ICALEPCS2023 - List of Authors (Finch, I.D.)

Paper	Title	Page
TUMBCMO08	Extending Phoebus Data Browser to Alternative Data Sources	355
	M. Romanovschi, I.D. Finch, G.D. Howells STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, United Kingdom
	The Phoebus user interface to EPICS is an integral part of the new control system for the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source accelerators and targets. Phoebus can use the EPICS Archiver Appliance, which has been deployed as part of the transition to EPICS, to display the history of PVs. However, ISIS data has and continues to be stored in the InfluxDB time series database. To enable access to this data, a Python application to interface between Phoebus and other databases has been developed. Our implementation utilises Quart, an asynchronous web framework, to allow multiple simultaneous data requests. Google Protocol Buffer, natively supported by Phoebus, is used for communication between Phoebus and the database. By employing subclassing, our system can in principle adapt to different databases, allowing flexibility and extensibility. Our open-source approach enhances Phoebus’s capabilities, enabling the community to integrate it within a wider range of applications.
	Slides TUMBCMO08 [0.799 MB]
	Poster TUMBCMO08 [0.431 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TUMBCMO08
About •	Received ※ 06 October 2023 — Revised ※ 12 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 21 November 2023 — Issued ※ 14 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TUPDP108	Progress of the EPICS Transition at the Isis Accelerators	817
	I.D. Finch, B.R. Aljamal, K.R.L. Baker, R. Brodie, J.-L. Fernández-Hernando, G.D. Howells, M.F. Leputa, S.A. Medley, M. Romanovschi STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, United Kingdom A. Kurup Imperial College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, London, United Kingdom
	The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source accelerators have been controlled using Vsystem running on OpenVMS / Itaniums, while beamlines and instruments are controlled using EPICS. We outline the work in migrating accelerator controls to EPICS using the PVAccess protocol with a mixture of conventional EPICS IOCs and custom Python-based IOCs primarily deployed in containers on Linux servers. The challenges in maintaining operations with two control systems running in parallel are discussed, including work in migrating data archives and maintaining their continuity. Semi-automated conversion of the existing Vsystem HMIs to EPICS and the creation of new EPICS control screens required by the Target Station 1 upgrade are reported. The existing organisation of our controls network and the constraints this imposes on remote access via EPICS and the solution implemented are described. The successful deployment of an end-to-end EPICS system to control the post-upgrade Target Station 1 PLCs at ISIS is discussed as a highlight of the migration.
	Poster TUPDP108 [0.510 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TUPDP108
About •	Received ※ 02 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 04 December 2023 — Issued ※ 17 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

WE2BCO04	Maintaining a Hybrid Control System at ISIS with a Vsystem/EPICS Bridge	986
	K.R.L. Baker, I.D. Finch, M. Romanovschi STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, United Kingdom
	The migration of the controls system for the ISIS accelerator from Vsystem to EPICS presents a significant challenge and risk to day-to-day operations. To minimise this impact throughout the transition, a software bridge between the two control systems has been developed that allows the phased porting of HMIs and hardware. The hybrid Vsystem and EPICS system also allows the continued use of existing feedback control applications that now require interaction between both control systems, for example the halo steering operation in Target Station 1. This work describes the implementation of this bridge, referred to as PVEcho, for the mapping of Vsystem channels to EPICS PVs and vice versa. The position within the wider ISIS controls software stack is outlined as well as how it utilises Python libraries for EPICS. Finally, we will discuss the software development practices applied that have allowed the bridge to run reliably for months at a time.
	Slides WE2BCO04 [2.757 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-WE2BCO04
About •	Received ※ 05 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 08 December 2023 — Issued ※ 11 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

Paper

Title

Page

Extending Phoebus Data Browser to Alternative Data Sources

355

M. Romanovschi, I.D. Finch, G.D. Howells
STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, United Kingdom

The Phoebus user interface to EPICS is an integral part of the new control system for the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source accelerators and targets. Phoebus can use the EPICS Archiver Appliance, which has been deployed as part of the transition to EPICS, to display the history of PVs. However, ISIS data has and continues to be stored in the InfluxDB time series database. To enable access to this data, a Python application to interface between Phoebus and other databases has been developed. Our implementation utilises Quart, an asynchronous web framework, to allow multiple simultaneous data requests. Google Protocol Buffer, natively supported by Phoebus, is used for communication between Phoebus and the database. By employing subclassing, our system can in principle adapt to different databases, allowing flexibility and extensibility. Our open-source approach enhances Phoebus’s capabilities, enabling the community to integrate it within a wider range of applications.

Slides TUMBCMO08 [0.799 MB]

Poster TUMBCMO08 [0.431 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TUMBCMO08

About •

Received ※ 06 October 2023 — Revised ※ 12 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 21 November 2023 — Issued ※ 14 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TUPDP108

Progress of the EPICS Transition at the Isis Accelerators

817

I.D. Finch, B.R. Aljamal, K.R.L. Baker, R. Brodie, J.-L. Fernández-Hernando, G.D. Howells, M.F. Leputa, S.A. Medley, M. Romanovschi
STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, United Kingdom
A. Kurup
Imperial College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, London, United Kingdom

The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source accelerators have been controlled using Vsystem running on OpenVMS / Itaniums, while beamlines and instruments are controlled using EPICS. We outline the work in migrating accelerator controls to EPICS using the PVAccess protocol with a mixture of conventional EPICS IOCs and custom Python-based IOCs primarily deployed in containers on Linux servers. The challenges in maintaining operations with two control systems running in parallel are discussed, including work in migrating data archives and maintaining their continuity. Semi-automated conversion of the existing Vsystem HMIs to EPICS and the creation of new EPICS control screens required by the Target Station 1 upgrade are reported. The existing organisation of our controls network and the constraints this imposes on remote access via EPICS and the solution implemented are described. The successful deployment of an end-to-end EPICS system to control the post-upgrade Target Station 1 PLCs at ISIS is discussed as a highlight of the migration.

Poster TUPDP108 [0.510 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TUPDP108

About •

Received ※ 02 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 04 December 2023 — Issued ※ 17 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

WE2BCO04

Maintaining a Hybrid Control System at ISIS with a Vsystem/EPICS Bridge

986

K.R.L. Baker, I.D. Finch, M. Romanovschi
STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, United Kingdom

The migration of the controls system for the ISIS accelerator from Vsystem to EPICS presents a significant challenge and risk to day-to-day operations. To minimise this impact throughout the transition, a software bridge between the two control systems has been developed that allows the phased porting of HMIs and hardware. The hybrid Vsystem and EPICS system also allows the continued use of existing feedback control applications that now require interaction between both control systems, for example the halo steering operation in Target Station 1. This work describes the implementation of this bridge, referred to as PVEcho, for the mapping of Vsystem channels to EPICS PVs and vice versa. The position within the wider ISIS controls software stack is outlined as well as how it utilises Python libraries for EPICS. Finally, we will discuss the software development practices applied that have allowed the bridge to run reliably for months at a time.

Slides WE2BCO04 [2.757 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-WE2BCO04

About •

Received ※ 05 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 08 December 2023 — Issued ※ 11 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)