TY - CONF AU - Gopalan, V.K. AU - Barnes, A.I. AU - Estes, C.M. AU - Fisher, J.M. AU - Hernandez, V.J. AU - Kale, P. AU - Pao, A. AU - Singh, P.K. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - Embedded Controller Software Development Best Practices at the National Ignition Facility J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - Software development practices such as continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) are widely adopted by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) which helps to automate the software development, build, test, and deployment processes. However, using CI/CD in an embedded controller project poses several challenges due to the limited computing resources such as processing power, memory capacity and storage availability in such systems. This paper will present how CI/CD best practices were tailored and used to develop and deploy software for one of the NIF Master Oscillator Room (MOR) embedded controllers, which is based on custom designed hardware consisting of a microcontroller and a variety of laser sensors and drivers. The approach included the use of automated testing frameworks, customized build scripts, simulation environments, and an optimized build and deployment pipeline, leading to quicker release cycles, improved quality assurance and quicker defect correction. The paper will also detail the challenges faced during the development and deployment phases and the strategies used to overcome them. The experience gained with this methodology on a pilot project demonstrated that using CI/CD in embedded controller projects can be challenging, yet feasible with the right tools and strategies, and has the potential to be scaled and applied to the vast number of embedded controllers in the NIF control system. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 54 EP - 60 KW - controls KW - embedded KW - software KW - hardware KW - interface DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-MO2BCO06 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/mo2bco06.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Patel, B.P. AU - Awwal, A.A.S. AU - Fedorov, M. AU - Leach Jr., R.R. AU - Lowe-Webb, R.R. AU - Miller Kamm, V.J. AU - Singh, P.K. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - Path to Ignition at National Ignition Facility (NIF): The Role of the Automated Alignment System J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - The historical breakthrough experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) produced fusion ignition in a laboratory for the first time and made headlines around the world. This achievement was the result of decades of research, thousands of people, and hardware and software systems that rivaled the complexity of anything built before. The NIF laser Automatic Alignment (AA) system has played a major role in this accomplishment. Each high yield shot in the NIF laser system requires all 192 laser beams to arrive at the target within 30 picoseconds and be aligned within 50 microns-half the diameter of human hair-all with the correct wavelength and energy. AA makes it possible to align and fire the 192 NIF laser beams efficiently and reliably several times a day. AA is built on multiple layers of complex calculations and algorithms that implement data and image analysis to position optical devices in the beam path in a highly accurate and repeatable manner through the controlled movement of about 66,000 control points. The system was designed to have minimum or no human intervention. This paper will describe AA’s evolution, its role in ignition, and future modernization. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 138 EP - 144 KW - alignment KW - laser KW - target KW - controls KW - operation DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-MO3AO05 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/mo3ao05.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Vaher, J.L. AU - Brunton, G.K. AU - Dixon, J. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - Maintenance of the National Ignition Facility Controls Hardware System J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - At the National Ignition Facility (NIF), achieving fusion ignition for the first time ever in a laboratory required one of the most complex hardware control systems in the world. With approximately 1,200 control racks, 66,000 control points, and 100, 000 cables, maintaining the NIF control system requires an exquisite choreography around experimental operations while adhering to NIF’s safety, security, quality, and efficiency requirements. To ensure systems operate at peak performance and remain available at all times to avoid costly delays, preventative maintenance activities are performed two days per week as the foundation of our effective maintenance strategy. Reactive maintenance addresses critical path issues that impact experimental operations through a rapid response 24x7 on-call support team. Prioritized work requests are reviewed and approved daily by the facility operations scheduling team. NIF is now in the second decade of operations, and the aging of many control systems is threatening to affect performance and availability, potentially impacting planned progress of the fusion ignition program. The team is embarking on a large-scale refurbishment of systems to mitigate this threat. Our robust maintenance program will ensure NIF can capitalize on ignition and push the facility to even greater achievements. This paper will describe the processes, procedures, and metrics used to plan, coordinate, and perform controls hardware maintenance at NIF. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 328 EP - 334 KW - controls KW - operation KW - target KW - laser KW - experiment DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO05 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/tu2ao05.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Burgoyne, C.D. AU - Albiston, C.R. AU - Beeler, R.G. AU - Fedorov, M. AU - Mello, J.J. AU - Pernice, E.R. AU - Shor, M. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - How Embracing a Common Tech Stack Can Improve the Legacy Software Migration Experience J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - Over the last several years, the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser, has regularly conducted approximately 400 shots per year. Each experiment is defined by up to 48 unique pulse shapes, with each pulse shape potentially having thousands of configurable data points. The importance of accurately representing small changes in pulse shape, illustrated by the historic ignition experiment in December 2022, highlights the necessity for pulse designers at NIF to have access to robust, easy to use, and accurate design software that can integrate with the existing and future ecosystem of software at NIF. To develop and maintain this type of complex software, the Shot Data Systems (SDS) group has recently embraced leveraging a common set of recommended technologies and frameworks for software development across their suite of applications. This paper will detail SDS’s experience migrating an existing legacy Java Swing-based pulse shape editor into a modern web application leveraging technologies recommended by the common tech stack, including Spring Boot, TypeScript, React and Docker with Kubernetes, as well as discuss how embracing a common set of technologies influenced the migration path, improved the developer experience, and how it will benefit the extensibility and maintainability of the application for years to come. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 860 EP - 864 KW - software KW - database KW - framework KW - laser KW - experiment DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TUPDP120 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/tupdp120.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Fishler, B.T. AU - Batysta, F. AU - Cabral, M.Y. AU - Galbraith, J. AU - Gopalan, V.K. AU - Jimenez, J. AU - Kiani, L.S. AU - Koh, E.S. AU - McCarrick, J.F. AU - Patel, A.K. AU - Plummer, R.E. AU - Reagan, B. AU - Sistrunk, E. AU - Spinka, T.M. AU - Terzi, K. AU - Velas, K.M. AU - Wallace, T.A. AU - Yin, J. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - Conceptual Design of the Matter in Extreme Conditions Upgrade (MEC-U) Rep-Rated Laser Control System J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is delivering the Dual-mode Energetic Laser for Plasma and High Intensity Science (DELPHI) system to SLAC as part of the MEC-U project to create an unprecedented platform for high energy density experiments. The DELPHI control system is required to deliver short and/or long pulses at a 10 Hz firing rate with femto/pico-second accuracy sustained over fourteen 12-hour operator shifts to a common shared target chamber. The MEC-U system requires the integration of the control system with SLAC provided controls related to personnel safety, machine safety, precision timing, data analysis and visualization, amongst others. To meet these needs along with the system’s reliability, availability, and maintainability requirements, LLNL is delivering an EPICS based control system leveraging proven SLAC technology. This talk presents the conceptual design of the DELPHI control system and the methods planned to ensure its successful commissioning and delivery to SLAC. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 865 EP - 868 KW - controls KW - laser KW - timing KW - EPICS KW - hardware DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TUPDP121 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/tupdp121.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Fedorov, M. AU - Barnes, A.I. AU - Beaulac, L. AU - Casey, A.D. AU - Castro Morales, J.R. AU - Dixon, J. AU - Estes, C.M. AU - Flegel, M.S. AU - Gopalan, V.K. AU - Heerey, S. AU - Lacuata, R. AU - Miller Kamm, V.J. AU - Patel, B.P. AU - Paul, M. AU - Spafford, N.I. AU - Vaher, J.L. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - In the Midst of Fusion Ignition: A Look at the State of the National Ignition Facility Control and Information Systems J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world’s largest and most energetic 192-laser-beam system which conducts experiments in High Energy Density (HED) physics and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). In December 2022, the NIF achieved a scientific breakthrough when, for the first time ever, the ICF ignition occurred under laboratory conditions. The key to the NIF’s experimental prowess and versatility is not only its power but also its precise control. The NIF controls and data systems place the experimenter in full command of the laser and target diagnostics capabilities. The recently upgraded Master Oscillator Room (MOR) system precisely shapes NIF laser pulses in the temporal, spatial, and spectral domains. Apart from the primary 10-meter spherical target chamber, the NIF laser beams can now be directed towards two more experimental stations to study laser interactions with optics and large full beam targets. The NIF’s wide range of target diagnostics continues to expand with new tools to probe and capture complex plasma phenomena using x-rays, gamma-rays, neutrons, and accelerated protons. While the increasing neutron yields mark the NIF’s steady progress towards exciting experimental regimes, they also require new mitigations for radiation damage in control and diagnostic electronics. With many NIF components approaching 20 years of age, a Sustainment Plan is now underway to modernize NIF, including controls and information systems, to assure NIF operations through 2040. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 973 EP - 978 KW - controls KW - laser KW - experiment KW - target KW - optics DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-WE2BCO02 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/we2bco02.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Clark, R.D. AU - Kegelmeyer, L.M. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - Data Management for Tracking Optic Lifetimes at the National Ignition Facility J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the most energetic laser in the world, employs over 9000 optics to reshape, amplify, redirect, smooth, focus, and convert the wavelength of laser light as it travels along 192 beamlines. Underlying the management of these optics is an extensive Oracle database storing details of the entire life of each optic from the time it leaves the vendor to the time it is retired. This journey includes testing and verification, preparing, installing, monitoring, removing, and in some cases repairing and re-using the optics. This talk will address data structures and processes that enable storing information about each step like identifying where an optic is in its lifecycle and tracking damage through time. We will describe tools for reporting status and enabling key decisions like which damage sites should be blocked or repaired and which optics exchanged. Managing relational information and ensuring its integrity is key to managing the status and inventory of optics for NIF. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 1012 EP - 1015 KW - optics KW - database KW - site KW - laser KW - status DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-WE3BCO03 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/we3bco03.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - Gowda, A.S. AU - Barnes, A.I. AU - Buckley, B.W. AU - Calonico-Soto, A. AU - Carr, E.J. AU - Chou, J.T. AU - Devore, P.T. AU - Di Nicola, J.-M.G. AU - Gopalan, V.K. AU - Heebner, J. AU - Hernandez, V.J. AU - Muir, R.D. AU - Pao, A. AU - Pelz, L. AU - Wang, L. AU - Wargo, A.T. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - High Fidelity Pulse Shaping for the National Ignition Facility J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world’s most energetic laser capable of delivering 2.05MJ of energy with peak powers up to 500 terawatts on targets a few mms in diameter. This enables extreme conditions in temperature and pressure allowing a wide variety of exploratory experiments from triggering fusion ignition to emulating temperatures at the center of stars or pressures at the center of giant planets. The capability enabled the groundbreaking results of December 5th, 2022 when scientific breakeven in fusion was demonstrated with a target gain of 1.5. A key aspect of supporting various experiments at NIF is the ability to custom shape the pulses of the 48 quads independently with high fidelity as needed by the experimentalists. For more than 15 years, the Master Oscillator Room’s (MOR) pulse shaping system has served NIF well. However, a pulse shaping system that would provide higher shot-to-shot stability, better power balance and accuracy across the 192 beams is required for future NIF experiments including ignition. The pulse shapes requested vary drastically at NIF which led to challenging requirements for the hardware, timing and closed loop shaping systems. In the past two years, a High-Fidelity Pulse Shaping System was designed, and a proof-of-concept system was shown to meet all requirements. This talk will discuss design challenges, solutions and how modernization of the pulse shaping hardware helped simple control algorithms meet the stringent requirements set by the experimentalists. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 1058 EP - 1065 KW - experiment KW - target KW - diagnostics KW - timing KW - laser DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-WE3AO02 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/we3ao02.pdf ER - TY - CONF AU - McCandless, K.P. AU - Aden, R.H. AU - Bhasker, A. AU - Deveno, R.T. AU - Di Nicola, J.-M.G. AU - Erickson, M. AU - Lanier, T.E. AU - McLaren, S.A. AU - Mennerat, G. AU - Morrissey, F.X. AU - Penner, J. AU - Petersen, T. AU - Raymond, B.A. AU - Schrauth, S.E. AU - Tam, M.F. AU - Varadan, K. AU - Waxer, L. ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Götz, Andy ED - Venter, Johan ED - White, Karen ED - Robichon, Marie ED - Rowland, Vivienne TI - How Accurate Laser Physics Modeling Is Enabling Nuclear Fusion Ignition Experiments J2 - Proc. of ICALEPCS2023, Cape Town, South Africa, 09-13 October 2023 CY - Cape Town, South Africa T2 - International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems T3 - 19 LA - english AB - This last year we achieved an important milestone by reaching fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF), a multi-decadal effort involving a large collaboration. The NIF facility contains a 192-beam 4.2 MJ neodymium glass laser (around 1053 nm) that is frequency converted to 351 nm light. To meet stringent laser performance required for ignition, laser modeling codes including the Virtual Beamline (VBL) and its predecessors are used as engines of the Laser Operations Performance Model (LPOM). VBL comprises an advanced nonlinear physics model that captures the response of all the NIF laser components (from IR to UV and nJ to MJ) and precisely computes the input beam power profile needed to deliver the desired UV output on target. NIF was built to access the extreme high energy density conditions needed to support the nation’s nuclear stockpile and to study Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The design, operation and future enhancements to this laser system are guided by the VBL physics modeling code which uses best-in-class standards to enable high-resolution simulations on the Laboratory’s high-performance computing platforms. The future of repeated and optimized ignition experiments relies on the ability for the laser system to accurately model and produce desired power profiles at an expanded regime from the laser’s original design criteria. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 1620 EP - 1625 KW - laser KW - target KW - experiment KW - optics KW - software DA - 2024/02 PY - 2024 SN - 2226-0358 SN - 978-3-95450-238-7 DO - doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-FR2AO01 UR - https://jacow.org/icalepcs2023/papers/fr2ao01.pdf ER -