EPICS

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EPICS 7

EPICS logo svg.svg
Basic data

developer Free software movement
Publishing year January 19, 1994
Current  version 3.15.8
(May 15, 2020)
Current preliminary version 7.0.4
(May 28, 2020)
operating system Platform independence
category Open source
License EPICS Open License
https://epics-controls.org/

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System ( EPICS ) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement a process control system for operating devices such as particle accelerators , telescopes and other large-scale experiments . The tools are designed to aid in the development of systems, often with large numbers of computer networks providing control and feedback.

history

EPICS was founded in 1988 by Bob Dalesio, Jeff Hill et al. Developed as a Ground Test Accelerator Controls System (GTACS) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In 1989 Marty Kraimer from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) joined the GTA control team for 6 months and brought his experience from his work on the Advanced Photon Source (APS) control system to the project. The resulting software was renamed EPICS and presented in 1991 at the International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems (ICALEPCS). EPICS was originally available under a commercial license, with expanded versions being sold by Tate & Kinetic Systems. The licenses for employees were free, but required a legal agreement with LANL and APS. An EPICS community was formed and development grew as more institutions joined the collaboration. In February 2004, after its release, EPICS became freely distributable under the EPICS Open License. Today it is used and developed by over 50 major scientific institutions worldwide as well as by several commercial companies.

architecture

EPICS uses the client-server model and publish / subscribe techniques for communication between computers. The " input / output controllers" (IOCs) collect experiment and control data in real time with the measuring devices connected to them. This information is then made available to clients via high bandwidth Channel Access (CA) or the recently added pvAccess network protocol, which are designed for real-time computer applications such as scientific experiments.

IOCs maintain and maintain a database of "records" representing either devices or aspects of the devices being controlled. They can either be hosted by standard servers or PCs, or by VME or MicroTCA standard embedded system processors. For 'hard real-time' applications, the RTEMS or VxWorks operating systems are generally used, while 'soft real-time' applications run under Linux or Microsoft Windows .

Data stored in the logs database is represented by unique identifiers called process variables (PVs). These PVs are accessible through the channels provided by the Channel Access Network Protocol.

Database records are available for different types of inputs and outputs (e.g. analog or binary) or to provide different functional behavior, e.g. B. a calculation protocol available. It is also possible to create custom record types. Each record consists of a series of fields that contain its data and determine its behavior. Most record types are listed in the EPICS Reference Manual.

There are graphical user interface packages available, which show users PV data on typical display widgets such as faces and text boxes and interact with them. Examples are the aging MEDM ( Motif based Editor & Display Manager), as well as its further developments EDM (Extensible Display Manager) and the Qt- based & file-compatible QtDM. and CS-Studio (Phoebus)

Any software that implements the CA / pvAccess protocol can read and write PV values. Extension packages are available to provide support for MATLAB , LabVIEW , Perl , Python , Tcl , ActiveX, etc. These can be used to write scripts that interact with EPICS controlled devices.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AJ Kozubal, DM Kerstiens, JO Hill, LR Dalesio: Run-time environment and application tools for the ground test accelerator control system . In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment . tape 293 , no. 1-2 , 1990, pp. 288-291 , doi : 10.1016 / 0168-9002 (90) 91446-I (English, elsevier.com ).
  2. ^ EPICS Architecture. In: EPICS - Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System. Retrieved May 13, 2020 .
  3. ↑ EPICS Open License. In: EPICS - Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System. Retrieved May 13, 2020 .
  4. ↑ caQtDM - a medm replacement based on QT. In: caQtDM - a medm replacement based on QT. Retrieved May 13, 2020 .
  5. ↑ CS-Studio (Phoebus). In: CS-Studio (Phoebus). Retrieved May 13, 2020 .