EPICS COMMUNITY & PARTICIPATION
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 such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large scientific experiments. For more information on EPICS, we encourage you to visit the Argonne National Laboratory EPICS website.
ZTEC has included an embedded EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC) in each of our EPICS LXI instruments. This IOC provides fully functional Process Variables (PVs), right out of the box. This means you can begin developing right away, there is no down time waiting for an engineer to develop custom drivers and no external controller is required.
ZTEC EPICS oscilloscope's PVs support all instrument functions. With over 900 PVs, the EPICS oscilloscopes may be controlled and monitored completely via EPICS and Channel Access (CA). Users of the EPICS oscilloscopes can modify the PV database file of each oscilloscope to better fit their application requirements. For example, the PV prefix can be modified to meet local PV naming conventions. Also, by EPICS convention, it is necessary to modify the PV prefixes anytime more than one EPICS oscilloscope is on a single network so that each instrument has unique PV names. The PV database file can also be modified to include specialized forward links (FLNKs) and fanout PVs to perform special EPICS functions in a system.
EDM & MEDM Extensions
ZTEC engineers have developed instrument control panels using two well established EPICS extensions, Extensible Display Manager (EDM) and Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM). These control panels act as a starting point for our EPICS users to begin using their instrument with little to no custom development. They also provide a powerful troubleshooting tool to work with the instrument, allowing the user to verify settings, operation and communication within the EPICS environment.
EPICS News
ZTEC Introduces Upgraded LXI M-Class Oscilloscopes with Embedded EPICS IOC
NEW YORK, New York - Particle Accelerator Conference - March 28, 2011 - ZTEC Instruments today at the 2011 Particle Accelerator Conference announced upgrades to the ZTEC LXI M-Class oscilloscopes for monitoring and data acquisition applications in particle acceleration. Upgrades to the LXI platform include Gigabit LAN and faster processing, along with data downloads to save time by improving responsiveness and data transfer rates. Upgrades to the ZTEC Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) input/output controller (IOC) include improved waveform updates and additional, user-configurable environment variables, making it easier for engineers to get their systems up and running faster. Using an M-Class PXI oscilloscope, or an LXI oscilloscope with an integrated EPICS IOC, such as a ZT4400 Series oscilloscope, engineers and scientists can accurately monitor a particle accelerator and collect reliable, precise, experimental data on-site, or via remote acquisition. Continue reading ...
CASE STUDIES
Oak Ridge National Lab
Oak Ridge National Lab's Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) has evaluated the EPICS oscilloscopes for use in real-time monitoring of injection and extraction kicker waveforms for machine protection. The oscilloscopes capture the kicker waveforms and compare it in real-time to a pre-defined waveform mask consisting of upper and lower limits for the waveform. If the acquired waveform falls within the upper and lower mask limits, the oscilloscope outputs a pulse indicating to the SNS machine protection system that the waveform is within the allowed range. The oscilloscope then re-arms for the next kicker waveform occurring at a rate of 60Hz. The instruments are completely controlled and monitored remotely using EPICS.
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS) also uses ZTECs EPICS oscilloscopes for remote monitoring of various beam position monitors, kicker waveforms and klystron signals around the machine. ALS determined that the ZTEC EPICS oscilloscopes are time and cost-effective because they easily integrate into their EPICS control system and they do not have to create their own EPICS drivers.
