and age. In more than 90% of the recalls, consumption of dairy products, cereals and cereal products, bread, fat, and non-alcoholic beverages, particularly coffee/tea, was reported. Inter-cohort evaluations revealed that bread, potatoes, fruit and fat were consumed in higher amounts in the Potsdam cohort while the opposite was found for pasta/rice, non-alcoholic, and alcoholic beverages. It was concluded that the exposure variation was increased by having two instead of one EPIC study centers in Germany. Copyright 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel

Uncertainties in cloud phase and optical thickness retrievals from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC).

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Yuekui; Platnick, Steven

2016-01-01

This paper presents an investigation of the expected uncertainties of a single channel cloud optical thickness (COT) retrieval technique, as well as a simple cloud temperature threshold based thermodynamic phase approach, in support of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission. DSCOVR cloud products will be derived from Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) observations in the ultraviolet and visible spectra. Since EPIC is not equipped with a spectral channel in the shortwave or mid-wave infrared that is sensitive to cloud effective radius (CER), COT will be inferred from a single visible channel with the assumption of appropriate CER values for liquid and ice phase clouds. One month of Aqua MODIS daytime granules from April 2005 is selected for investigating cloud phase sensitivity, and a subset of these granules that has similar EPIC sun-view geometry is selected for investigating COT uncertainties. EPIC COT retrievals are simulated with the same algorithm as the operational MODIS cloud products (MOD06), except using fixed phase-dependent CER values. Uncertainty estimates are derived by comparing the single channel COT retrievals with the baseline bi-spectral MODIS retrievals. Results show that a single channel COT retrieval is feasible for EPIC. For ice clouds, single channel retrieval errors are minimal (< 2%) due to the particle size insensitivity of the assumed ice crystal (i.e., severely roughened aggregate of hexagonal columns) scattering properties at visible wavelengths, while for liquid clouds the error is mostly limited to within 10%, although for thin clouds (COT < 2) the error can be higher. Potential uncertainties in EPIC cloud masking and cloud temperature retrievals are not considered in this study.

Remote monitoring system for the cryogenic system of superconducting magnets in the SuperKEKB interaction region

Science.gov (United States)

Aoki, K.; Ohuchi, N.; Zong, Z.; Arimoto, Y.; Wang, X.; Yamaoka, H.; Kawai, M.; Kondou, Y.; Makida, Y.; Hirose, M.; Endou, T.; Iwasaki, M.; Nakamura, T.

2017-12-01

A remote monitoring system was developed based on the software infrastructure of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) for the cryogenic system of superconducting magnets in the interaction region of the SuperKEKB accelerator. The SuperKEKB has been constructed to conduct high-energy physics experiments at KEK. These superconducting magnets consist of three apparatuses, the Belle II detector solenoid, and QCSL and QCSR accelerator magnets. They are each contained in three cryostats cooled by dedicated helium cryogenic systems. The monitoring system was developed to read data of the EX-8000, which is an integrated instrumentation system to control all cryogenic components. The monitoring system uses the I/O control tools of EPICS software for TCP/IP, archiving techniques using a relational database, and easy human-computer interface. Using this monitoring system, it is possible to remotely monitor all real-time data of the superconducting magnets and cryogenic systems. It is also convenient to share data among multiple groups.

The Advanced Photon Source event system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenkszus, F.R.; Laird, R.

1995-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source, like many other facilities, requires a means of transmitting timing information to distributed control system 1/0 controllers. The APS event system provides the means of distributing medium resolution/accuracy timing events throughout the facility. It consists of VME event generators and event receivers which are interconnected with 10OMbit/sec fiber optic links at distances of up to 650m in either a star or a daisy chain configuration. The systems event throughput rate is 1OMevents/sec with a peak-to-peak timing jitter down to lOOns depending on the source of the event. It is integrated into the EPICS-based A.PS control system through record and device support. Event generators broadcast timing events over fiber optic links to event receivers which are programmed to decode specific events. Event generators generate events in response to external inputs, from internal programmable event sequence RAMS, and from VME bus writes. The event receivers can be programmed to generate both pulse and set/reset level outputs to synchronize hardware, and to generate interrupts to initiate EPICS record processing. In addition, each event receiver contains a time stamp counter which is used to provide synchronized time stamps to EPICS records

Phase II and III the next generation of CLS beamline control and data acquisition systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matias, E.; Beauregard, D.; Berg, R.; Black, G.; Boots, M.J.; Dolton, W.; Hunter, D.; Igarashi, R.; Liu, D.; Maxwell, D.; Miller, C.D.; Wilson, T.; Wright, G.

2012-01-01

The Canadian Light Source (CLS) is nearing the completion of its suite of Phase II Beamlines and in detailed design of its Phase III Beamlines. The paper presents an overview of the overall approach adopted by CLS in the development of beamline control and data acquisition systems. Building on the experience of our first phase of beamlines the CLS has continued to make extensive use of EPICS with EDM and QT based user interfaces. Increasing interpretive languages such as Python are finding a place in the beamline control systems. Web based environment such as ScienceStudio have also found a prominent place in the control system architecture as we move to tighter integration between data acquisition, visualization and data analysis. (authors)

The standardized computerized 24-h dietary recall method EPIC-Soft adapted for pan-European dietary monitoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Casagrande, C.; Nicolas, G.

2011-01-01

monitoring. Within European Food Consumption Validation (EFCOVAL), EPIC-Soft was adapted and further developed on various aspects that were required to optimize its use. In this paper, we present the structure and main interview steps of the EPIC-Soft program, after implementation of a series of new...

Controlling EPICS from a web browser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, K. Jr.

1999-01-01

An alternative to using a large graphical display manager like MEDM [1,2] to interface to a control system, is to use individual control objects, such as text boxes, meters, etc., running in a browser. This paper presents three implementations of this concept, one using ActiveX controls, one with Java applets, and another with Microsoft Agent. The ActiveX controls have performance nearing that of MEDM, but they only work on Windows platforms. The Java applets require a server to get around Web security restrictions and are not as fast, but they have the advantage of working on most platforms and with both of the leading Web browsers. The agent works on Windows platforms with and without a browser and allows voice recognition and speech synthesis, making it somewhat more innovative than MEDM

A virtual control panel configuration tool for the X-Window system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, J.O.; Dalesio, L.R.; Kerstiens, D.M.

1992-01-01

Computer Graphics Workstations are becoming increasingly popular for use as virtual process control and read back panels. The workstation's CRT, keyboard, and pointing device are used in concert to produce a display that is in essence a control panel, even if actual switches and gauges are not present. The code behind these displays is most often specific to one display and not reusable for any other display. Recently, programs have been written allowing many of these virtual control panel displays to be configured without writing additional code. This approach allows the initial programming effort to be reapplied to many different display instances with minimal effort. These programs often incorporate many of the features of a graphics editor, allowing a pictorial model of the process under control to be incorporated into the control panel. We have just finished writing a second generation software system of this type for use with the X-window system and the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). This paper describes the primary features of our software, the framework of our design, and our observations after initial installation. (author)

Constraining the Origin of Phobos with the Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS) - Simulated Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Nowicki, S. F.; Mesick, K.; Coupland, D. D. S.; Dallmann, N. A.; Feldman, W. C.; Stonehill, L. C.; Hardgrove, C.; Dibb, S.; Gabriel, T. S. J.; West, S.

2017-12-01

Elpasolites are a promising new family of inorganic scintillators that can detect both gamma rays and neutrons within a single detector volume, reducing the instrument size, weight, and power (SWaP), all of which are critical for planetary science missions. The ability to distinguish between neutron and gamma events is done through pulse shape discrimination (PSD). The Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS) utilizes elpasolites in a next-generation, highly capable, low-SWaP gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer. We present simulated capabilities of EPICS sensitivities to neutron and gamma-rays, and demonstrate how EPICS can constrain the origin of Phobos between the following three main hypotheses: 1) accretion after a giant impact with Mars, 2) co-accretion with Mars, and 3) capture of an external body. The MCNP6 code was used to calculate the neutron and gamma-ray flux that escape the surface of Phobos, and GEANT4 to model the response of the EPICS instrument on orbit around Phobos.

Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS): A Low-Resource Combined Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer for Planetary Science

Science.gov (United States)

Stonehill, L. C.; Coupland, D. D. S.; Dallmann, N. A.; Feldman, W. C.; Mesick, K.; Nowicki, S.; Storms, S.

2017-12-01

The Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS) is an innovative, low-resource gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer for planetary science missions, enabled by new scintillator and photodetector technologies. Neutrons and gamma rays are produced by cosmic ray interactions with planetary bodies and their subsequent interactions with the near-surface materials produce distinctive energy spectra. Measuring these spectra reveals details of the planetary near-surface composition that are not accessible through any other phenomenology. EPICS will be the first planetary science instrument to fully integrate the neutron and gamma-ray spectrometers. This integration is enabled by the elpasolite family of scintillators that offer gamma-ray spectroscopy energy resolutions as good as 3% FWHM at 662 keV, thermal neutron sensitivity, and the ability to distinguish gamma-ray and neutron signals via pulse shape differences. This new detection technology will significantly reduce size, weight, and power (SWaP) while providing similar neutron performance and improved gamma energy resolution compared to previous scintillator instruments, and the ability to monitor the cosmic-ray source term. EPICS will detect scintillation light with silicon photomultipliers rather than traditional photomultiplier tubes, offering dramatic additional SWaP reduction. EPICS is under development with Los Alamos National Laboratory internal research and development funding. Here we report on the EPICS design, provide an update on the current status of the EPICS development, and discuss the expected sensitivity and performance of EPICS in several potential missions to airless bodies.

Sabiduría epicúrea y Psicología

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicente Pelechano

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Se presenta el marco teórico, la lógica de elaboración y primeros datos de validación de un cuestionario de sabiduría epicúrea (EPI-1 que ha sido cumplimentado por dos muestras de 473 y 266 adultos, con un predominio de mujeres. Además, se han cumplimentado el cuestionario NEO-PI-R de Costa y McCrae de los cinco grandes y dos escalas conectadas teóricamente con concepciones de sabiduría: una de prudencia y otra de intolerancia a la ambigüedad. Los resultados sugieren que, aunque sin una consistencia alta, se pueden rastrear en nuestros días los elementos básicos de la sabiduría epicúrea que se mezclan con otros de corte más funcional. Las relaciones con los cinco grandes así como con prudencia interpersonal e intolerancia de la ambigüedad demuestran que la sabiduría epicúrea no puede identificarse con ninguna de estas dimensiones, aunque guarda relaciones tenues con neuroticismo, apertura a la experiencia e intolerancia de la ambigüedad; asimismo se presenta como independiente de “prudencia” operacionalizada mediante refranes, que representa más bien estrategias de “supervivencia interpersonal”. Los resultados alcanzados se discuten dentro de un modelo de sabiduría alternativo al del grupo de Baltes en Berlín.

Uncertainties in cloud phase and optical thickness retrievals from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC)

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Yuekui; Platnick, Steven

2018-01-01

This paper presents an investigation of the expected uncertainties of a single channel cloud optical thickness (COT) retrieval technique, as well as a simple cloud temperature threshold based thermodynamic phase approach, in support of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission. DSCOVR cloud products will be derived from Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) observations in the ultraviolet and visible spectra. Since EPIC is not equipped with a spectral channel in the shortwave or mid-wave infrared that is sensitive to cloud effective radius (CER), COT will be inferred from a single visible channel with the assumption of appropriate CER values for liquid and ice phase clouds. One month of Aqua MODIS daytime granules from April 2005 is selected for investigating cloud phase sensitivity, and a subset of these granules that has similar EPIC sun-view geometry is selected for investigating COT uncertainties. EPIC COT retrievals are simulated with the same algorithm as the operational MODIS cloud products (MOD06), except using fixed phase-dependent CER values. Uncertainty estimates are derived by comparing the single channel COT retrievals with the baseline bi-spectral MODIS retrievals. Results show that a single channel COT retrieval is feasible for EPIC. For ice clouds, single channel retrieval errors are minimal (clouds the error is mostly limited to within 10%, although for thin clouds (COT cloud masking and cloud temperature retrievals are not considered in this study. PMID:29619116

Plasma control system for 'Day-One' operation of KSTAR tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, Sang-hee; Walker, M.L.; Kim, Kukhee; Ahn, H.S.; Penaflor, B.G.; Piglowski, D.A.; Johnson, R.D.; Choi, Jaehoon; Lee, Dong-keun; Kim, Jayhyun; Yoon, S.W.; Seo, Seong-Heon; Kim, H.T.; Kim, K.P.; Lee, T.G.; Park, M.K.; Bak, J.G.; Lee, S.G.; Nam, Y.U.; Eidietis, N.W.

2009-01-01

A complete plasma control system (PCS) has been developed for KSTAR's first plasma campaign as a collaborative project with the DIII-D team. The KSTAR real time plasma control system is based on a conceptual design by Jhang and Choi [Hogun Jhang, I.S. Choi, Fusion Engineering and Design 73 (2005) 35-49] and consists of a fast real-time computer/communication cluster and software derived from the GA-PCS [Penaflor, B.G., et.al., Fusion Engineering and Design, 83 (2) (2008) 176]. The system has been used for simulation testing, poloidal field (PF) coil power supply commissioning and first plasma control. The seven sets of up-down symmetric, superconducting PF coil/power supply systems have been successfully tested. Reflective memory (RFM) is utilized as the primary actuator/PCS real-time communication layer and PCS synchronization with KSTAR timing system and slower control devices is achieved through an EPICS implementation. Consistent feedback loop times of 100 microseconds has been achieved during PF coil power supply testing and first plasma commissioning. Here we present the 'Day-One' plasma control system in its final form for the first plasma experimental campaign of KSTAR and describe how the system has been utilized during magnet commissioning and plasma startup experiments.

The German version of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC): translation, validation and minimal important difference estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Umbehr, Martin H; Bachmann, Lucas M; Poyet, Cedric; Hammerer, Peter; Steurer, Johann; Puhan, Milo A; Frei, Anja

2018-02-20

No official German translation exists for the 50-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC), and no minimal important difference (MID) has been established yet. The aim of the study was to translate and validate a German version of the EPIC with cultural adaptation to the different German speaking countries and to establish the MID. We translated and culturally adapted the EPIC into German. For validation, we included a consecutive subsample of 92 patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy who participated the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Cohort. Baseline and follow-up assessments took place before and six weeks after prostatectomy in 2010 and 2011. We assessed the EPIC, EORTC QLQ-PR25, Feeling Thermometer, SF-36 and a global rating of health state change variable. We calculated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, responsiveness and MID. For most EPIC domains and subscales, our a priori defined criteria for reliability were fulfilled (construct reliability: Cronbach's alpha 0.7-0.9; test-retest reliability: intraclass-correlation coefficient ≥ 0.7). Cross-sectional and longitudinal correlations between EPIC and EORTC QLQ-PR25 domains ranged from 0.14-0.79, and 0.06-0.5 and 0.08-0.72 for Feeling Thermometer and SF-36, respectively. We established MID values of 10, 4, 12, and 6 for the urinary, bowel, sexual and hormonal domain. The German version of the EPIC is reliable, responsive and valid to measure HRQL in prostate cancer patients and is now available in German language. With the suggested MID we provide interpretation to what extent changes in HRQL are clinically relevant for patients. Hence, study results are of interest beyond German speaking countries.

DeviceNet-based device-level control in SSRF

CERN Document Server

Leng Yong Bin; Lu Cheng Meng; Miao Hai Feng; Liu Song Qiang; Shen Guo Bao

2002-01-01

The control system of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility is an EPICS-based distributed system. One of the key techniques to construct the system is the device-level control. The author describes the design and implementation of the DeviceNet-based device controller. A prototype of the device controller was tested in the experiments of magnet power supply and the result showed a precision of 3 x 10 sup - sup 5

Costs and financing of routine immunization: Approach and selected findings of a multi-country study (EPIC).

Science.gov (United States)

Brenzel, Logan; Young, Darwin; Walker, Damian G

2015-05-07

Few detailed facility-based costing studies of routine immunization (RI) programs have been conducted in recent years, with planners, managers and donors relying on older information or data from planning tools. To fill gaps and improve quality of information, a multi-country study on costing and financing of routine immunization and new vaccines (EPIC) was conducted in Benin, Ghana, Honduras, Moldova, Uganda and Zambia. This paper provides the rationale for the launch of the EPIC study, as well as outlines methods used in a Common Approach on facility sampling, data collection, cost and financial flow estimation for both the routine program and new vaccine introduction. Costing relied on an ingredients-based approach from a government perspective. Estimating incremental economic costs of new vaccine introduction in contexts with excess capacity are highlighted. The use of more disaggregated System of Health Accounts (SHA) coding to evaluate financial flows is presented. The EPIC studies resulted in a sample of 319 primary health care facilities, with 65% of facilities in rural areas. The EPIC studies found wide variation in total and unit costs within each country, as well as between countries. Costs increased with level of scale and socio-economic status of the country. Governments are financing an increasing share of total RI financing. This study provides a wealth of high quality information on total and unit costs and financing for RI, and demonstrates the value of in-depth facility approaches. The paper discusses the lessons learned from using a standardized approach, as well as proposes further areas of methodology development. The paper discusses how results can be used for resource mobilization and allocation, improved efficiency of services at the country level, and to inform policies at the global level. Efforts at routinizing cost analysis to support sustainability efforts would be beneficial. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Macronutrient, vitamin, and mineral intakes in the EPIC-Germany cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, M B; Linseisen, J; Kroke, A; Boeing, H

2001-01-01

This article presents intakes of nutrients in the EPIC-Heidelberg and the EPIC-Potsdam (European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) studies. Estimates are based on standardized 24-hour dietary recalls. Recalls from 1,013 men and 1,078 women in Heidelberg and from 1,032 men and 898 women in Potsdam were included in the analysis. The estimated nutrient intake was based on the German Food Code and Nutrient Data Base version II.3. Analyses were carried out stratified by sex and weighted for the day of the week and age. Men in Potsdam reported significantly higher intakes of energy (mean Potsdam = 10,718 kJ, mean Heidelberg = 10,387 kJ) and higher intakes of vitamins and minerals as compared with men in Heidelberg. However, Heidelberg men consumed more alcohol, alpha-tocopherol, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium. Potsdam women reported lower energy (mean Potsdam = 7,537 kJ, mean Heidelberg = 7,855 kJ), alcohol, and cholesterol intakes as compared with Heidelberg women. Vitamin and mineral intakes were lower too, except for retinol and ascorbic acid. The intakes of energy and most nutrients observed in the Potsdam and Heidelberg study populations were within the range reported from other German studies. The observed differences between both study populations indicate different dietary patterns, increasing the exposure variation in the EPIC study. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

Helicobacter pylori infection assessed by ELISA and by immunoblot and noncardia gastric cancer risk in a prospective study: the Eurgast-EPIC project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

González, C A; Megraud, F; Buissoniere, A

2012-01-01

of its effect on gastric cancer (GC) risk. Antibodies detected by western blot are known to persist longer after the loss of the infection. In a nested case-control study from the Eurogast-EPIC cohort, including 88 noncardia GC cases and 338 controls, we assessed the association between noncardia GC...

Anthropometry and the Risk of Lung Cancer in EPIC

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dewi, Nikmah Utami; Boshuizen, Hendriek C; Johansson, Mattias; Vineis, Paolo; Kampman, Ellen; Steffen, Annika; Tjønneland, Anne; Halkjær, Jytte; Overvad, Kim; Severi, Gianluca; Fagherazzi, Guy; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Kaaks, Rudolf; Li, Kuanrong; Boeing, Heiner; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Bamia, Christina; Klinaki, Eleni; Tumino, Rosario; Palli, Domenico; Mattiello, Amalia; Tagliabue, Giovanna; Peeters, Petra H; Vermeulen, Roel; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Torhild Gram, Inger; Huerta, José María; Agudo, Antonio; Sánchez, María-José; Ardanaz, Eva; Dorronsoro, Miren; Quirós, José Ramón; Sonestedt, Emily; Johansson, Mikael; Grankvist, Kjell; Key, Tim; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Wareham, Nick; Cross, Amanda J; Norat, Teresa; Riboli, Elio; Fanidi, Anouar; Muller, David; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas

2016-01-01

The associations of body mass index (BMI) and other anthropometric measurements with lung cancer were examined in 348,108 participants in the European Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) between 1992 and 2010. The study population included 2,400 case patients with incident lung cancer,

Anthropometry and the risk of lung cancer in EPIC

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dewi, Nikmah Utami; Boshuizen, Hendriek C.; Johansson, Mattias; Vineis, Paolo; Kampman, Ellen; Steffen, Annika; Tjønneland, Anne; Halkjær, Jytte; Overvad, Kim; Severi, Gianluca; Fagherazzi, Guy; Boutron-Ruault, Marie Christine; Kaaks, Rudolf; Li, Kuanrong; Boeing, Heiner; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Bamia, Christina; Klinaki, Eleni; Tumino, Rosario; Palli, Domenico; Mattiello, Amalia; Tagliabue, Giovanna; Peeters, Petra H.; Vermeulen, Roel; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Gram, Inger Torhild; Huerta, José María; Agudo, Antonio; Sánchez, María José; Ardanaz, Eva; Dorronsoro, Miren; Quirós, José Ramón; Sonestedt, Emily; Johansson, Mikael; Grankvist, Kjell; Key, Tim; Khaw, Kay Tee; Wareham, Nick; Cross, Amanda J.; Norat, Teresa; Riboli, Elio; Fanidi, Anouar; Muller, David; Bueno-De-Mesquita, H. Bas

2016-01-01

The associations of body mass index (BMI) and other anthropometric measurements with lung cancer were examined in 348,108 participants in the European Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) between 1992 and 2010. The study population included 2,400 case patients with incident lung cancer,

Indigenous women in Spanish American Historic Epic Poetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lise Segas

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Epic poetry has always been considered a masculine genre. The eruption of a group identity, masculine, white, aristocratic and christian, is the result of the representation and the exclusion of the Other, fictitious and singular, but in fact composed of a variety of ethnic groups, origins, sex, genders, religions and different degrees between fiction and historicity. Indeed, in the historical epic poetry which narrated the Conquest, except for the conquistadors listed at length and the indigenous kings and caciques, only few characters are distinguished by a historical individualisation. The Other, Amerindian and female, makes a shy entrance into history, into singularity, into the (historical and christian truth. It is the case of interpreters: Malinche and India Catalina, only historical native women that appear as part of the narrative plot as well as in the conquest enterprise in the poems of Lasso de la Vega (Cortés valeroso y Mexicana, Mexicana, of Juan de Castellanos (Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias and of Saavedra Guzmán (El peregrino indiano.

Adiponectin and risk of coronary heart disease in apparently healthy men and women (from the EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Côté, Mélanie; Cartier, Amélie; Reuwer, Anne Q.; Arsenault, Benoit J.; Lemieux, Isabelle; Després, Jean-Pierre; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Kastelein, John J. P.; Boekholdt, S. Matthijs; Khaw, Kay-Tee

2011-01-01

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between adiponectin levels and incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). We performed a prospective case-control analysis nested in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort. Participants were apparently healthy men and women 45 to 79 years of age

Improving the Security and Performance of the BaBar Detector Controls System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotturi, Karen D.

2003-01-01

It starts out innocently enough--users want to monitor Online data and so run their own copies of the detector control GUIs in their offices and at home. But over time, the number of processes making requests for values to display on GUIs, webpages and stripcharts can grow, and affect the performance of an Input/Output Controller (IOC) such that it is unable to respond to requests from requests critical to data-taking. At worst, an IOC can hang, its CPU having been allocated 100% to responding to network requests. For the BaBar Online Detector Control System, we were able to eliminate this problem and make great gains in security by moving all of the IOCs to a non-routed, virtual LAN and by enlisting a workstation with two network interface cards to act as the interface between the virtual LAN and the public BaBar network. On the interface machine, we run the Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) Channel Access (CA) gateway software (originating from Advanced Photon Source). This software accepts as inputs, all the channels which are loaded into the EPICS databases on all the IOCs. It polls them to update its copy of the values. It answers requests from applications by sending them the currently cached value. We adopted the requirement that data-taking would be independent of the gateway, so that, in the event of a gateway failure, data-taking would be uninterrupted. In this way, we avoided introducing any new risk elements to data-taking. Security rules already in use by the IOC were propagated to the gateway's own security rules and the security of the IOCs themselves was improved by removing them from the public BaBar network

Anthropometry and the risk of lung cancer in EPIC

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dewi, Nikmah Utami; Boshuizen, Hendriek C.; Johansson, Mattias; Vineis, Paolo; Kampman, Ellen; Steffen, Annika; Tjønneland, Anne; Halkjær, Jytte; Overvad, Kim; Severi, Gianluca; Fagherazzi, Guy; Boutron-Ruault, Marie Christine; Kaaks, Rudolf; Li, Kuanrong; Boeing, Heiner; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Bamia, Christina; Klinaki, Eleni; Tumino, Rosario; Palli, Domenico; Mattiello, Amalia; Tagliabue, Giovanna; Peeters, Petra H.; Vermeulen, Roel; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Gram, Inger Torhild; Huerta, José María; Agudo, Antonio; Sánchez, María José; Ardanaz, Eva; Dorronsoro, Miren; Quirós, José Ramón; Sonestedt, Emily; Johansson, Mikael; Grankvist, Kjell; Key, Tim; Khaw, Kay Tee; Wareham, Nick; Cross, Amanda J.; Norat, Teresa; Riboli, Elio; Fanidi, Anouar; Muller, David; Bueno-De-Mesquita, H.B.

2016-01-01

The associations of body mass index (BMI) and other anthropometric measurements with lung cancer were examined in 348,108 participants in the European Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) between 1992 and 2010. The study population included 2,400 case patients with incident lung cancer,

An Integrated Enterprise Accelerator Database for the SLC Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Since its inception in the early 1980's, the SLC Control System has been driven by a highly structured memory-resident real-time database. While efficient, its rigid structure and file-based sources makes it difficult to maintain and extract relevant information. The goal of transforming the sources for this database into a relational form is to enable it to be part of a Control System Enterprise Database that is an integrated central repository for SLC accelerator device and Control System data with links to other associated databases. We have taken the concepts developed for the NLC Enterprise Database and used them to create and load a relational model of the online SLC Control System database. This database contains data and structure to allow querying and reporting on beamline devices, their associations and parameters. In the future this will be extended to allow generation of EPICS and SLC database files, setup of applications and links to other databases such as accelerator maintenance, archive data, financial and personnel records, cabling information, documentation etc. The database is implemented using Oracle 8i. In the short term it will be updated daily in batch from the online SLC database. In the longer term, it will serve as the primary source for Control System static data, an R and D platform for the NLC, and contribute to SLC Control System operations

Developement of a large proton accelerator for innovative researches; development of low energy high current beam transport system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ko, In Soo; Namkung, Won; Cho, M. H.; Kim, K. N.; Kim, J. H.; Bae, Y. S.; Kim, Y.; Kim, K. H.; Shim, K. Y. [Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang (Korea)

2001-04-01

We have designed the beam transport system to connect the ion source and the RFQ. In this design, we have finalized the positions of solenoids and various beam diagnostic device. We have finalize the physical and mechanical designs of solenoids, and these designs are already adopted to produce the actual solenoids. We have also studied about EPICS, Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System, to control a stepper motor as a tuner of the RFQ designed for KOMACEPICS is a real time control system for a large scale system such as accelerators and tokamaks. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a test system based on the EPICS. A Sun UtraSPARC 5 workstation is used as the Operator Interface(OPI) console, and a VME chassis contained a Motorola MVME162 single board computer is used as the Input/Output Controller(IOC). A stepper motor controller is connected to the IOC via an RS-232C as a field bus. The EPICS base, extensions, and the real time OS vxWorks are installed on the workstation. The real time OS image can be downloaded to the IOC via the FTP when the test station is started. We have installed an IOC application as a device and driver support layer for the serial communication with an RS-232C on the workstation. We have designed the IOC database configuration files and a graphic user interface style OPI panel which was programmed by the MEDM. With this OPI, we can control the stepper motor using EPICS. 17 refs., 33 figs., 9 tabs. (Author)

Analisis Efektivitas Iklan Jejaring Sosial sebagai Media Promosi Menggunakan EPIC Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Hasanah

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Keberhasilan dalam sebuah iklan atau promosi yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan masyarakat terhadap Informasi Layanan Pendidikan di jejaring sosial sangat bergantung pada kemasan tampilan yang menarik dan berita yang disampaikan. Pencapaian keberhasilan tujuan promosi tersebut akan membutuhkan tindakan yang berkesinambungan dan tepat sasaran. Untuk mengetahui apakah Facebook Huma Harati itu efektif atau tidak maka perlu adanya pengukuran terhadap Facebook itu sendiri, salah satunya menggunakan metode EPIC (Empaty, Persuation, Impact, and Communication. Hasil analisa menyatakan bahwa Fanpage Huma Harati merupakan tempat yang efektif sebagai media promosi, hal ini terlihat dari nilai empaty, persuasiona, impact and communication yang diperoleh. Nilai rata-rata pada EPIC rate adalah 3,978, dimensi komunikasi mendapat nilai tertinggi dari dimensi lainnya yaitu 4,02. 

Prospect-EPIC Utrecht: study design and characteristics of the cohort population. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Boker, L K; van Noord, P A; van der Schouw, Y T; Koot, N V; Bueno de Mesquita, H B; Riboli, E; Grobbee, D E; Peeters, P H

2001-01-01

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which has been established in order to investigate the relations between nutrition and cancer, was initiated in 1990 and involves 10 European countries with heterogeneous dietary patterns and differing cancer incidence rates. This manuscript presents the design, recruitment and baseline characteristics of the Prospect-EPIC cohort co-ordinated in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The cohort is based on volunteers recruited among women participating in a regional breast cancer screening program. It comprises of 17,357 subjects aged 50-69 years at enrolment from Utrecht and vicinity, who have consented to participate in the study and its follow-up. Each participant filled out a general questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire. Participants were also physically examined and have donated a blood sample. Participation rate was 34.5%. Blood samples were donated by most participants (97.5%) and detailed informed consents were obtained from 87.4% of participants. Mean age at enrolment was 57 years. Anthropometric, lifestyle and morbidity characteristics of the cohort population did not differ largely from those of similar study populations in The Netherlands. Based on the Prospect-EPIC population, we intend to conduct prospective total cohort, nested case-control or case-cohort studies, in order to investigate relations between consumption of certain food groups or nutrients and chronic diseases, including hormone dependant cancers such as breast, colon, endometrial and ovary cancers.

Juvencus and the biblical epic: specificity and literary criticism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena María Calderón de Cuervo

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Latin Christian poetry has emerged in  Constantine Era and flourished between 400 and 800. It has a fundamental role in the development of literary theory and critical discourse, because, except for Prudencio, the rest of the poets of this first period has chosen by the adaptation of the classical canon to Christian themes. The Christian epic is therefore one of the first genres and begins as biblical epic. The first major work of this type is the Gospel Harmony from the Spanish poet Juvencus, until 330. This work begins a long series of biblical poetry, Latin at first, but after this there is its continuation in the vernaculars, like Caedmon, Cynewulf, The Heliand, The Passion by Clermont till Ojeda, Milton and Klopstock.The dedication to the established authority , the subordination of the art´s purpose for the salvation of the soul as well as the desire to legitimize poetry with Christian arguments remain as fundamental premises in the construction of gender. When the modern epic apear, its compromise with new theological Aporia will not lose those extraliterary requirements from provenance.Keywords: Latin Christian poetry; Constantine Era; Virgil.

Mapping Romanzo Criminale. An Epic Narrative Ecosystem?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Boni

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Romanzo Criminale is one of the few recent Italian media products that has emerged as a societal phenomenon and as a vehicle for the exportation of a national culture. It is a complex narrative which extends in time and space due to its various adaptations and intermedial crossovers. Following the path of complexity, drawing on Edgar Morin’s work, Romanzo Criminale will be thought of as a complex system. As precedent studies on the intertwining of official and grassroots discourses show, Romanzo Criminale becomes a complex world, with its boundaries and internal organization. This paper will show that Romanzo Criminale can be studied as a semiosphere (Lotman 2005, or a semiotic space defined by and which encourages the intertwining of texts and audience appropriations, creating an epic process. Some methodological perspectives used for mapping this phenomenon will be discussed, namely Franco Moretti’s distant reading.

High performance image acquisition and processing architecture for fast plant system controllers based on FPGA and GPU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nieto, J.; Sanz, D.; Guillén, P.; Esquembri, S.; Arcas, G. de; Ruiz, M.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • To test an image acquisition and processing system for Camera Link devices based in a FPGA, compliant with ITER fast controllers. • To move data acquired from the set NI1483-NIPXIe7966R directly to a NVIDIA GPU using NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA technology. • To obtain a methodology to include GPUs processing in ITER Fast Plant Controllers, using EPICS integration through Nominal Device Support (NDS). - Abstract: The two dominant technologies that are being used in real time image processing are Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) due to their algorithm parallelization capabilities. But not much work has been done to standardize how these technologies can be integrated in data acquisition systems, where control and supervisory requirements are in place, such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). This work proposes an architecture, and a development methodology, to develop image acquisition and processing systems based on FPGAs and GPUs compliant with ITER fast controller solutions. A use case based on a Camera Link device connected to an FPGA DAQ device (National Instruments FlexRIO technology), and a NVIDIA Tesla GPU series card has been developed and tested. The architecture proposed has been designed to optimize system performance by minimizing data transfer operations and CPU intervention thanks to the use of NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA and DMA technologies. This allows moving the data directly between the different hardware elements (FPGA DAQ-GPU-CPU) avoiding CPU intervention and therefore the use of intermediate CPU memory buffers. A special effort has been put to provide a development methodology that, maintaining the highest possible abstraction from the low level implementation details, allows obtaining solutions that conform to CODAC Core System standards by providing EPICS and Nominal Device Support.

High performance image acquisition and processing architecture for fast plant system controllers based on FPGA and GPU

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nieto, J., E-mail: jnieto@sec.upm.es [Grupo de Investigación en Instrumentación y Acústica Aplicada, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Crta. Valencia Km-7, Madrid 28031 (Spain); Sanz, D.; Guillén, P.; Esquembri, S.; Arcas, G. de; Ruiz, M. [Grupo de Investigación en Instrumentación y Acústica Aplicada, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Crta. Valencia Km-7, Madrid 28031 (Spain); Vega, J.; Castro, R. [Asociación EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusión, Madrid (Spain)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • To test an image acquisition and processing system for Camera Link devices based in a FPGA, compliant with ITER fast controllers. • To move data acquired from the set NI1483-NIPXIe7966R directly to a NVIDIA GPU using NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA technology. • To obtain a methodology to include GPUs processing in ITER Fast Plant Controllers, using EPICS integration through Nominal Device Support (NDS). - Abstract: The two dominant technologies that are being used in real time image processing are Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) due to their algorithm parallelization capabilities. But not much work has been done to standardize how these technologies can be integrated in data acquisition systems, where control and supervisory requirements are in place, such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). This work proposes an architecture, and a development methodology, to develop image acquisition and processing systems based on FPGAs and GPUs compliant with ITER fast controller solutions. A use case based on a Camera Link device connected to an FPGA DAQ device (National Instruments FlexRIO technology), and a NVIDIA Tesla GPU series card has been developed and tested. The architecture proposed has been designed to optimize system performance by minimizing data transfer operations and CPU intervention thanks to the use of NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA and DMA technologies. This allows moving the data directly between the different hardware elements (FPGA DAQ-GPU-CPU) avoiding CPU intervention and therefore the use of intermediate CPU memory buffers. A special effort has been put to provide a development methodology that, maintaining the highest possible abstraction from the low level implementation details, allows obtaining solutions that conform to CODAC Core System standards by providing EPICS and Nominal Device Support.

The improved physical activity index for measuring physical activity in EPIC Germany.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelika Wientzek

Full Text Available In the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study (EPIC, physical activity (PA has been indexed as a cross-tabulation between PA at work and recreational activity. As the proportion of non-working participants increases, other categorization strategies are needed. Therefore, our aim was to develop a valid PA index for this population, which will also be able to express PA continuously. In the German EPIC centers Potsdam and Heidelberg, a clustered sample of 3,766 participants was re-invited to the study center. 1,615 participants agreed to participate and 1,344 participants were finally included in this study. PA was measured by questionnaires on defined activities and a 7-day combined heart rate and acceleration sensor. In a training sample of 433 participants, the Improved Physical Activity Index (IPAI was developed. Its performance was evaluated in a validation sample of 911 participants and compared with the Cambridge Index and the Total PA Index. The IPAI consists of items covering five areas including PA at work, sport, cycling, television viewing, and computer use. The correlations of the IPAI with accelerometer counts in the training and validation sample ranged r = 0.40-0.43 and with physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE r = 0.33-0.40 and were higher than for the Cambridge Index and the Total PA Index previously applied in EPIC. In non-working participants the IPAI showed higher correlations than the Cambridge Index and the Total PA Index, with r = 0.34 for accelerometer counts and r = 0.29 for PAEE. In conclusion, we developed a valid physical activity index which is able to express PA continuously as well as to categorize participants according to their PA level. In populations with increasing rates of non-working people the performance of the IPAI is better than the established indices used in EPIC.

The improved physical activity index for measuring physical activity in EPIC Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Wientzek, Angelika; Vigl, Matthäus; Steindorf, Karen; Brühmann, Boris; Bergmann, Manuela M; Harttig, Ulrich; Katzke, Verena; Kaaks, Rudolf; Boeing, Heiner

2014-01-01

In the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study (EPIC), physical activity (PA) has been indexed as a cross-tabulation between PA at work and recreational activity. As the proportion of non-working participants increases, other categorization strategies are needed. Therefore, our aim was to develop a valid PA index for this population, which will also be able to express PA continuously. In the German EPIC centers Potsdam and Heidelberg, a clustered sample of 3,766 participants was re-invited to the study center. 1,615 participants agreed to participate and 1,344 participants were finally included in this study. PA was measured by questionnaires on defined activities and a 7-day combined heart rate and acceleration sensor. In a training sample of 433 participants, the Improved Physical Activity Index (IPAI) was developed. Its performance was evaluated in a validation sample of 911 participants and compared with the Cambridge Index and the Total PA Index. The IPAI consists of items covering five areas including PA at work, sport, cycling, television viewing, and computer use. The correlations of the IPAI with accelerometer counts in the training and validation sample ranged r = 0.40-0.43 and with physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) r = 0.33-0.40 and were higher than for the Cambridge Index and the Total PA Index previously applied in EPIC. In non-working participants the IPAI showed higher correlations than the Cambridge Index and the Total PA Index, with r = 0.34 for accelerometer counts and r = 0.29 for PAEE. In conclusion, we developed a valid physical activity index which is able to express PA continuously as well as to categorize participants according to their PA level. In populations with increasing rates of non-working people the performance of the IPAI is better than the established indices used in EPIC.

Commercial FPGA based multipurpose controller: implementation perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arredondo, I.; Campo, M. del; Echevarria, P.; Belver, D.; Muguira, L.; Garmendia, N.; Hassanzadegan, H.; Eguiraun, M.; Jugo, J.; Etxebarria, V.

2012-01-01

This work presents a fast acquisition multipurpose controller, focussing on its EPICS integration and on its XML based configuration. This controller is based on a Lyrtech VHS-ADC board which encloses an FPGA, connected to a Host PC. This Host acts as local controller and implements an IOC integrating the device in an EPICS network. These tasks have been performed using Java as the main tool to program the PC to make the device fit the desired application. All the process includes the use of different technologies: JNA to handle C functions i.e. FPGA API, JavaIOC to integrate EPICS and XML w3c DOM classes to easily configure the particular application. In order to manage the functions, Java specific tools have been developed: Methods to manage the FPGA (read/write registers, acquire data,...), methods to create and use the EPICS server (put, get, monitor,...), mathematical methods to process the data (numeric format conversions,...) and methods to create/ initialize the application structure by means of an XML file (parse elements, build the DOM and the specific application structure). This XML file has some common nodes and tags for all the applications: FPGA registers specifications definition and EPICS variables. This means that the user only has to include a node for the specific application and use the mentioned tools. A main class is in charge of managing the FPGA and EPICS server according to this XML file. This multipurpose controller has been successfully used to implement a BPM and an LLRF application for the ESS-Bilbao (European Spallation Source) facility. (authors)

THE PLOT OF HUSBAND’S RETURN TO HIS WIFE’S WEDDING IN "THE ODYSSEY" BY HOMER AND IN THE SLAVIC AND RUSSIAN EPIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatyana G. Malchukova

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the plot of husband’s return to his wife’s wedding embodied both in the millenary Ancient epic literature represented by the "Odyssey" of Homer, and in the Russian and Slavic epic. The study of Homer’s epic heritage, conducted over the years, includes a huge number of works of scientists around the world. Comparative-historical, comparative-genetic and comparative-typological studies found a link between oral folk tradition and epic poetry written by an author. The current international science is developing the hypothesis that professionally individual Homeric poems, which are at least 850 years old, were created in the ancient, oral poetry improvisation in a precise format of hexameter. The study of the Russian epic has less history, but the researches in this field have revealed the presence of Late Antiquity elements in the Slavic environment. These elements along with paganism and Christianity became the source of the people’s spiritual culture. The plot "the return of her husband", which is analyzed in the article, is widely-spread in folklore of many nations, and appeared rudimentarily in "The Odyssey". The western and eastern variants of this theme are diverse in genre structure and stylistic features. In Russian tradition the plot is presented in a large thematic variety "Dobrynya and Alyosha", which evolves into the epic genre due to contamination, small inserts in the epic genre. As a result, the great volume brings together the olden time and the ancient epic, creating intermediate forms comparable with the author’s imitations.

Design and construction of the advanced photon source 352-MHz rf system switching control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horan, D.; Solita, L.; Reigle, D.; Dimonte, N.

1997-01-01

A switching control system has been designed and built to provide the capability of rapidly switching the waveguide and low-level cabling between different klystrons to operate the Advanced Photon Source storage ring in the event of a failure of a klystron system or to perform necessary repairs and preventative maintenance. The twelve possible modes of operation allow for complete redundancy of the booster synchrotron rf system and either a maximum of two storage ring rf systems to be completely off-line or one system to be used as a power source for an rf test stand. A programmable controller is used to send commands to intermediate control panels which interface to WR2300 waveguide switches and phase shifters, rf cavity interlock and low-level rf distribution systems, and klystron power supply controls for rapid reconfiguration of the rf systems in response to a mode-selection command. Mode selection is a local manual operation using a keyswitch arrangement which prevents more than one mode from being selected at a time. The programmable controller also monitors for hardware malfunction and guards against open-quotes hot-switchingclose quotes of the rf systems. The rf switching controls system is monitored via the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) for remote system status check

Pathology findings and validation of gastric and esophageal cancer cases in a European cohort (EPIC/EUR-GAST)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carneiro, F; Moutinho, C; Pera, G

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Cardia, non-cardia and intestinal and diffuse subtypes of gastric cancer may have different trends and etiological factors. However, the available information is not always collected in population cancer registries, and heterogeneous criteria have been applied for the histopathological...... classification of tumors. We describe the pathological features of incident gastric and esophageal cancers identified within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In an investigation on gastric and esophageal cancer (EUR-GAST) in the EPIC project......, a validation study of diagnoses reported by EPIC centers was conducted by a European panel of pathologists. Original pathology reports, stained slides of tumors and the respective paraffin blocks were requested from the centers. RESULTS: The whole series encompassed 467 cancer cases (gastric and esophageal...

Use of human factors in the integration of a safety parameter display system (SPDS) and emergency response facility (ERF) capabilities for the James A. Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fish, H.C. Jr.; Gutierrez, R.

1987-01-01

In 1987, New York Power Authority's Emergency and Process Information Computer (EPIC) System will be operational. The EPIC system was designed to perform two distinct functions: to serve as an advanced replacement for the existing plant process computer and to assist in providing the JAFNPP operations staff with information during plant emergency conditions. Besides meeting the operational and regulatory goals of NYPA, EPIC was designed to meet NYPA human factors criteria. Using human factors literature, industry standards and guidelines, a Human Factors Criteria document was prepared for the EPIC project. This document served as the bases for all hardware, display, and documentation design applicable to EPIC. The major tasks of the EPIC human factors plan include integration of past and present applicable human factors information, establishment of a user definition using data gathered from control room observations (startup and shutdown of JAFNPP), survey of computer programs used by the operators, and obtaining input from licensed operators. These major tasks played a role in the design of the design of the control room configuration, the design and development of computer generated displays, and the format in which the displayed and hard copy information would be presented to the user. This paper presents an overview of the human factors work performed and the documents researched or developed in the design of EPIC displays, software, and hardware. The location and operation of this new computer based information system, like the displays was based on the systematic application of operations and human factors principles

Engineering Design of ITER Prototype Fast Plant System Controller

Science.gov (United States)

Goncalves, B.; Sousa, J.; Carvalho, B.; Rodrigues, A. P.; Correia, M.; Batista, A.; Vega, J.; Ruiz, M.; Lopez, J. M.; Rojo, R. Castro; Wallander, A.; Utzel, N.; Neto, A.; Alves, D.; Valcarcel, D.

2011-08-01

The ITER control, data access and communication (CODAC) design team identified the need for two types of plant systems. A slow control plant system is based on industrial automation technology with maximum sampling rates below 100 Hz, and a fast control plant system is based on embedded technology with higher sampling rates and more stringent real-time requirements than that required for slow controllers. The latter is applicable to diagnostics and plant systems in closed-control loops whose cycle times are below 1 ms. Fast controllers will be dedicated industrial controllers with the ability to supervise other fast and/or slow controllers, interface to actuators and sensors and, if necessary, high performance networks. Two prototypes of a fast plant system controller specialized for data acquisition and constrained by ITER technological choices are being built using two different form factors. This prototyping activity contributes to the Plant Control Design Handbook effort of standardization, specifically regarding fast controller characteristics. Envisaging a general purpose fast controller design, diagnostic use cases with specific requirements were analyzed and will be presented along with the interface with CODAC and sensors. The requirements and constraints that real-time plasma control imposes on the design were also taken into consideration. Functional specifications and technology neutral architecture, together with its implications on the engineering design, were considered. The detailed engineering design compliant with ITER standards was performed and will be discussed in detail. Emphasis will be given to the integration of the controller in the standard CODAC environment. Requirements for the EPICS IOC providing the interface to the outside world, the prototype decisions on form factor, real-time operating system, and high-performance networks will also be discussed, as well as the requirements for data streaming to CODAC for visualization and

Construction of a Matched Global Cloud and Radiance Product from LEO/GEO and EPIC Observations to Estimate Daytime Earth Radiation Budget from DSCOVR

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, D. P.; Khlopenkov, K. V.; Palikonda, R.; Khaiyer, M. M.; Minnis, P.; Su, W.; Sun-Mack, S.

2016-12-01

With the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), new estimates of the daytime Earth radiation budget can computed from a combination of measurements from the two Earth-observing sensors onboard the spacecraft, the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Although these instruments can provide accurate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements, they lack sufficient resolution to provide details on small-scale surface and cloud properties. Previous studies have shown that these properties have a strong influence on the anisotropy of the radiation at the TOA, and ignoring such effects can result in large TOA-flux errors. To overcome these effects, high-resolution scene identification is needed for accurate Earth radiation budget estimation. Selected radiance and cloud property data measured and derived from several low earth orbit (LEO, including NASA Terra and Aqua MODIS, NOAA AVHRR) and geosynchronous (GEO, including GOES (east and west), METEOSAT, INSAT-3D, MTSAT-2, and HIMAWARI-8) satellite imagers were collected to create hourly 5-km resolution global composites of data necessary to compute angular distribution models (ADM) for reflected shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiation. The satellite data provide an independent source of radiance measurements and scene identification information necessary to construct ADMs that are used to determine the daytime Earth radiation budget. To optimize spatial matching between EPIC measurements and the high-resolution composite cloud properties, LEO/GEO retrievals within the EPIC fields of view (FOV) are convolved to the EPIC point spread function (PSF) in a similar manner to the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) product. Examples of the merged LEO/GEO/EPIC product will be presented, describing the chosen radiance and cloud properties and

Construction of a Matched Global Cloud and Radiance Product from LEO/GEO and EPIC Observations to Estimate Daytime Earth Radiation Budget from DSCOVR

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, David P.; Khlopenkov, Konstantin V.; Thiemann, Mandana; Palikonda, Rabindra; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Su, Wenying

2016-01-01

With the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), new estimates of the daytime Earth radiation budget can be computed from a combination of measurements from the two Earth-observing sensors onboard the spacecraft, the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Although these instruments can provide accurate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements, they lack sufficient resolution to provide details on small-scale surface and cloud properties. Previous studies have shown that these properties have a strong influence on the anisotropy of the radiation at the TOA, and ignoring such effects can result in large TOA-flux errors. To overcome these effects, high-resolution scene identification is needed for accurate Earth radiation budget estimation. Selected radiance and cloud property data measured and derived from several low earth orbit (LEO, including NASA Terra and Aqua MODIS, NOAA AVHRR) and geosynchronous (GEO, including GOES (east and west), METEOSAT, INSAT-3D, MTSAT-2, and HIMAWARI-8) satellite imagers were collected to create hourly 5-km resolution global composites of data necessary to compute angular distribution models (ADM) for reflected shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiation. The satellite data provide an independent source of radiance measurements and scene identification information necessary to construct ADMs that are used to determine the daytime Earth radiation budget. To optimize spatial matching between EPIC measurements and the high-resolution composite cloud properties, LEO/GEO retrievals within the EPIC fields of view (FOV) are convolved to the EPIC point spread function (PSF) in a similar manner to the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) product. Examples of the merged LEO/GEO/EPIC product will be presented, describing the chosen radiance and cloud properties and

Prospect-EPIC Utrecht: Study design and characteristics of the cohort population

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boker, L.K.; Noord, P.A.H. van; Schouw, Y.T. van der; Koot, V.C.M.; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H.B.; Riboli, E.; Grobbee, D.E.; Peeters, P.H.M.

2001-01-01

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which hasbe en established in order to investigate the relations between nutrition and cancer, wasinitiated in 1990 and involves10 European countrieswith heterogeneous dietary patternsand differing cancer incidence rates. This

AUTOMATED CONTROL AND REAL-TIME DATA PROCESSING OF WIRE SCANNER/HALO SCRAPER MEASUREMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Day, L.A.; Gilpatrick, J.D.

2001-01-01

The Low-Energy Demonstration Accelerator (LEDA), assembled and operating at Los Alamos National Laboratory, provides the platform for obtaining measurements of high-power proton beam-halo formation. Control system software and hardware have been integrated and customized to enable the production of real-time beam-halo profiles. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) hosted on a VXI platform, Interactive Data Language (IDL) programs hosted on UNIX platforms, and LabVIEW (LV) Virtual Instruments hosted on a PC platform have been integrated and customized to provide real-time, synchronous motor control, data acquisition, and data analysis of data acquired through specialized DSP instrumentation. These modules communicate through EPICS Channel Access (CA) communication protocol extensions to control and manage execution flow ensuring synchronous data acquisition and real-time processing of measurement data. This paper describes the software integration and management scheme implemented to produce these real-time beam profiles

Unelõiv ja Saarepiiga: Jüri Talveti kirjanduslik "Kalevipoeg" / The Rhisomes of „Kalevipoeg“: Literary Interpretation of the Estonian National Epic by Jüri Talvet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marin Laak

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Teesid: Artikkel keskendub eepose „Kalevipoeg“ käsitlusele võrdleva kirjandusteaduse vaatepunktist. „Kalevipoja“ uurimine ilukirjandusliku teosena muutis paradigmaatiliselt rahvuseepose senist tõlgendust ja seda tänu Jüri Talveti käsitlustele „Kalevipojast“ kui suurest Euroopa eeposest, silmapaistavast maailmakirjanduse kunsteeposte seas. Eepose teksti ja poeetika kirjandusteaduslik uurimine on selgitanud, kuidas eepose tekst on üles ehitatud sisemistele, intratekstuaalsetele seostele, mis korduvad gradatsiooniliselt ja toetuvad teatud kindlatele tekstuaalsetele sõlmpunktidele, näiteks „Saarepiiga“, „uni“ jpt. Enam kui autentsed allikad, on „Kalevipoja“ kui kirjandusliku teksti puhul oluline eepose toimimine pidevalt uusi tekste ärgitava tüvitekstina. Eepose analüüs näitab, kuidas selliste seoste alusel tekivad uued kultuurilised ühikud, kauneid näiteid selliste motiivikordustele rajatud seosteahelate kohta leidub ka Jüri Talveti luules.   The article focuses on the treatment of the epic The Kalevipoeg from the viewpoint of comparative literature. This approach is a continuation of the study of literary relations of the epic which, on the one hand is opposite to, but on the other hand continues the present folkloristic approach to The Kalevipoeg as a folklore-based epic, which is based on the comparative-historical method of studying folklore. F. R. Kreutzwald’s role in creating the national epic was enormous; the epic can be conceived as a fictional and intentional piece, emphasising the role of its author. Although different genres of genuine folklore can be recognised in the epic, works of fiction of European and world classics have also been used in its construction, and the text of the epic has itself become an intertextual foundation for new works of fiction. The paradigm of discussing the epic changed due to Jüri Talvet’s groundbreaking treatment of The Kalevipoeg as a great European epic and

An Accelerator Control Middle Layer Using MATLAB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Portmann, Gregory J.; Corbett, Jeff; Terebilo, Andrei

2005-01-01

Matlab is an interpretive programming language originally developed for convenient use with the LINPACK and EISPACK libraries. Matlab is appealing for accelerator physics because it is matrix-oriented, provides an active workspace for system variables, powerful graphics capabilities, built-in math libraries, and platform independence. A number of accelerator software toolboxes have been written in Matlab -- the Accelerator Toolbox (AT) for model-based machine simulations, LOCO for on-line model calibration, and Matlab Channel Access (MCA) to connect with EPICS. The function of the MATLAB ''MiddleLayer'' is to provide a scripting language for machine simulations and on-line control, including non-EPICS based control systems. The MiddleLayer has simplified and streamlined development of high-level applications including configuration control, energy ramp, orbit correction, photon beam steering, ID compensation, beam-based alignment, tune correction and response matrix measurement. The database-driven Middle Layer software is largely machine-independent and easy to port. Six accelerators presently use the software package with more scheduled to come on line soon

The Digital Feedback RF Control System of the RFQ and DTL1 for 100 MeV Proton Linac of PEFP

CERN Document Server

Yu In Ha; Cho, Yong-Sub; Han, Yeung-Jin; Kang Heung Sik; Kim, Sung-Chul; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Park, In-Soo; Tae Kim, Do; Tae Seol, Kyung

2005-01-01

The 100 MeV Proton linear accelerator (Linac) for the PEFP (Proton Engineering Frontier Project) will include 1 RFQ and 1 DTL1 at 350 MHz as well as 7 DTL2 cavities at 700 MHz. The low level RF system with the digital feedback RF control provides the field control to accelerate a 20mA proton beam from 50 keV to 20 MeV with a RFQ and a DTL1 at 350M Hz. The FPGA-based digital feedback RF control system has been built and is used to control cavity field amplitude within ± 1% and relative phase within ± 1°. The fast digital processing is networked to the EPICS-based control system with an embedded processor (Blackfin). In this paper, the detailed description of the digital feedback RF control system will be described with the performance test results.

Developing Exon-Primed Intron-Crossing (EPIC) markers for population genetic studies in three Aedes disease vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Vanessa Linley; Endersby, Nancy Margaret; Chan, Janice; Hoffmann, Ary Anthony; Weeks, Andrew Raymond

2015-03-01

Aedes aegypti, Aedes notoscriptus, and Aedes albopictus are important vectors of many arboviruses implicated in human disease such as dengue fever. Genetic markers applied across vector species can provide important information on population structure, gene flow, insecticide resistance, and taxonomy, however, robust microsatellite markers have proven difficult to develop in these species and mosquitoes generally. Here we consider the utility and transferability of 15 Ribosome protein (Rp) Exon-Primed Intron-Crossing (EPIC) markers for population genetic studies in these 3 Aedes species. Rp EPIC markers designed for Ae. aegypti also successfully amplified populations of the sister species, Ae. albopictus, as well as the distantly related species, Ae. notoscriptus. High SNP and good indel diversity in sequenced alleles plus support for amplification of the same regions across populations and species were additional benefits of these markers. These findings point to the general value of EPIC markers in mosquito population studies. © 2014 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The timing system on the J-TEXT tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Wei; Zhang, Ming; Zhuang, Ge; Ding, Tonghai; Huang, Fuqiang; Shan, Lingjie

2014-01-01

Highlights: •The timing system achieved tree structured timing network with only one type of timing module. •This system is integrated into J-TEXT COADC which is an EPICS based control system. •This system handles multiple timing sequences and events. •This system has been deployed on J-TEXT and working properly in daily experiments. -- Abstract: This paper describes the timing system designed to control the operation time-sequence and to generate clocks for various sub-systems on J-TEXT tokamak. The J-TEXT timing system is organized as a distributed system which is connected by a tree-structured optical fiber network. It can generate delayed triggers and gate signals (0 μs–4000 s), while providing reference clocks for other sub-systems. Besides, it provides event handling and timestamping functions. It is integrated into the J-TEXT Control, Data Access and Communication (J-TEXT CODAC) system, and it can be monitored and configured by Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The configuration of this system including tree-structured network is managed in XML files by dedicated management software. This system has already been deployed on J-TEXT tokamak and it is serving J-TEXT in daily experiments

Building highly available control system applications with Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture and open standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazakov, Artem; Furukawa, Kazuro

2010-01-01

Requirements for modern and future control systems for large projects like International Linear Collider demand high availability for control system components. Recently telecom industry came up with a great open hardware specification - Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA). This specification is aimed for better reliability, availability and serviceability. Since its first market appearance in 2004, ATCA platform has shown tremendous growth and proved to be stable and well represented by a number of vendors. ATCA is an industry standard for highly available systems. On the other hand Service Availability Forum, a consortium of leading communications and computing companies, describes interaction between hardware and software. SAF defines a set of specifications such as Hardware Platform Interface, Application Interface Specification. SAF specifications provide extensive description of highly available systems, services and their interfaces. Originally aimed for telecom applications, these specifications can be used for accelerator controls software as well. This study describes benefits of using these specifications and their possible adoption to accelerator control systems. It is demonstrated how EPICS Redundant IOC was extended using Hardware Platform Interface specification, which made it possible to utilize benefits of the ATCA platform.

Asynchronous data change notification between database server and accelerator control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenge Fu; Seth Nemesure; Morris, J.

2012-01-01

Database data change notification (DCN) is a commonly used feature, it allows to be informed when the data has been changed on the server side by another client. Not all database management systems (DBMS) provide an explicit DCN mechanism. Even for those DBMS's which support DCN (such as Oracle and MS SQL server), some server side and/or client side programming may be required to make the DCN system work. This makes the setup of DCN between database server and interested clients tedious and time consuming. In accelerator control systems, there are many well established software client/server architectures (such as CDEV, EPICS, and ADO) that can be used to implement data reflection servers that transfer data asynchronously to any client using the standard SET/GET API. This paper describes a method for using such a data reflection server to set up asynchronous DCN (ADCN) between a DBMS and clients. This method works well for all DBMS systems which provide database trigger functionality. (authors)

PLC control of 50 MW klystron modulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang Lei; Liu Gongfa; Chen Liping; Lu Yeming; Hong Jun; Zhang Yi; Zhao Feng

2004-01-01

Upgrade project of the 50 MW klystron modulators of Hefei Light Source (HLS) was firstly introduced. PLC control system of modulators was employed to replace the old control and monitor system, which was based on relay logic circuit and manual operation method. the PLC system becomes a sub system of the new EPICS control system of HLS. Constant-current, switch-mode and high voltage power supplies were adopted to replace the old 50 Hz power supplies. The technology of modulators was improved and operation was more reliable. The design method, hardware and software of PLC control of modulators were described and the performance was presented. (authors)

The Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC) at Centro de Astrobiología, Spain: Reproducibility and verification of scaling relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ormö, J.; Wünnemann, K.; Collins, G.; Melero Asensio, I.

2012-09-01

The Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC) consists of a 20.5mm caliber, compressed gas gun and a 7m wide test bed. It is possible to vary the projectile size and density, the velocity up to about 5001n/"s, the impact angle. and the target composition. The EPIC is especially designed for the analysis of impacts into unconsolidated and liquid targets. i.e. allowing the use of gravity scaling. The general objective with the EPIC is to analyze the cratering and modification processes at wet-target (e.g. marinle) impacts. We have carried out 14 shots into dry sand targets with two projectile compositions (light and weak; heavy and strong), at two impact angles. at three impact velocities, and in both quarter-space and half- space geometries. We recorded the impacts with a high-speed camera and compared the results with numerical simulations using iSALE. The evaluation demonstrated that there are noticeable differences between the results from the two projectile types, but that the crater dimensions are consistent with scaling laws based on other impact experiments [1]. This proves the usefulness of the EPIC in the analysis of natural impacts.

Nutrient patterns and their food sources in an International Study Setting: report from the EPIC study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelie Moskal

Full Text Available Compared to food patterns, nutrient patterns have been rarely used particularly at international level. We studied, in the context of a multi-center study with heterogeneous data, the methodological challenges regarding pattern analyses.We identified nutrient patterns from food frequency questionnaires (FFQ in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC Study and used 24-hour dietary recall (24-HDR data to validate and describe the nutrient patterns and their related food sources. Associations between lifestyle factors and the nutrient patterns were also examined. Principal component analysis (PCA was applied on 23 nutrients derived from country-specific FFQ combining data from all EPIC centers (N = 477,312. Harmonized 24-HDRs available for a representative sample of the EPIC populations (N = 34,436 provided accurate mean group estimates of nutrients and foods by quintiles of pattern scores, presented graphically. An overall PCA combining all data captured a good proportion of the variance explained in each EPIC center. Four nutrient patterns were identified explaining 67% of the total variance: Principle component (PC 1 was characterized by a high contribution of nutrients from plant food sources and a low contribution of nutrients from animal food sources; PC2 by a high contribution of micro-nutrients and proteins; PC3 was characterized by polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D; PC4 was characterized by calcium, proteins, riboflavin, and phosphorus. The nutrients with high loadings on a particular pattern as derived from country-specific FFQ also showed high deviations in their mean EPIC intakes by quintiles of pattern scores when estimated from 24-HDR. Center and energy intake explained most of the variability in pattern scores.The use of 24-HDR enabled internal validation and facilitated the interpretation of the nutrient patterns derived from FFQs in term of food sources. These outcomes open research

Nutrient patterns and their food sources in an International Study Setting: report from the EPIC study.

Science.gov (United States)

Moskal, Aurelie; Pisa, Pedro T; Ferrari, Pietro; Byrnes, Graham; Freisling, Heinz; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Cadeau, Claire; Nailler, Laura; Wendt, Andrea; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Buijsse, Brian; Tjønneland, Anne; Halkjær, Jytte; Dahm, Christina C; Chiuve, Stephanie E; Quirós, Jose R; Buckland, Genevieve; Molina-Montes, Esther; Amiano, Pilar; Huerta Castaño, José M; Gurrea, Aurelio Barricarte; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Lentjes, Marleen A; Key, Timothy J; Romaguera, Dora; Vergnaud, Anne-Claire; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Bamia, Christina; Orfanos, Philippos; Palli, Domenico; Pala, Valeria; Tumino, Rosario; Sacerdote, Carlotta; de Magistris, Maria Santucci; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Ocké, Marga C; Beulens, Joline W J; Ericson, Ulrika; Drake, Isabel; Nilsson, Lena M; Winkvist, Anna; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Hjartåker, Anette; Riboli, Elio; Slimani, Nadia

2014-01-01

Compared to food patterns, nutrient patterns have been rarely used particularly at international level. We studied, in the context of a multi-center study with heterogeneous data, the methodological challenges regarding pattern analyses. We identified nutrient patterns from food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study and used 24-hour dietary recall (24-HDR) data to validate and describe the nutrient patterns and their related food sources. Associations between lifestyle factors and the nutrient patterns were also examined. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on 23 nutrients derived from country-specific FFQ combining data from all EPIC centers (N = 477,312). Harmonized 24-HDRs available for a representative sample of the EPIC populations (N = 34,436) provided accurate mean group estimates of nutrients and foods by quintiles of pattern scores, presented graphically. An overall PCA combining all data captured a good proportion of the variance explained in each EPIC center. Four nutrient patterns were identified explaining 67% of the total variance: Principle component (PC) 1 was characterized by a high contribution of nutrients from plant food sources and a low contribution of nutrients from animal food sources; PC2 by a high contribution of micro-nutrients and proteins; PC3 was characterized by polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D; PC4 was characterized by calcium, proteins, riboflavin, and phosphorus. The nutrients with high loadings on a particular pattern as derived from country-specific FFQ also showed high deviations in their mean EPIC intakes by quintiles of pattern scores when estimated from 24-HDR. Center and energy intake explained most of the variability in pattern scores. The use of 24-HDR enabled internal validation and facilitated the interpretation of the nutrient patterns derived from FFQs in term of food sources. These outcomes open research opportunities and

Poetics of the Epic and Survivals of the Genre in Swaziland ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper seeks to suggest that the ongoing and robust tradition of bringing together excerpts from legends, praise poems, songs and genealogical recitations during national ceremonies and festivals such as Incwala, vouch for an erstwhile epic culture in Swaziland. International Journal of Humanistic Studies Vol.3 2004: ...

Design and development progress of a LLRF control system for a 500 MHz superconducting cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Y. S.; Kim, H. W.; Song, H. S.; Lee, J. H.; Park, K. H.; Yu, I. H.; Chai, J. S.

2012-07-01

The LLRF (low-level radio-frequency) control system which regulates the amplitude and the phase of the accelerating voltage inside a RF cavity is essential to ensure the stable operation of charged particle accelerators. Recent advances in digital signal processors and data acquisition systems have allowed the LLRF control system to be implemented in digitally and have made it possible to meet the higher demands associated with the performance of LLRF control systems, such as stability, accuracy, etc. For this reason, many accelerator laboratories have completed or are completing the developments of digital LLRF control systems. The digital LLRF control system has advantages related with flexibility and fast reconfiguration. This paper describes the design of the FPGA (field programmable gate array) based LLRF control system and the status of development for this system. The proposed LLRF control system includes an analog front-end, a digital board (ADC (analog to digital converter), DAC (digital to analog converter), FPGA, etc.) and a RF & clock generation system. The control algorithms will be implemented by using the VHDL (VHSIC (very high speed integrated circuits) hardware description language), and the EPICS (experiment physics and industrial control system) will be ported to the host computer for the communication. In addition, the purpose of this system is to control a 500 MHz RF cavity, so the system will be applied to the superconducting cavity to be installed in the PLS storage ring, and its performance will be tested.

EPIC OF AWESOMEANIMÁTICA DE UN EPISODIO PILOTO

OpenAIRE

PEIRÓ TIMONER, LLORENÇ ANDREU

2016-01-01

[EN] Epic of Awesome is a pre-production project for an animated short in 2D, produced entirely using specialized software for story-board creation. The project includes every phase prior to the final animation stage needed for the production of audiovisual narratives: idea, research, script, designs, initial story-board, final story-board, layout, voice acting, music and effects, animatics, clean-up and the final edition of the animated short. The story, exposed in a comedic tone with the in...

A software Event Summation System for MDSplus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, W.M.; Mastrovito, D.M.; Roney, P.G.; Sichta, P.

2008-01-01

The MDSplus data acquisition and management system uses software events for communication among interdependent processes anywhere on the network. Actions can then be triggered, such as a data-acquisition routine, or analysis or display programs waiting for data. A small amount of data, such as a shot number, can be passed with these events. Since programs sometimes need more than one data set, we developed a system on NSTX to declare composite events using logical AND and OR operations. The system is written in the IDL language, so it can be run on Linux, Macintosh or Windows platforms. Like MDSplus, the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a core component of the NSTX software environment. The Event Summation System provides an IDL-based interface to EPICS. This permits EPICS-aware processes to be synchronized with MDSplus-aware processes, to provide, for example, engineering operators information about physics data acquisition and analysis. Reliability was a more important design consideration than performance for this system; the system's architecture includes features to support this. The system has run for weeks at a time without requiring manual intervention. Hundreds of incoming events per second can be handled reliably. All incoming and declared events are logged with a timestamp. The system can be configured easily through a single, easy-to-read text file

The ITER Fast Plant System Controller ATCA prototype Real-Time Software Architecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho, B.B.; Santos, B.; Carvalho, P.F.; Neto, A.; Boncagni, L.; Batista, A.J.N.; Correia, M.; Sousa, J.; Gonçalves, B.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► High performance ATCA systems for fast control and data acquisition. ► IEEE1588 timing system and synchronization. ► Plasma control algorithms. ► Real-time control software frameworks. ► Targeted for nuclear fusion experiments with long duration discharges. -- Abstract: IPFN is developing a prototype Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) based in ATCA embedded technologies dedicated to ITER CODAC data acquisition and control tasks in the sub-millisecond range. The main goal is to demonstrate the usability of the ATCA standard and its enhanced specifications for the high speed, very high density parallel data acquisition needs of the most demanding ITER tokamak plasma Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems. This effort included the in-house development of a new family of high performance ATCA I/O and timing boards. The standard ITER software system CODAC Core System (CCS) v3.1, with the control based in the EPICS system does not cover yet the real-time requirements fulfilled by this hardware, so a new set of software components was developed for this specific platform, attempting to integrate and leverage the new features in CSS, for example the Multithreaded Application Real Time executor (MARTe) software framework, the new Data Archiving Network (DAN) solution, an ATCA IEEE-1588-2008 timing interface, and the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) for system monitoring and remote management. This paper presents the overall software architecture for the ATCA FPSC, as well a discussion on the ITER constrains and design choices and finally a detailed description of the software components already developed

The ITER Fast Plant System Controller ATCA prototype Real-Time Software Architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, B.B., E-mail: bernardo@ipfn.ist.utl.pt [Associacao EURATOM/IST Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Santos, B.; Carvalho, P.F.; Neto, A. [Associacao EURATOM/IST Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Boncagni, L. [Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Frascati Research Centre, Division of Fusion Physics, Frascati, Rome (Italy); Batista, A.J.N.; Correia, M.; Sousa, J.; Gonçalves, B. [Associacao EURATOM/IST Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► High performance ATCA systems for fast control and data acquisition. ► IEEE1588 timing system and synchronization. ► Plasma control algorithms. ► Real-time control software frameworks. ► Targeted for nuclear fusion experiments with long duration discharges. -- Abstract: IPFN is developing a prototype Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) based in ATCA embedded technologies dedicated to ITER CODAC data acquisition and control tasks in the sub-millisecond range. The main goal is to demonstrate the usability of the ATCA standard and its enhanced specifications for the high speed, very high density parallel data acquisition needs of the most demanding ITER tokamak plasma Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems. This effort included the in-house development of a new family of high performance ATCA I/O and timing boards. The standard ITER software system CODAC Core System (CCS) v3.1, with the control based in the EPICS system does not cover yet the real-time requirements fulfilled by this hardware, so a new set of software components was developed for this specific platform, attempting to integrate and leverage the new features in CSS, for example the Multithreaded Application Real Time executor (MARTe) software framework, the new Data Archiving Network (DAN) solution, an ATCA IEEE-1588-2008 timing interface, and the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) for system monitoring and remote management. This paper presents the overall software architecture for the ATCA FPSC, as well a discussion on the ITER constrains and design choices and finally a detailed description of the software components already developed.

Molecular genetic analysis of cereal β-amylase genes using exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC PCR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stratula Olga

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The proteins encoded by cereal β-amylase genes Bamy1 and Bamy2 genes play an important role in seedling germination and in the brewing process. Here, we use exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC to analyse Bamy1 and Bamy2 genetic diversity among 38 accessions belonging to six Poaceae tribes. DNA sequence alignment of multiple Poaceae species β-amylase sequences allowed design of EPIC primers that simultaneously amplify Bamy1 and Bamy2 in all the cereal species investigated. The genetic variation observed in the samples investigated is analysed and discussed, and illustrates the effectiveness of this approach for intra- and interspecific analysis in plant species.

Spectral re-distribution and surface loss effects in Swift XRT (XMM-Newton EPIC) MOS CCDs

CERN Document Server

Short, A D; Turner, M J L

2002-01-01

In the course of testing and selecting the EPIC MOS CCDs for the XMM-Newton observatory, the developed a Monte-Carlo model of the CCD response. Among other things, this model was used to investigate surface loss effects evident at low energies. By fitting laboratory data, these losses were characterised as a simple function of X-ray interaction depth and this result enabled the spectral re-distribution itself to be modelled as a simple analytical function. Subsequently, this analytical function has been used to generate the response matrix for the EPIC MOS instruments and will now be employed to model the spectral re-distribution for the Swift XRT CCD.

Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Biofuel Crops and Parameterization in the EPIC Biogeochemical Model

Science.gov (United States)

This presentation describes year 1 field measurements of N2O fluxes and crop yields which are used to parameterize the EPIC biogeochemical model for the corresponding field site. Initial model simulations are also presented.

L’héroïsme de la femme dans l’épopée africaine : un regard critique de Soundjata ou l’épopée mandingue, Emperor Shaka The Great : A Zulu Epic et Nsongo’a Lianja : l’épopée nationale des Nkundo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Mukenge

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Heroism of women in the African Epic: A critical analysis of Sundiata or the mandingo Epic, Emperor Shaka The Great: A Zulu Epic and Nsongo’a Lianja: The national Epic of the Nkundo. In African epics, female figures perform salient heroic roles that are, unfortunately, not widely recognised and celebrated, as notions of bravery and heroism are understood from a male perspective. Against this backdrop, this study adopts new critical and conceptual approaches to interrogate existing narratives, discourse and ideas on/or about female heroism. By focusing on selected epics, this work incorporates perceptions about women in folktales whose themes comment and reflect on the presentation of female characters and the roles they execute in society. The present contribution critically examines the role of supernatural forces in female characters’ commitment and heroism; not only protecting Soundiata, Shaka, and Lianja in accomplishing their destinies but also showcasing the activities, traditions, belief systems and culture of the Mandingo, Zulu, and Mongo in their respective societies.

The new control system of J-TEXT divertor power supply system using J-TEXT real-time framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Ming; Zheng, Guozhen; Chen, Zhi [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Zheng, Wei, E-mail: zhengwei@hust.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Yuan, Tao; Li, Yang [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • The most highlight of this paper is the J-TEXT Real-Time Framework (JRTF). JRTF is a flexible real-time software framework which allows users to develop real-time applications rapidly without compromise on the performance. It makes a clear separation between control functions and hard/software administration, developers just need to focus on the control logic and algorithms. • The JRTF based control system can achieve a precise control loop cycle of 1 ms and a jitter under 0.01 ms on Linux operation system. The real-time performance meets the requirement of the real-time control tasks in J-TEXT. • Several days of operation with no faults were already achieved with the system running and in real-time 8 h per day. The stability of the new system is qualified for discharging experiment. - Abstract: The J-TEXT divertor power supply system is designed as a parallel connection, 12-pulse rectifier which is powered by a 100 MVA pulse generator unit. To achieve robust current feedback control, high performance real-time control system is required. The new control system adopts a more powerful software framework named J-TEXT real-time framework (JRTF). JRTF is a flexible real-time software framework designed for the implementation of real-time control systems. A JRTF application contains various Application Blocks (AB) which execute specific functions such as feedback computing and protection. JRTF is compatible with ITER standard PFC (Plant Fast Controller) hardware and ITER CODAC (Control, Data Access and Communication) Core software, so it can be monitored and configured by any EPICS based control system. The hardware of the new control system is upgraded to standard ITER fast controller which are much faster and more reliable than former controllers. This control system is the first application of JRTF, and the result shows that the new control system is running properly and stably. It provides an instance for real-time control schemes in J-TEXT, and

The new control system of J-TEXT divertor power supply system using J-TEXT real-time framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Ming; Zheng, Guozhen; Chen, Zhi; Zheng, Wei; Yuan, Tao; Li, Yang

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The most highlight of this paper is the J-TEXT Real-Time Framework (JRTF). JRTF is a flexible real-time software framework which allows users to develop real-time applications rapidly without compromise on the performance. It makes a clear separation between control functions and hard/software administration, developers just need to focus on the control logic and algorithms. • The JRTF based control system can achieve a precise control loop cycle of 1 ms and a jitter under 0.01 ms on Linux operation system. The real-time performance meets the requirement of the real-time control tasks in J-TEXT. • Several days of operation with no faults were already achieved with the system running and in real-time 8 h per day. The stability of the new system is qualified for discharging experiment. - Abstract: The J-TEXT divertor power supply system is designed as a parallel connection, 12-pulse rectifier which is powered by a 100 MVA pulse generator unit. To achieve robust current feedback control, high performance real-time control system is required. The new control system adopts a more powerful software framework named J-TEXT real-time framework (JRTF). JRTF is a flexible real-time software framework designed for the implementation of real-time control systems. A JRTF application contains various Application Blocks (AB) which execute specific functions such as feedback computing and protection. JRTF is compatible with ITER standard PFC (Plant Fast Controller) hardware and ITER CODAC (Control, Data Access and Communication) Core software, so it can be monitored and configured by any EPICS based control system. The hardware of the new control system is upgraded to standard ITER fast controller which are much faster and more reliable than former controllers. This control system is the first application of JRTF, and the result shows that the new control system is running properly and stably. It provides an instance for real-time control schemes in J-TEXT, and

In-situ calibration: migrating control system IP module calibration from the bench to the storage ring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, Jonah M.; Chin, Michael

2002-01-01

The Control System for the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) uses in-house designed IndustryPack(registered trademark) (IP) modules contained in compact PCI (cPCI) crates with 16-bit analog I/O to control instrumentation. To make the IP modules interchangeable, each module is calibrated for gain and offset compensation. We initially developed a method of verifying and calibrating the IP modules in a lab bench test environment using a PC with LabVIEW. The subsequent discovery that the ADCs have significant drift characteristics over periods of days of installed operation prompted development of an ''in-situ'' calibration process--one in which the IP modules can be calibrated without removing them from the cPCI crates in the storage ring. This paper discusses the original LabVIEW PC calibration and the migration to the proposed in-situ EPICS control system calibration

Incorporation of a PbSe Array Based Spectrograph into EPICS using LabView at the JLab FEL Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hardy, D.; Benson, S.V.; Shinn, M.D.; Zhang, S.

2005-01-01

A real-time spectrograph with a 1Hz update rate was designed and installed at the JLab FEL facility using a Cal Sensors PbSe array and a Roper Scientific SpectraPro 300 monochrometer. This paper describes the implementation of EPICS channel access on a remote PC running LabView with modification of vendor supplied LabView VI's to allow display of FEL light spectra in real-time on a remote workstation. This allows PC based diagnostics to be used in EPICS

The Detector Control of the PANDA Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldbauer, F

2014-01-01

The PANDA experiment will be built at the antiproton storage ring HESR, a part of the new accelerator facility FAIR in Darmstadt, Germany. PANDA aims amongst other topics for high precision measurements in hadron spectroscopy and search for exotic matter. To guarantee the high resolution of the different components a detector control system (DCS) monitoring temperatures, humidity, pressure, and controlling chillers and power supplies is needed. The DCS of PANDA is built using the open-source software package EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) with a PANDA specific version of Control-System Studio. In this document the general concepts of the PANDA DCS will be discussed

The Development of Automatic Sequences for the RF and Cryogenic Systems at the Spallation Neutron Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurd, Pamela; Casagrande, Fabio; Mccarthy, Michael; Strong, William; Ganni, Venkatarao

2005-01-01

Automatic sequences both ease the task of operating a complex machine and ensure procedural consistency. At the Spallation Neutron Source project (SNS), a set of automatic sequences have been developed to perform the start up and shut down of the high power RF systems. Similarly, sequences have been developed to perform backfill, pump down, automatic valve control and energy management in the cryogenic system. The sequences run on Linux soft input-output controllers (IOCs), which are similar to ordinary EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) IOCs in terms of data sharing with other EPICS processes, but which share a Linux processor with other such processors. Each sequence waits for a command from an operator console and starts the corresponding set of instructions, allowing operators to follow the sequences either from an overview screen or from detail screens. We describe each system and our operational experience with it.

Implementation of an image acquisition and processing system based on FlexRIO, CameraLink and areaDetector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Esquembri, S.; Ruiz, M. [Instrumentation and Applied Acoustic Research Group, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Madrid (Spain); Barrera, E., E-mail: eduardo.barrera@upm.es [Instrumentation and Applied Acoustic Research Group, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Madrid (Spain); Sanz, D.; Bustos, A. [Instrumentation and Applied Acoustic Research Group, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Madrid (Spain); Castro, R.; Vega, J. [National Fusion Laboratory, CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • The system presented acquires and process images from any CameraLink compliant camera. • The frame grabber implanted with FlexRIO technology have image time stamping and preprocessing capabilities. • The system is integrated into EPICS using areaDetector for a flexible configuration of image the acquisition and processing chain. • Is fully compatible with the architecture of the ITER Fast Controllers. - Abstract: Image processing systems are commonly used in current physics experiments, such as nuclear fusion experiments. These experiments usually require multiple cameras with different resolutions, framerates and, frequently, different software drivers. The integration of heterogeneous types of cameras without a unified hardware and software interface increases the complexity of the acquisition system. This paper presents the implementation of a distributed image acquisition and processing system for CameraLink cameras. This system implements a camera frame grabber using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), a reconfigurable hardware platform that allows for image acquisition and real-time preprocessing. The frame grabber is integrated into Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) using the areaDetector EPICS software module, which offers a common interface shared among tens of cameras to configure the image acquisition and process these images in a distributed control system. The use of areaDetector also allows the image processing to be parallelized and concatenated using: multiple computers; areaDetector plugins; and the areaDetector standard type for data, NDArrays. The architecture developed is fully compatible with ITER Fast Controllers and the entire system has been validated using a camera hardware simulator that stream videos from fusion experiment databases.

Politics in poetry: epic poetry as a critique of Dutch culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.M. Heynders

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This article describes a Dutch volume of epic poetry, using a disciplinary strategy (concepts and devices from narrative studies and a cultural analytical and rhetorical approach. The volume “Roeshoofd hemelt” by Joost Zwagerman (2005 is a political poetic text that raises fundamental questions on issues of mental illness and on consumerism in contemporary Dutch society.

Plans for a Collaboratively Developed Distributed Control System for the Spallation Neutron Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeVan, W.R.; Gurd, D.P.; Hammonds, J.; Lewis, S.A.; Smith, J.D.

1999-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is an accelerator-based pulsed neutron source to be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The facility has five major sections - a ''front end'' consisting of a 65 keV H - ion source followed by a 2.5 MeV RFQ; a 1 GeV linac; a storage ring; a 1MW spallation neutron target (upgradeable to 2 MW); the conventional facilities to support these machines and a suite of neutron scattering instruments to exploit them. These components will be designed and implemented by five collaborating institutions: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Front End), Los Alamos National Laboratory (Linac); Brookhaven National Laboratory (Storage Ring); Argonne National Laboratory (Instruments); and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Neutron Source and Conventional Facilities). It is proposed to implement a fully integrated control system for all aspects of this complex. The system will be developed collaboratively, with some degree of local autonomy for distributed systems, but centralized accountability. Technical integration will be based upon the widely-used EPICS control system toolkit, and a complete set of hardware and software standards. The scope of the integrated control system includes site-wide timing and synchronization, networking and machine protection. This paper discusses the technical and organizational issues of planning a large control system to be developed collaboratively at five different institutions, the approaches being taken to address those issues, as well as some of the particular technical challenges for the SNS control system

Sacrifice and self-sacrifice of Prince Lazar in the national epic from Christian and pagan aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bojanić-Ćirković Mirjana D.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper approaches the motives of sacrifice and self-sacrifice of Prince Lazar as a key to the construction of this epic character. At the beginning, consulting dictionaries and previous research, we determine the terminology and concepts of sacrifice self-sacrifice. Approaching the analysis of these motifs in the epic poems and accepting attitudes about their developmental line that ranges from medieval to folk literature, first search for Christian self-sacrifice. In the final part of the paper we provide a synthesis of Christian and pagan influence on the shaping of Lazarus motif of sacrifice and self-sacrifice with an emphasis on their share, hierarchy and function.

Implementation of epic beaker anatomic pathology at an academic medical center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Larry Blau

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Beaker is a relatively new laboratory information system (LIS offered by Epic Systems Corporation as part of its suite of health-care software and bundled with its electronic medical record, EpicCare. It is divided into two modules, Beaker anatomic pathology (Beaker AP and Beaker Clinical Pathology. In this report, we describe our experience implementing Beaker AP version 2014 at an academic medical center with a go-live date of October 2015. Methods: This report covers preimplementation preparations and challenges beginning in September 2014, issues discovered soon after go-live in October 2015, and some post go-live optimizations using data from meetings, debriefings, and the project closure document. Results: We share specific issues that we encountered during implementation, including difficulties with the proposed frozen section workflow, developing a shared specimen source dictionary, and implementation of the standard Beaker workflow in large institution with trainees. We share specific strategies that we used to overcome these issues for a successful Beaker AP implementation. Several areas of the laboratory-required adaptation of the default Beaker build parameters to meet the needs of the workflow in a busy academic medical center. In a few areas, our laboratory was unable to use the Beaker functionality to support our workflow, and we have continued to use paper or have altered our workflow. In spite of several difficulties that required creative solutions before go-live, the implementation has been successful based on satisfaction surveys completed by pathologists and others who use the software. However, optimization of Beaker workflows has continued to be an ongoing process after go-live to the present time. Conclusions: The Beaker AP LIS can be successfully implemented at an academic medical center but requires significant forethought, creative adaptation, and continued shared management of the ongoing product by

The K2 Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog (EPIC) and Stellar Classifications of 138,600 Targets in Campaigns 1-8

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Daniel; Bryson, Stephen T.; Haas, Michael R.; Barclay, Thomas; Barentsen, Geert; Howell, Steve B.; Sharma, Sanjib; Stello, Dennis; Thompson, Susan E.

2016-05-01

The K2 Mission uses the Kepler spacecraft to obtain high-precision photometry over ≈80 day campaigns in the ecliptic plane. The Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog (EPIC) provides coordinates, photometry, and kinematics based on a federation of all-sky catalogs to support target selection and target management for the K2 mission. We describe the construction of the EPIC, as well as modifications and shortcomings of the catalog. Kepler magnitudes (Kp) are shown to be accurate to ≈0.1 mag for the Kepler field, and the EPIC is typically complete to Kp ≈ 17 (Kp ≈ 19 for campaigns covered by Sloan Digital Sky Survey). We furthermore classify 138,600 targets in Campaigns 1-8 (≈88% of the full target sample) using colors, proper motions, spectroscopy, parallaxes, and galactic population synthesis models, with typical uncertainties for G-type stars of ≈3% in {T}{{eff}}, ≈0.3 dex in {log} g, ≈40% in radius, ≈10% in mass, and ≈40% in distance. Our results show that stars targeted by K2 are dominated by K-M dwarfs (≈41% of all selected targets), F-G dwarfs (≈36%), and K giants (≈21%), consistent with key K2 science programs to search for transiting exoplanets and galactic archeology studies using oscillating red giants. However, we find significant variation of the fraction of cool dwarfs with galactic latitude, indicating a target selection bias due to interstellar reddening and increased contamination by giant stars near the galactic plane. We discuss possible systematic errors in the derived stellar properties, and differences with published classifications for K2 exoplanet host stars. The EPIC is hosted at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST): http://archive.stsci.edu/k2/epic/search.php.

Preliminary design of ECCO: Experimental control system which is cloud oriented

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng, Wei, E-mail: zhengwei@hust.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Hu, Feiran; Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Jing; Wan, Kuanhong; Liu, Qiang; Pan, Yuan; Zhuang, Ge [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • ECCO is a self-organized and de-centralized control system software. • ECCO integrates ECCO-SDD and ECCO-REST.. • ECCO network protocol is based on HTTP protocol and RESTful design practice, implements Hypermedia, automatic discovery, and event. • ECCO is flexible, plug-and-play, and provides a series of unified toolkits. - Abstract: As the development of the Tokamak, the scale of the facility is getting bigger and bigger. It is a great challenge to design, manage and operate a control system of such big scale. So we developed a new control system software: Experimental Control System which is Cloud Oriented (ECCO). ECCO consists two parts, ECCO-SDD and ECCO-REST. ECCO-SDD is used to design, manage and describe the whole control system, configure every subsystem statically. There is a SDD editor which is a human machine interface for control system designer to design by simply drag and drop, and it can be easily extended using plug-in. The ECCO-SDD translator is used to generate different outputs. All the system design and configuration is stored in the MongoDB database using an object relational mapping dedicated designed for ECCO-SDD. ECCO-REST mainly defines a control network protocol based on HTTP RESTful service, it also implements automatic discovery using Zero-configuration (Zeroconf) networking standard. Since this protocol is based on industrial standard and transparent protocol, it is open enough and it can be easily implemented by others. ECCO-REST application is the core of ECCO-REST, it is a cross platform control software running on distributed control units just like the EPICS IOC. It can be extended by user created models. It is configured by human readable JSON file which can be generated by ECCO-SDD translator. ECCO is a self-organized and de-centralized control system software. Based on the same protocol, every part of the system can discover each other, thus the controllers which ECCO-REST application running on can

Preliminary design of ECCO: Experimental control system which is cloud oriented

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Wei; Hu, Feiran; Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Jing; Wan, Kuanhong; Liu, Qiang; Pan, Yuan; Zhuang, Ge

2016-01-01

Highlights: • ECCO is a self-organized and de-centralized control system software. • ECCO integrates ECCO-SDD and ECCO-REST.. • ECCO network protocol is based on HTTP protocol and RESTful design practice, implements Hypermedia, automatic discovery, and event. • ECCO is flexible, plug-and-play, and provides a series of unified toolkits. - Abstract: As the development of the Tokamak, the scale of the facility is getting bigger and bigger. It is a great challenge to design, manage and operate a control system of such big scale. So we developed a new control system software: Experimental Control System which is Cloud Oriented (ECCO). ECCO consists two parts, ECCO-SDD and ECCO-REST. ECCO-SDD is used to design, manage and describe the whole control system, configure every subsystem statically. There is a SDD editor which is a human machine interface for control system designer to design by simply drag and drop, and it can be easily extended using plug-in. The ECCO-SDD translator is used to generate different outputs. All the system design and configuration is stored in the MongoDB database using an object relational mapping dedicated designed for ECCO-SDD. ECCO-REST mainly defines a control network protocol based on HTTP RESTful service, it also implements automatic discovery using Zero-configuration (Zeroconf) networking standard. Since this protocol is based on industrial standard and transparent protocol, it is open enough and it can be easily implemented by others. ECCO-REST application is the core of ECCO-REST, it is a cross platform control software running on distributed control units just like the EPICS IOC. It can be extended by user created models. It is configured by human readable JSON file which can be generated by ECCO-SDD translator. ECCO is a self-organized and de-centralized control system software. Based on the same protocol, every part of the system can discover each other, thus the controllers which ECCO-REST application running on can

The Advanced Photon Source injection timing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenkszus, F.R.; Laird, R.

1995-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source consists of five accelerators. The injection timing system provides the signals required to cause a bunch emitted from the electron gun to navigate through intermediate accelerators to a specific bucket (1 out of 1296) within the storage ring. Two linacs and a positron accumulator ring operate at 60Hz while a booster synchrotron ramps and injects into the storage ring at 2Hz. The distributed, modular VME/VXI-based injection timing system is controlled by two EPICS-based input/output controllers (IOCs). Over 40 VME/VXI cards have been developed to implement the system. Card types range from 352MHz VXI timing modules to VME-based fiber optic fanouts and logic translators/drivers. All timing is distributed with fiber optics. Timing references are derived directly from machine low-level rf of 9.77MHz and 352MHz. The timing references provide triggers to programmable delay generators. Three grades of timing are provided. Precision timing is derived from commercial digital delay generators, intermediate precision timing is obtained from VXI 8-channel digital delay generators which provide timing with 25ns peak-to-peak jitter, and modest precision timing is provided by the APS event system. The timing system is fully integrated into the APS EPICS-based control system

Variability of fish consumption within the 10 European countries participating in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Welch, A.A.; Lund, E.; Amiano, P.

2002-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare the consumption of total fish (marine foods) and the fish sub-groups - white fish, fatty fish, very fatty fish, fish products and crustacea, in participants from the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis...... of dietary intake using a computerised standardised 24-hour recall interview. Crude means, means and standard errors adjusted by age, season and day of the week were calculated, stratified by centre and gender. SETTING: Twenty-seven redefined centres in the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC...... study. SUBJECTS: In total, 35 955 subjects (13 031 men and 22 924 women), aged 35-74 years, selected from the main EPIC cohort. RESULTS: A six- to sevenfold variation in total fish consumption exists in women and men, between the lowest consumption in Germany and the highest in Spain. Overall, white...

EPIC Forest LAI Dataset: LAI estimates generated from the USDA Environmental Policy Impact Climate (EPIC) model (a widely used, field-scale, biogeochemical model) on four forest complexes spanning three physiographic provinces in VA and NC.

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This data depicts calculated and validated LAI estimates generated from the USDA Environmental Policy Impact Climate (EPIC) model (a widely used, field-scale,...

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): study populations and data collection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riboli, E.; Hunt, K.J.; Slimani, N.

2002-01-01

, mostly in liquid nitrogen. To calibrate dietary measurements, a standardised, computer-assisted 24-hour dietary recall was implemented at each centre on stratified random samples of the participants, for a total of 36 900 subjects. EPIC represents the largest single resource available today world...

Applying Service-Oriented Architecture to Archiving Data in Control and Monitoring Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nogiec, J. M. [Fermilab; Trombly-Freytag, K. [Fermilab

2017-01-01

Current trends in the architecture of software systems focus our attention on building systems using a set of loosely coupled components, each providing a specific functionality known as service. It is not much different in control and monitoring systems, where a functionally distinct sub-system can be identified and independently designed, implemented, deployed and maintained. One functionality that renders itself perfectly to becoming a service is archiving the history of the system state. The design of such a service and our experience of using it are the topic of this article. The service is built with responsibility segregation in mind, therefore, it provides for reducing data processing on the data viewer side and separation of data access and modification operations. The service architecture and the details concerning its data store design are discussed. An implementation of a service client capable of archiving EPICS process variables (PV) and LabVIEW shared variables is presented. Data access tools, including a browser-based data viewer and a mobile viewer, are also presented.

Coffee Drinking and Mortality in Ten European Countries – the EPIC Study

Science.gov (United States)

Gunter, Marc J.; Murphy, Neil; Cross, Amanda J.; Dossus, Laure; Dartois, Laureen; Fagherazzi, Guy; Kaaks, Rudolf; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Aleksandrova, Krasimira; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Overvad, Kim; Larsen, Sofus Christian; Cornejo, Maria Luisa Redondo; Agudo, Antonio; Pérez, María José Sánchez; Altzibar, Jone M; Navarro, Carmen; Ardanaz, Eva; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Butterworth, Adam; Bradbury, Kathryn E; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Palli, Domenico; Grioni, Sara; Vineis, Paolo; Panico, Salvatore; Tumino, Rosario; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas; Siersema, Peter; Leenders, Max; Beulens, Joline WJ; Uiterwaal, Cuno U; Wallström, Peter; Nilsson, Lena Maria; Landberg, Rikard; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Skeie, Guri; Braaten, Tonje; Brennan, Paul; Licaj, Idlir; Muller, David C; Sinha, Rashmi; Wareham, Nick; Riboli, Elio

2018-01-01

Background How coffee consumption relates to mortality in diverse European populations, with variable coffee preparation methods and customs, is unclear. Objectives To examine whether coffee consumption is associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in men and women. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Ten European countries. Participants A total of 521,330 men and women enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Main outcome measure Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals(CIs) estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. The association of coffee with serum biomarkers of liver function, inflammation, and metabolic health was evaluated in the EPIC Biomarkers sub-cohort (n=14,800). Results During a mean follow-up of 16.4 years, 41,693 deaths occurred. Compared with non-consumers, participants in the highest quartile of coffee consumption experienced statistically significant lower all-cause mortality (Men: HR=0.88, 95%CI: 0.82–0.95; P-trendcoffee and circulatory disease mortality, (HR=0.78, 95%CI: 0.68–0.90; P-trendcoffee and ovarian cancer mortality (HR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02–1.23 P-trend 0.001). In the EPIC-biomarkers sub-cohort, higher coffee consumption was associated with lower serum alkaline phosphatase, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and C-reactive protein. Limitation Reverse causality may have led to spurious findings; however, results did not differ following exclusion of participants who died within 8-years of baseline. The study is also limited by a single assessment of coffee drinking habits at baseline. Conclusions These results confirm prior findings on the reduced risk of mortality associated with coffee drinking but additionally show that this relationship does not vary by country where coffee preparation and drinking habits may differ. The study also reports novel inverse relationships between coffee drinking and digestive disease

Development status of data acquisition system for IFMIF/EVEDA accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usami, Hiroki; Takahashi, Hiroki; Komukai, Satoshi

2015-01-01

EU and JAEA are advancing development of Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) control system jointly, but JAEA keeps developing central control system (CCS) mainly. Data transfer during an equipment control system of CCS and EU is performed through EPICS. JAEA is using PostgreSQL as 1 of development elements in CCS and is advancing development of the system to record the whole EPICS data of LIPAc (the data acquisition system). On the other hand, a data acquisition is performed using BEAUTY (Best Ever Archive Toolset, yet) in an element test of equipment at Europe. Therefore '1 client refers to collected data by more than one server machine' with 'compatibility securement of data with BEAUTY' in case of development of the data acquisition system of CCS, and, it's necessary to consider 'To do a data acquisition and backup work at the same time.' For the moment, former 2 are in progress. And a demonstration of the data acquisition system is being performed simultaneously with commissioning in injector. The data acquisition system is collecting data of injector other ones, and the data reference by a monitor with CSS (Control System Studio) is also possible. We will report on the current state of the development of the data acquisition system by making reference to a result of the test by injector commissioning. (author)

[Dietary habits and cancer: the experience of EPIC-Italy].

Science.gov (United States)

Sieri, Sabina; Agnoli, Claudia; Pala, Valeria; Mattiello, Amalia; Panico, Salvatore; Masala, Giovanna; Assedi, Melania; Tumino, Rosario; Frasca, Graziella; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Vineis, Paolo; Krogh, Vittorio

2015-01-01

to investigate hypothesised relationships between diet and cancer by assessing diet as a whole, in the Italian cohort EPIC. multicentric prospective study. 47,749 volunteers were recruited between 1993 and 1998 in the centres of Varese and Turin (Northern Italy), Florence (Central Italy), Naples and Ragusa (Southern Italy). Information on diet and lifestyle were collected through validated questionnaires. Anthropometric measurements were taken and biological samples collected using standardised protocols. follow-up was carried out by accessing regional cancer and mortality registries, hospital discharge records, and by telephone inquiries (only for Naples). After a median follow-up of 11 years, 879 incident cases of breast cancer, 421 cases of colorectal cancer, and 152 deaths were identified. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to estimate risks in relation to dietary characteristics. the "Olive oil & Salad" dietary pattern, characterised by high consumption of raw vegetables and olive oil, was associated with a lower risk of overall mortality in the elderly. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fruit was associated with reduced risk of colon cancer. Consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates was associated with higher incidence of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Reduced risk of colon cancer was also found in regular consumers of yoghurt. the accuracy and comprehensiveness of EPIC-Italy data made it possible to investigate both individual dietary components and dietary habits as a whole, to thereby provide Italians with dietary and lifestyle advice that will help them to remain healthy.

Development and Validation of WebQuests in Teaching Epics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronald Candy Santos Lasaten

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Using the Research Development (R&D methodology, the study aimed to develop and validate WebQuests which can be used in literature subjects, particularly in the tertiary level to address the need of literature teachers for pedagogy in the teaching of epic s. The development of the Web Quests was anchored on the Theory of Constructivism. Two groups of experts validated the Web Quests – the literature experts and the ICT experts. The Content Validation Checklist, used by the literature experts, was utilized t o evaluate the content of the Web Quests. Meanwhile, the Rubric for Evaluating Web Quests, used by the ICT experts, was utilized to evaluate the design characteristics of the Web Quests. Computed weighted means using range interval of point scores were emp loyed to treat the data gathered from the evaluation conducted by both group of experts. The Web Quests developed contain five major parts which include: 1 introduction; 2 task; 3 process; 4 evaluation; and 5 conclusion. Based on the findings, the con tent of the Web Quests developed are valid in terms of objectives, activities and instructional characteristics. Likewise, the design characteristics of the Web Quests are excellent in terms of introductions, tasks, processes, resources, evaluations, concl usions and overall designs. Thus, the Web Quests developed are acceptable and can be utilized as instructional materials by literature teachers in the teaching of epics.

Estimation of Leaf Area Index and its Sunlit Portion from DSCOVR EPIC data

Science.gov (United States)

Knyazikhin, Y.; Yang, B.; Mottus, M.; Rautiainen, M.; Stenberg, P.; Yan, L.; Chen, C.; Yan, K.; Park, T.; Myneni, R. B.; Song, W.

2016-12-01

The NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission was launched on February 11, 2015 to the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L1 point where it began to collect radiance data of the entire sunlit Earth at 16 km resolution (in equatorial zone) every 65 to 110 min in June 2015. It provides imageries in near backscattering directions with the scattering angle between 168o and 176o at ten UV to Near-IR narrow spectral bands centered at 317.5 (band width 1.0) nm, 325.0 (1.0) nm, 340.0 (3.0) nm, 388.0 (3.0) nm, 433.0 (3.0) nm, 551.0 (3.0) nm, 680.0 (1.7) nm, 687.8 (0.6) nm, 764.0 (1.7) nm and 779.5 (2.0) nm. This poster presents the theoretical basis of the algorithm designed for the generation of leaf area index (LAI) and diurnal course of sunlit leaf area index (SLAI) from EPIC Bidirectional Reflectance Factor of vegetated land. LAI and SLAI are defined as the total hemi-surface and sunlit leaf semi-surface per unit ground area. Whereas LAI is a standard product of many satellite the SLAI is a new satellite-derived parameter. Sunlit and shaded leaves exhibit different radiative response to incident Photosynthetically Active Radiation (400-700 nm), which in turn triggers various physiological and physical processes required for the functioning of plants. Leaf area and its sunlit portion are key state parameters in most ecosystem productivity and carbon/nitrogen cycle. Status of the EPIC LAI/SLAI product and its validation strategy are also discussed in this poster.

EPIC: A Testbed for Scientifically Rigorous Cyber-Physical Security Experimentation

OpenAIRE

SIATERLIS CHRISTOS; GENGE BELA; HOHENADEL MARC

2013-01-01

Recent malware, like Stuxnet and Flame, constitute a major threat to Networked Critical Infrastructures (NCIs), e.g., power plants. They revealed several vulnerabilities in today's NCIs, but most importantly they highlighted the lack of an efficient scientific approach to conduct experiments that measure the impact of cyber threats on both the physical and the cyber parts of NCIs. In this paper we present EPIC, a novel cyber-physical testbed and a modern scientific instrument that can pr...

A flexible and testable software architecture: applying presenter first to a device server for the DOOCS accelerator control system of the European XFEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckmann, A.; Karabekyan, S.; Pflüger, J.

2012-01-01

Presenter First (PF) uses a variant of Model View Presenter design pattern to add implementation flexibility and to improve testability of complex event-driven applications. It has been introduced in the context of GUI applications, but can easily be adapted to server applications. This paper describes how Presenter First methodology is used to develop a device server for the Programmable Logic Controls (PLC) of the European XFEL undulator systems, which are Windows PCs running PLC software from Beckhoff. The server implements a ZeroMQ message interface to the PLC allowing the DOOCS accelerator control system of the European XFEL to exchange data with the PLC by sending messages over the network. Our challenge is to develop a well-tested device server with a flexible architecture that allows integrating the server into other accelerator control systems like EPICS. (author)

EPICS GPIB device support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winans, J.

1993-01-01

A GPIB device support module is used to provide access to the operating parameters of a GPIB device. GPIB devices may be accessed via National Instruments 1014 cards or via Bitbus Universal Gateways. GPIB devices typically have many parameters, each of which may be thought of in terms of the standard types of database records available in EPICS. It is the job of the device support module designer to decide how the mapping of these parameters will be made to the available record types. Once this mapping is complete, the device support module may be written. The writing of the device support module consists primarily of the construction of a parameter table. This table is used to associate the database record types with the operating parameters of the GPIB instrument. Other aspects of module design include the handling of SRQ events and errors. SRQ events are made available to the device support module if so desired. The processing of an SRQ event is completely up to the designer of the module. They may be ignored, tied to event based record processing, or anything else the designer wishes. Error conditions may be handled in a similar fashion

Retrieving Smoke Aerosol Height from DSCOVR/EPIC

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, X.; Wang, J.; Wang, Y.

2017-12-01

Unlike industrial pollutant particles that are often confined within the planetary boundary layer, smoke from forest and agriculture fires can inject massive carbonaceous aerosols into the upper troposphere due to the intense pyro-convection. Sensitivity of weather and climate to absorbing carbonaceous aerosols is regulated by the altitude of those aerosol layers. However, aerosol height information remains limited from passive satellite sensors. Here we present an algorithm to estimate smoke aerosol height from radiances in the oxygen A and B bands measured by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) from the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). With a suit of case studies and validation efforts, we demonstrate that smoke aerosol height can be well retrieved over both ocean and land surfaces multiple times daily.

Experience with ActiveX control for simple channel access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timossi, C.; Nishimura, H.; McDonald, J.

2003-01-01