Beam line control

In collaboration with the optics (WP73), diagnostics (WP74), beam line scientists (WP8x) and other XFEL groups, control hardware needed for commissioning and operating beam lines and experiments is defined. The software, and occasionally firmware, needed to interface hardware to the control system is organized by WP76.

Contact person

Nicola Coppola

The longer term aims of the contact person are:
- to hold a weekly meeting to ensure that information is exchanged between WP76 and all WPs wishing to integrate equipment to the control system
- to ensure that the control interface defined between WP76 and all WPs ( WP71, WP73, WP74, WP8x...) is enforced
- creation of list of supported devices and definition of the software needed to control them (PLC, firmware, driver et al), which includes a precise definition of the logic for interlocks, etc;
- coordination and planning of test setup equipment (or in the future experimental devices and instruments).
- maintain lists of equipment in use, supported, etc.

Definition of the WP76's interface to beam line devices

The interface to beam line equipment (motors, vacuum pumps, cameras, valves, etc.) is through the hardware used to control the device, and WP76 provides control side software and, occasionally, firmware required to control, readout, monitor, and archive the hardware used. The choice of device to purchase is made after inter group discussion with WP76 has clarified that the equipment is compatible with the control system and that any WP76 side s/w and f/w needed can be provided within the manpower and financial resources available. Note that the interface hardware is budgeted by the requesting group as is any hardware controlled by the interface.

In order to simplify information exchange a weekly meeting chaired by the WP76 beam line contact person is held as described in detail below. The minutes of the meetings can be found in the archive of the mailing list.

Weekly meeting

We usually meet on Tuesday at 9:30 in the open space on the second floor 2.26.

The purpose of the meeting is to exchange information concerning the development of the beam line control at XFEL. This meeting is an opportunity to understand what people require, to understand whether it need be integrated, what requirements exist, etc. It is particularly important that discussion be held at an early stage as it has direct consequences regarding purchasing policy described below.

Anybody interested in creating a test setup for small instrumentations that is going to be included in the photon beamlines at XFEL is welcome.

There is a moderated mailing list xfel-wp76-hw-to-daq-integration. Please subscribe yourself, if you want, sending a mail to
sympa AT desy.de
with
subscribe xfel-wp76-hw-to-daq-integration
in the subject.

If you have problems with the above instructions, please send an email to Nicola Coppola and he will add you manually.

This mailing list is a standard DESY one. Each message that is sent to it is archived.
To read all emails (including the minutes) sent to the mailing list log in at https://lists.desy.de/sympa/lists (you can create yourself an account and it does not need to have the same password as your personal DESY account, follow instruction explained there) and navigate to the mailing list folder. Otherwise you can go directy to xfel-wp76-hw-to-daq-integration archive.

Purchasing hardware work flow and Procurement vetting policy

To avoid unnecessary inter group aggravation remember the following:

- All relevant interfacing information about any devices with electronics interface to be integrated into the beam line and instrument control system should be made known to Nicola before a purchase request is dispatched to procurement.

- The weekly beam line hardware-DAQ meeting should be used to discuss large critical items (e.g. motor control, ion pumps, cameras, vacuum pump trolleys...)

- Standard components should be handled in a streamlined procedure: email plus link to documentation, with additional discussion if required.

and follow the work flow listed below:

1) decide what you want to buy
2) gather user manuals, links to documentation and, if separate, documentation about software and/or computer to device protocol(s)
3) describe shortly things like:
    why would you like to purchase such a device?
    where would it be inserted?
    how would you control it?
4) describe and discuss large items at the weekly meeting, or use the streamlined procedure for small items
5) if everybody is happy, then order, if not then discuss at a higher level

It will always help the process if you yourself gather the documentations and links and together with the reasons why you would like to buy it (as in point 3 above) and send a mail to Nicola Coppola together with all other possible boundary informations, instead of just sending a purchase request to the procurament group, knowing that they will ask the proper person the items to be vetted.
Please, do not rely on our capability of reading a scanned copy of an offer with specification in tiny fonts, copy the interesting sentences or keywords in the mail the documentation is attached to.

As always, there is a temptation not to discuss items to be purchase and quickly fire off an equipment order. To ensure that this does not circumvent the above definition of responsibilities, the procurement group at XFEL is required to send the purchase order to WP76 before proceeding. What is vetted and what is not vetted is listed in the vetting definition note sent to Procurement. Please do not think that this is directed at you personally, instead remember that it applies to all WPs.

The list of devices which are supported is relatively short at the moment. Choosing an item from the list to purchase is likely not to require long discussion, but there are occasions when even listed items are no longer the best choice - the golden rule is: discuss!

List of devices

The list of devices which are supported is found here. The note includes important details which may limit the support.

What is needed is a better way of showing the list of supported devices, the list of all devices known to have been purchased, etc. and to allowing sensible searches, etc. to be made on these. For now the list of "known to be" supported devices is shown in the table below followed by a table of "in the pipeline devices".

List of supported devices

List of devices in the pipeline

Beam line infrastructure

Infrastructure agreed to at the beginning of 2010 is summarized here. It needs updating!

Chronologically ordered link list (incomplete!!)

• Note 26Jan2011 here