RIKEN Accel. Prog. Rep. 50 (2017)

Ⅱ-8. Accelerator

Improvements of the RIBF control system
M. Komiyama,䠆1 A. Uchiyama,䠆1 M. Fujimaki,䠆1 N. Fukunishi,䠆1 and M. Hamanaka䠆2We report on two improvements of the RIBF controlsystem. One is the completion of update of an agedcontroller, DIM,1) used in the RILAC control system, while
the other is an improvement of the alarm system to support
stable beam delivery during a long-term experiment.
In the RIBF control system, various types of old and newcontrollers are mixed for interfacing with each controlledobject used in the RIBF accelerator complex. Because thesupply of many parts used in these old controllers has been
terminated, we have been successively replacing the oldcontrollers with new ones every year. Especially, the DIM
module, an in-house controller developed for beamdiagnostic equipment, vacuum systems and magnet power
supplies in our old facility, is the oldest controller in theRIBF control system. Hence, we have been replacing DIM
with N-DIM2), an in-house controller newly developed as asuccessor to DIM in 2003. As a result, most of the DIMs
have been updated to N-DIMs up to last year. However, wefound a problem in the data acquisition of the program usedin the N-DIM system last year. After refurbishment of theprogram and repeated operation tests, we confirmed thenormal operation of N-DIMs early in this year.
Subsequently, we updated the remaining DIMs used forcontrolling the magnet power supplies of the RILAC
accelerator complex to N-DIMs this summer. Consequently,
the update of all the DIMs in the RILAC control system
was completed, which results in a reduction of the numberof the CAMAC crate controllers used in RIBF from 6 to 5.
The model of the CAMAC crate controller in use3) is notavailable commercially now and we should terminate its
operation with DIM as soon as possible. N-DIM, when used
as a controller of magnet power supplies, needs a slightly
longer response time than DIM, even after recent updates ofthe program handling procedures of post-monitoring andthe analysis of the network packet of N-DIM this year. We
have not completely overcome the response-speed problem,and further improvements are needed.
The second improvement is related to hardware protection
under high-intensity operations of the RIBF accelerator
complex frequently performed in the past few years.
Because the present typical beam intensity causes heat loads
much higher than the allowable values for components usedin the accelerators, malfunction and hardware troubles of
the control system may seriously damage the hardware.
Therefore, the malfunction of equipment should be detected
as soon as possible, and when a problem occurs during anexperiment, the operator is required to fix its cause and, ifpossible, remove it immediately. Therefore, we have started
to upgrade the existing alarm system, which covers only
䠆1
䠆2

some components of the ion source. We newly installed adistributed alarm system, the Best Ever Alarm SystemToolkit (BEAST)4) based on the Control System Studio(CSS)5) platform. The BEAST was chosen taking into
account the future extension of the CSS at the RIBF control
system instead of upgrading the existing Alarm Handler6).
As the first step of the alarm system upgrade, the vacuum
status of the entire RIBF accelerator complex, including thestatus of vacuum pumps, gate valves, and vacuum pressures,
was registered in the BEAST. The BEAST outputs awarning signal when the opening-closing status of a valvechanges, a vacuum pump stops, or a change of vacuum
pressure higher than its pre-determined limit is detected. Inaddition, the difference between the set and read-back valueof the excitation currents of all the magnet power suppliesof the RIBF accelerator complex was registered in theBEAST. The BEAST outputs a warning signal when theratio of the read-back current value to the set value is lessthan 50%. We registered approximately 700 signals in theBEAST, and its test operation was started in April 2016.
Toward more efficient operation, we are now investigating
how to set the optimal alarm criterion patterns for eachexperiment in the BEAST. Since there are 65 beam
operation patterns with different combinations of ion
sources, accelerators, and experimental vaults, it isnecessary to activate signals relevant to the experiment ofrunning at a particular time.
References
1) K. Shimizu et al., Proc. Cyclotrons ’84, (1984), p. 392.
2) M. Fujimaki et al., RIKEN Accel. Prog. Rep. 37, 279 (2004).
3) http://www-online.kek.jp/~yasu/Parallel-CAMAC/
4) https://github.com/ControlSystemStudio/cs-studio/wiki/BEAST
5) http://controlsystemstudio.org/
6) http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/extensions/alh/

RIKEN Nishina Center
SHI Accelerator Service Ltd.

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