EPICS Collaboration Meeting

Name: EPICS Collaboration Meeting
Start: 2018-11-12T09:00:00+11:00
End: 2018-11-16T15:00:00+11:00
Location: Australian Synchrotron

12 Nov 2018, 09:00 → 16 Nov 2018, 15:00 Australia/Melbourne

Australian Synchrotron

Australian Synchrotron 800 Blackburn Road 3168 Clayton

Andraz Pozar (Australian Synchrotron), Andrew Starritt (Australian Synchrotron)

Description

ANSTO is hosting the autumn, or in our case spring, EPICS Collaboration Meeting. The meeting will take place at The Australian Synchrotron in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

There are some interesting events right before and after the main conference. For details, please see the Accompanying Events page.

Please keep an eye on the Event Updates page accessible from the menu on the left.

We've got a Slack Channel for the event: epicscollabmeeting.slack.com

Join here

Participants

Andraz Pozar
Andreas Moll
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Starritt
Andrew Stevenson
Andrew Walter
Bryce Karnaghan
Christina Magoulas
Clinton Roy
Craig Haskins
Daniel Tempra
David Button
Esmaeil Tabar
Euan Troup
Garth Steel
Guobao Shen
Heinz Junkes
Hiroshi Kaji
John Marcou
John Sinsheimer
Jukka Pietarinen
Juliane Reinhardt
KANGLIN XU
Kunal Shroff
Letizia Sammut
Malte Marquarding
Mark Clift
Matt Fenwick
Matthew Gibbs
Michael Bree
Nader Afshar
Navid Hamedi
Noel Basten
Peter Linardakis
Peter Zumbruch
Pier Valitutti
Ralph Lange
Richard Farnsworth
Robert Modic
Rosemary Waghorn
Ross Hogan
Russ Berg
Simin Chen
Simon Humphrey
Stephen Battisson
Stephen Mudie
Terry Cornall
Thomas Caswell
Tom Fiala
Vesna Samardzic-Boban
Wayne Lewis
William Rambold
Zai Wang
Zoe Taylor

Meeting Organisers

andrazp@ansto.gov.au

andrews@ansto.gov.au

Monday, 12 November
- 09:00 → 09:30
  
  Registrations
  
  Latecomers please go to reception
- 09:30 → 10:30
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 09:30
    MRF Timing System Workshop - Part A 1h
    
    Topics to be covered:
    
    Open Source Event Receiver
    
    Overview of latest MRF products
    
    Other presentations related to timing and/or open hardware are welcome and as well as suggestions on topics to be discussed.
    
    Speaker: Mr Jukka Pietarinen (Micro-Research Finland Oy)
    
    MRF.TimingWS.A.pdf
- 10:30 → 11:00
  
  Morning Break 30m
- 11:00 → 12:30
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 11:00
    MRF Timing System Workshop - Part B 1h 30m
    
    Topics to be covered:
    
    Open Source Event Receiver
    
    Overview of latest MRF products
    
    Other presentations related to timing and/or open hardware are welcome and as well as suggestions on topics to b
    
    Speaker: Jukka Pietarinen (Micro-Research Finland Oy)
    
    MRF.TimingWS.B.pdf
- 12:30 → 14:00
  
  Lunch Break 1h 30m
- 14:00 → 15:30
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 14:00
    OPC UA and EPICS Part A 1h 30m
    
    This satellite meeting will be hosted by Ralph Lange (ITER) and Bryce Karnaghan (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    The meeting will discuss the following topics:-
    
    Why OPC UA?, What are the benefits?
    
    Ralph will provide an overview of the work he has undertaken and the results of tests conducted so far.
    
    Bryce will cover how OPC UA might help with the configuration and management of EPS and PSS systems for new beamlines at the AS.
    
    Does anyone see the need for OPC UA historical access? How would this be implemented? What are the likely issues?
    
    Bryce will cover issues experienced using similar historical data elements in systems using DNP3
    
    Driver configuration tips and tricks.
    
    PLC configuration tips and tricks.
    
    What not to do, what does not work.
    
    Speakers: Ralph Lange (ITER Organization), bryce karnaghan (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    OPC UA and EPICS.pptx
- 15:30 → 16:00
  
  Afternoon Break 30m
- 16:00 → 17:00
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 16:00
    OPC UA and EPICS Part B 1h
    
    This satellite meeting will be hosted by Ralph Lange (ITER) and Bryce Karnaghan (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    The meeting will discuss the following topics:-
    
    Why OPC UA?, What are the benefits?
    
    Ralph will provide an overview of the work he has undertaken and the results of tests conducted so far.
    
    Bryce will cover how OPC UA might help with the configuration and management of EPS and PSS systems for new beamlines at the AS.
    
    Does anyone see the need for OPC UA historical access? How would this be implemented? What are the likely issues?
    
    Bryce will cover issues experienced using similar historical data elements in systems using DNP3
    
    Driver configuration tips and tricks.
    
    PLC configuration tips and tricks.
    
    What not to do, what does not work.
    
    Speakers: Ralph Lange (ITER Organization), bryce karnaghan (Australian Synchrotron)
Tuesday, 13 November
- 09:00 → 09:30
  
  Registrations
  
  Latecomers please go to reception
- 09:30 → 10:30
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 09:30
    
    PyDM Training Workshop - Part A 1h
    
    This workshop is intended to introduce new users to PyDM. It will first cover the basics of making new drag-and-drop displays in Qt Designer, then progressively enhance the basic display with the "widget rules" system, and finally converting it into a Python code-based display.
    
    Speakers: Matthew Gibbs (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory), Mr Theodore Rendahl (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
- 10:30 → 11:00
  
  Morning Break 30m
- 11:00 → 12:30
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 11:00
    
    PyDM Training Workshop - Part B 1h 30m
    
    This workshop is intended to introduce new users to PyDM. It will first cover the basics of making new drag-and-drop displays in Qt Designer, then progressively enhance the basic display with the "widget rules" system, and finally converting it into a Python code-based display.
    
    Speakers: Matthew Gibbs (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory), Mr Theodore Rendahl (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
- 12:30 → 14:00
  
  Lunch Break 1h 30m
- 14:00 → 15:30
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 14:00
    
    EPICS Qt - Part A 1h 30m
    
    This workshop will cover:
    a) downloading epicsQt from git and building it.
    b) using designer and an overview of the available epics Qt widgets
    c) running qegui
    d) outline of building own plugin.
    
    Speaker: Andrew Starritt (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    epics_workshop_7.pptx
- 15:30 → 16:00
  
  Afternoon Break 30m
- 16:00 → 17:00
  Workshops/Trainings
  - 16:00
    
    EPICS Qt - Part B 1h
    
    This workshop will cover:
    a) downloading epicsQt from git and building it.
    b) using designer and an overview of the available epics Qt widgets
    c) running qegui
    d) outline of building own plugin.
    
    Speaker: Andrew Starritt (Australian Synchrotron)
Wednesday, 14 November
- 09:00 → 09:30
  
  Registrations
  
  Latecomers please go to reception
- 09:30 → 09:50
  
  Welcome
- 09:50 → 10:30
  Plenary Talks
  - 09:50
    
    ANSTO/Australian Synchrotron BR–GHT (new beamline) program 20m
    
    In this talk I will provide a brief overview of the exciting program (“BR–GHT”) for building new beamlines at ANSTO/Australian Synchrotron. I will then describe key aspects of Micro-Computed Tomography (MCT), one of the first two new beamlines. These will include the current status, aspects of the fundamental design, application areas being targeted, and future plans. The challenges and opportunities associated with innovative experiment design, motion control, and data acquisition/processing/analysis will be briefly addressed.
    
    Speaker: Andrew Stevenson (Australian Synchrotron/ CSIRO)
    
    3_02_EPICS_Collaboration_Andrew_Stevenson_14-11-18.pptx
  - 10:10
    
    CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science status report 20m
    
    We are presenting and overview of the current status of our observatories, specifically looking at the monitoring and control software stack.
    We will show how EPICS integrates into our systems and what the current state and future plans are.
    
    Speaker: Mr Malte Marquarding (CSIRO)
    
    CASS_Status-collab2018.pdf
- 10:30 → 11:00
  
  Morning Break 30m
- 11:00 → 12:30
  Plenary Talks
  - 11:00
    
    ITER and CODAC Status Update 20m
    
    Within the ITER project, 35 nations are collaborating to build the world's largest fusion facility in the South of France. Most contributions are in-kind - integration of more than 170 plant systems will be the main challenge when building the control system, which is using CODAC Core System, based on RedHat Enterprise Linux, EPICS and ITER specific tools.
    
    Speaker: Mr Ralph Lange (ITER Organization)
    
    ITER and CODAC Core System - Status Update.pptx
  - 11:20
    
    Eiger 16M integration 20m
    
    An Eiger 16M detector has been integrated with a new goniometer on the micromolecular beamline at the Australian Synchrotron. The Eiger detector is configured and controlled through EPICS areaDetector. The goniometer is driven using a linear servo amplifier to provide the smoothest possible motion. An oscillation program that coordinates the rotation and shutter has been written to expose user samples. A hardware trigger is provided to the Eiger 16M by the motor control system. Control of the Eiger 16M cover, and monitoring of the necessary N2 supply is achieved by PLC. Sample exposure time has dropped from an average of 15 minutes using the ADSC 335r, down to 1 minute on the Eiger 16M, thereby significantly increasing the science output of the beamline.
    
    Speakers: Dr Mark Clift (ANSTO), Vesna Samardzic-Boban (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    3_05_EPICS Collaboration 2018 Eiger.pptx
  - 11:40
    
    Overview of Data Acquisition and Management tools developed at NSLS-II 20m
    
    As data rates and the need for multi-modal measurements increase so do the requirements for automated collection and curation of the associated meta-data. At NSLS-II we begun to developed a suite of tools for high-level data acquisition and management to address this need. This talk is an overview of the architecture, components in the system: caproto, ophyd, bluesky, and databroker. These parts each work as stand-alone libraries but are co-designed to work seamlessly together via the Event Model.
    
    Speaker: Andrew Walter (Brookhaven National Lab)
    
    3_06_daq_nsls-ii.txt
  - 12:00
    
    Ophyd and Bluesky for Experiment Orchestration 20m
    
    This will cover the details of the architecture and abstractions of ophyd and bluesky. Describing how they interact with the underlying control system and down-stream data processing and analysis environments. The interfaces between the layers is what enables these tools to work together in a coherent way while still be usable as stand-alone libraries. This design also allows the individual layers to be swapped out to address local needs without compromising the coherence of the complete system.
    
    Speaker: Thomas Caswell (Brookhaven National Lab)
    
    3_07_bluesky.txt
- 12:30 → 14:00
  
  Lunch Break 1h 30m
- 14:00 → 15:30
  Plenary Talks
  - 14:00
    
    A state-machine approach to EPICS interfaces for complex devices 20m
    
    As the number of variables and states of devices grow, implementing, debugging and updating device support EPICS layer becomes a costly and error prone process. In the Australian Synchrotron's XFM beamline, EPICS mapping databases are used to interface hundreds of device variables to high level experiment control scripts.
    Using a generic approach, we have developed some toolsets to directly construct the EPICS templates from the state-parameter lists without using subscription files.
    Some special control PV's are implemented to enable/disble get and set functions at runtime, for subsets of parameters. This approach is used for implementation of our in-house designed Rascan motion system, as well as for two detectors developed by CSIRO and XIA/Southern Innovation. The approach is proven to be efficient for both deployment and maintenance.
    
    Speaker: Mr Nader Afshar (Sr.Controls Engineer)
    
    3_08_State-Machine EPICS.Nader Afshar.1811131635.pptx
  - 14:20
    
    Capillary Autoalignment for Powder Diffraction 20m
    
    Samples for PD are often in the form of capillaries filled with randomly arranged powders. For best results these capillaries have to be arranged so that they spin in the centre of the X-Ray beam. Because of the detector being arranged in a vertical strip, the capillary is mounted on a horizontal axis. The capillaries are mounted in a not-particularly well aligned state to begin with and a solution involving a small spinning goniometer and image processing is used to re-align it. We are currently in the third implementation of this idea and this talk is to present some details on the evolution and lessons learned in the development process.
    
    Speaker: Dr Terry Cornall (ANSTO Australian Synchrotron)
    
    autospinner.pptx
  - 14:40
    
    Motion control of large endstation equipment at NSLS-II 20m
    
    Experimental endstations often have large mechanical components that can have complex
    motion control requirements.
    
    The CHX (Coherent Hard X-ray Scattering) beamline at NSLS-II has a long SAXS
    table with six axes of motion. The table consists of two separate sections, which can be
    operated independently or in a combined mode. The table can rotate around the sample
    position and translate in the direction of the scattered beam. Rotations require up to four
    motors to be coordinated. Equipment and personnel protection interlocks are included in
    the control system.
    
    The SIX (Soft Inelastic X-ray Scattering) beamline at NSLS-II has a 15 m long spectrometer
    arm that can rotate around the sample through an arc of 120 degrees. Rotation of the
    spectrometer arm requires coordination of two motors and integration with an equipment
    control PLC. Equipment and personnel protection systems are integrated with the motion
    control.
    
    These motion applications are implemented in Delta Tau Turbo PMAC motion controllers. Personnel safety interlocks are implemented in an Allen Bradley Guard Master configurable safety relay. Operation and status of the motion systems are integrated using EPICS and CS-Studio.
    
    Speaker: Wayne Lewis (OspreyDCS)
    
    20181114_epics_wlewis_endstation_motion.pdf
  - 15:00
    
    Standardisation of BRIGHT Beamline Control Systems 20m
    
    The construction of at least eight new beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron over the next five years requires a new approach to developing beamline controllers. This talk presents a standard controls architecture proposed for future beamlines and the processes used to define this architecture.
    
    Speaker: Mr William Rambold (ANSTO - Australian Synchrotron)
    
    3_11_Beamline Controller Standardisation.pptx
- 15:30 → 16:00
  
  Afternoon Break 30m
- 16:00 → 17:00
  Lightning Talks
  - 16:00
    
    European Spallation Source Progress and Status 5m
    
    The European Spallation Source has commenced operation of the ion source, the ?rst accelerator component. Construction, equipment delivery, control system development, and commissioning of the subsequent accelerator sections and the target is ongoing. In parallel, in-kind partners are designing, building, and commissioning a number of experimental instruments that are expected be ready for operation when neutrons are available.
    
    A suite of EPICS services will be used at ESS, including CS-Studio, ChannelFinder, BEAST, Archive Appliance, and MASAR.
    
    ESS is involved with ongoing EPICS developments, including EPICS 7 and CS-Studio.
    A new EPICS build system is being developed to simplify EPICS IOC development and
    deployment.
    
    Speaker: Wayne Lewis (OspreyDCS)
    
    ESS-Status-EPICS-Fall2018.pptx
  - 16:05
    
    pySTXM: a STXM data acquisition application using python, EPICS and Qt 5m
    
    Scanning Transmission Xray Microscopy (STXM) is a method used to create spectral images of a wide range of samples. STXM microscopes have been a staple in spectromicroscopy for nearly 30 years, and as such has seen many innovations of that time span. The heart of the technique is the use of software to control the numerous devices that work in coordination with each other to produce a wide range of spectral images. Over the last 4 years the CLS has developed a STXM data collection software called pySTXM, that is focused on the experiment as well as user efficiency. The GUI was implemented in Python using Qt as the application framework, and all device control as well as the scanning engine were implemented in EPICS. Some of the design goals of pySTXM include leveraging the growing knowledge of python in the greater scientific community, placing equal importance on the ability to scale and maintain the software while at the same time presenting a powerful yet friendly GUI regardless of the experience level of the user, and minimizing or remove dependencies on licensed and obsolete third party software. There has been interest from several European labs in the user interface with the desire to integrate it with their (non EPICS) control systems. We will describe the overall architecture and motivations for the design choices made as well as present some of the more unique aspects of the user interface that have garnered the attention from other facilities.
    
    Speaker: Mr Russ Berg (Canadian Lightsource)
    
    3_13_pyStxm-final-nonotes.pptx
  - 16:10
    
    CLS PyAcq Data Aquisition System 5m
    
    PyAcq is a Python-based data acquisition and visualization platform under active development for the BioXAS-Imaging Beamline at the Canadian Light Source. PyAcq consists of several separate components. A pure Python EPICS-aware server fetches queued scans, runs them, and writes collected data to HDF5 files. Native EPICS applications provide the server with SSCAN records for step scans, hardware driven fast scans, and a beamline configuration wrapper. A pure Python client (GUI), decoupled from EPICS, connects to the server. The client is used to configure scans, queue them, and visualize results. The user can dynamically adjust MCA ROIs, input math functions, and visualize the effect on both running and completed scans. Multiple windows allow different parameter combinations with the same or different scans to be visualized simultaneously. Multiple clients can connect to the server simultaneously. Finally, the client can run in standalone mode for visualizing completed scans. Users can take a copy of the client home with them to immediately visualize their data on Windows, Linux, or MacOS platforms using the same user interface with which it was collected.
    
    Speaker: Mr Michael Bree (Canadian Light Source)
    
    3_14_michael_bree_epics_talk.pptx
  - 16:15
    
    An EPICS solution for EPSON robots 5m
    
    An EPICS solution for EPSON 4-6 axis robots, that can be used to integrate user defined applications, has been written. The solution consists of a robot network server, an EPICS database that uses streamDevice, and a set of screens. The network server is designed to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously, and therefore provides significant enhancements over EPSON network servers. Additionally EPSON force sensing has been replaced with higher performing software. The macromolecular, micromolecular, and powder diffraction beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron use robotic sample mounters that have been built on top of the presented EPICS solution.
    
    Speaker: Dr Mark Clift (ANSTO)
    
    3_15_EPICS Collaboration 2018 Robot.pptx
  - 16:20
    
    SAXS/WAXS beamline In-Vacuum End-Station EPS/PSS 5m
    
    SAXS/WAXS beamline is currently using a Pilatus2-1M in-air detector and is fully optimised to support in-air detection. Its age and mechanical implosion of the vacuum window are two modes of potential failures that can bring the whole beamline down for several months. To maintain the highest level of availability for users and to overcome the inherent technical limitations of in-air detectors, a new Pilatus3 2M detector and dedicated in-vacuum end-station system will be used. That will increase the detection efficiency significantly.
    A new vacuum system including pumps (roughing, backing and 2 turbo pumps), new combined micro Pirani/Piezo vacuum gauges and vacuum control valves will take care of the vacuum in the end-station, sample chamber and nose cone. Existing EPS PLC will control this vacuum system via a new remote I/O island. Related IOC database and EPICS GUIs will be updated and a new GUI will be developed for the new vacuum system.
    We conducted a complete risk analysis on this project and found following safety risks that should be mitigated using safety PLCs.
    A 250mm custom-made gate valve can be exposed in several cases and likely lead to serious injuries. To mitigate that risk, the existing Beamline PSS, interlocked to the hutch search state, will control gate valve actuation. Safety vacuum switches on upstream and downstream sides of the valve will ensure that the valve is closed. In addition, a safety valve on the compressed air path will isolate the gate valve whenever someone is in the hutch to make sure that the valve will not move.
    In-vacuum detector motion (in beam direction) at 80-100mm/s will be accessible if the vacuum vessel is open and it can cause permanent disability. Since the motion controller does not have Safe Torque Off capability, we will modify that to be able to remove the power from motion drive amplifier via safety rated relays. Existing beamline PSS will cut the power when there is a safety risk.
    
    Speaker: Mr Navid Hamedi (AS PLC Group)
    
    SAXS-WAXS Beamline in-vacuum end-station EPS-PSS.pdf
  - 16:25
    
    COSY upgrade for JEDI experiment 5m
    
    We will present a migration of FZJ COSY (COoler SYnchrotron) controls to EPICS. COSY is the machine built in 90's, with in house CS based on TCP-IP ASCII communication. In pursuit of JEDI experiment the COSY team wants to improve the accelerator performance and ultimately centralize all controls for ease of operation. That is the reason, they decided to migrate to EPICS based control system. Cosylab is complementing the COSY team through staged upgrade approach and provides implementation of the COSY team ideas.
    
    Speaker: Robert Modic (Cosylab)
    
    3_17_COSY upgrade for JEDI experiment.pptx
  - 16:30
    
    Machine PSS upgrade at Australian Synchrotron 5m
    
    The current Personnel Safety System (PSS) at the Australian Synchrotron has reached its End of Life. Most of the PSS hardware and software is no longer available, supported or repairable. This would affect the availability of the machine and beamlines for experiments.
    
    This project aims to reduce the risk of a facility wide unplanned shutdown - resulting from a fault in the Machine PSS system by executing an upgrade/ replacement of the existing PSS PLC hardware and software platform in a planned manner.
    
    This upgrade will also deploy all the PSS related hardware and software for new front ends. This will make possible for new beamlines/frontends to be integrated into the Machine PSS, accommodating BRIGHT projects.
    
    The project has been awarded to a system integrator and the design stage is under way. Major installations is scheduled for Dec 2019 followed by SAT, validation and handover in Jan 2020.
    
    The new PSS will be based on Siemens safety PLCs and PROFISafe remote I/O system. The same technology will be used for new BRIGHT beamlines' PSS. One of the main advantages of the new system is the ability to simulate the safety application code that allows us to fully test the safety functions and minimise the commissioning issues.
    
    Speaker: Mr Esmaeil Tabar (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    Machine PSS upgrade at Australian Synchrotron.pdf
  - 16:35
    Motion Control Standards 5m
    
    A consistent set of standards for motion control implementation is important for allowing a
    facility to efficiently develop, implement, and maintain the motion control systems. Standards that should be considered include:
    
    coordinate system definitions
    
    connector standards, including connector types and pinouts
    
    cabling standards
    
    motion controller hardware standards
    
    motion controller programming standards
    
    high-level control system interfacing standards
    
    templates and code examples for common applications
    
    Well-defined standards can be used both for internal development of motion control applications as well as by vendors delivering partial or complete control systems.
    
    Speaker: Wayne Lewis (OspreyDCS)
    
    20181114_epics_wlewis_motion_standards.pdf
  - 16:40
    
    babyIOC with bluesky 5m
    
    A portable, small factor, affordable, control system with NSLS2 EPICS Debian Jessie distribution, areaDetector-3-3-1 with EPICS7 PVA, bluesky is available for community via system image for UDOO x86 Ultra. $400 hardware and several hours to set up.
    
    Instructions are @ https://oksanagit.github.io/babyIOC/
    
    Speaker: Thomas Caswell (Brookhaven National Lab)
    
    3_20_ThomasCaswell_babyIOC.pptx
  - 16:45
    
    Segregation of Test and Production virtual machines using vmware permissions 5m
    
    One of the principal advantages of virtualization is the ease of which new virtual machines can be commissioned and deployed. This can also lead to rapid and undocumented growth of Test/Dev VMs which, unless properly managed, can contend for resources with Production VMs.
    
    This problem was addressed at the Australian Synchrotron by establishing two seperate VMware clusters and applying permissions to govern who can create VMs on the test and production clusters and a criteria for migrating VMs from Test to Production.
    
    In this way the Australian Synchrotron retained the freedom for staff to rapidly create VMs while ensuring that production critical VMs are controlled and do not have to contend for resources with test and development VMs.
    
    Speaker: Nicholas Hobbs (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    3_21_Segregation of Test and Production virtual machines using.pptx
Thursday, 15 November
- 09:00 → 10:30
  Plenary Talks
  - 09:00
    
    EPICS Core Developments 20m
    
    What the EPICS Core Developers group has been up to recently, and our plans for future releases of EPICS Base.
    
    Speaker: Andrew Johnson (Argonne National Laboratory)
    
    EPICS-Core-Developments.pdf
  - 09:20
    
    The New EPICS Website: epics-controls.org 20m
    
    First announced last October in Barcelona, a new website for the EPICS community has been created. The new site uses a content-management system (WordPress with various plugins) making it possible for many people to contribute. A review mechanism is in place so that content and style of the site can be kept consistent and under control. Existing content from the old site has been transferred or linked.
    The stage has been set: now we need YOU to keep the website alive, fresh and up to date!
    
    Speaker: Mr Ralph Lange (ITER Organization)
    
    The New EPICS Website.pptx
  - 09:40
    
    EPICS council update 20m
    
    I will present the current thinking of the EPICS council, the various collaboration areas we are exploring at the facility level - Membership, Web pages, training and resource direction. For futures.
    
    Speaker: Mr Richard Farnsworth (BNL)
    
    Epics_council_update_nov_2018.pptx
  - 10:00
    
    CS-Studio and Phoebus 20m
    
    An update on the latest developments in control system studio and phoebus.
    
    Speaker: Kunal Shroff
    
    4_04_CS-Studio & Phoebus.pptx
- 10:30 → 11:00
  
  Morning Break 30m
- 11:00 → 11:40
  Plenary Talks
  - 11:00
    
    EPICS with RTEMS 5 20m
    
    EPICS 7 libcom for RTEMS 5
    
    Speaker: Heinz Junkes (Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)
    
    Rtems5Epics7.pdf
  - 11:20
    
    Epics Java 7.0.2 20m
    
    An introduction to the features and functionality of the epics core java libraries.
    
    Speaker: Kunal Shroff
    
    4_06_EPICS Java 7.0.2.pptx
- 11:40 → 12:30
  
  EPICS Core Q&A Session: Q&A
- 12:30 → 14:00
  
  Lunch Break 1h 30m
- 14:00 → 15:30
  Plenary Talks
  - 14:00
    
    Update of Database Applications for the APS-U 20m
    
    We will present our latest progress and status update of database applications for the APS-U.
    
    Speaker: GUOBAO SHEN (ANL)
    
    4_07_Update of APS-U Database Application Activities.pptx
  - 14:20
    
    A process for developing beamline controllers at the Australian Synchrotron 20m
    
    The BRIGHT programme at the Australian Synchrotron will deliver at least eight new beamlines over the next 5 years. The control systems for all of these will be designed and developed in house. To make this possible to produce the number of controllers involved with limited resources a process has been developed to create individual beamline controllers from a master template. This talk describes this process and the work done to date to implement the model.
    
    Speaker: Mr William Rambold (ANSTO - Australian Synchrotron)
    
    4_08_Controller Development Model.pptx
  - 14:40
    
    Injection Archive System for SuperKEKB 20m
    
    We develop the archive system for beam injection information. It records the injected current to SuperKEKB accelerator main ring for every injected pulse. The system determined the injected current by comparing the bunch current monitor data between before and after injection. This service is realized with the precisely synchronized control by the Event Timing System.
    
    Speaker: Dr Hiroshi Kaji (KEK)
    
    4_09_20181115.pptx
  - 15:00
    
    Docker for IOC deployment and management 20m
    
    This talk describes the deployment of EPICS IOCs on the SAXS/WAXS beamline at the Australian Synchrotron using containerisation via Docker. These IOCs cover a wide gamut of systems, most notably Motor Controls. The Docker deployment has been designed to enable easy service management, and the reuse of container images through injection of substitutions files and environment variables at runtime.
    Other advantages of the Docker infrastructure is increased uptime via Docker Swarm, and significantly improved description of beamline systems through Dockerfiles and Compose Files.
    
    Speaker: Stephen Mudie (ANSTO)
    
    4_10_Docker For IOC Deployment and Management.pptx
- 15:30 → 16:00
  
  Afternoon Break 30m
- 16:00 → 17:00
  Lightning Talks
  - 16:00
    
    Automated Database Generation for EPICS 5m
    
    Introduction into how EPICS database records are automatically generated from XML mark up in source code files in the ASKAP project.
    
    Speaker: Zoe Taylor (CSIRO)
    
    ZoeEpicsCollab2018_Melb_Term.pdf
  - 16:05
    
    OPC UA Device Support 5m
    
    In a cooperation between HZB/BESSY II and ITER, a Device Support for the OPC UA industrial SCADA protocol is under development. Goals, status and roadmap will be presented.
    
    Speaker: Ralph Lange (ITER Organization)
    
    OPC UA Device Support.pptx
  - 16:10
    
    APSU HLA Development/Deployment Environment 5m
    
    Introduction of strategic approach for APSU high-level application software development and deployment environment.
    
    Speaker: GUOBAO SHEN (ANL)
    
    4_13_APSU HLA Client Environment.pptx
  - 16:15
    
    CAFlux: A New EPICS Channel Archiver System 5m
    
    We present a new EPICS channel archiver system which is being developed at LANSCE of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Different from the legacy archiver system, this system is built on InfluxDB database and Plotly visualization toolkits. InfluxDB is an open-source time series database system and provides a SQL-like language for fast storage and retrieval of time series data. By replacing the old archiving engine and index file with InfluxDB, we have a more robust, compact and stable archiving server. On a client side, we intro- duce a new implementation combined with asynchronous programming and multithreaded programming. We also describe a web based archiver configuration system which is asso- cated with our current IRMIS system. To visualize the data stored, we use Javascript Plotly graphing library, another open souce toolkits for time series data, to build front-end pages. Finally, we propose some ideas to integrate basic data statistical analysis into this system.
    
    Speaker: Mr Kanglin Xu (LANL)
    
    4_14_KanglinXu.pdf
  - 16:20
    
    TANGO Controls from an EPICS view 5m
    
    A brief overview of TANGO (http://tango-controls.org) from an EPICS (mostly V3) view. I will mention commonalities and some contrasts.
    
    Speaker: Euan Troup (CSIRO Astronomy & Space)
    
    tango-view-epics.pptx
  - 16:25
    
    caproto: a pure-Python Channel Access protocol library 5m
    
    Caproto is a implementation of the EPICS Channel Access protocol for distributed hardware control in pure Python with a “sans-I/O” architecture.
    
    Speaker: Thomas Caswell (Brookhaven National Lab)
    
    4_16_caproto_lightning.pptx
  - 16:30
    
    PyDM Status Update 5m
    
    A brief presentation on the state of PyDM (Python Display Manager), the new functionality that has been added in the last year of development, and the features targeted for release in 2019.
    
    Speaker: Matthew Gibbs (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
    
    PyDM Lightning Update.pdf
  - 16:35
    
    Integration of ESS Cryoplant into EPICS 5m
    
    European Spallation Source (ESS) selected Linde Kryotechnik to deliver a large and complex cryoplant. For ESS it was important that the integration into EPICS is done in a way consistent with other subsystems. Cosylab was able to provide the missing link between cryoplant supplier and ESS, and thus adapt the industrial solution to the custom requirements of the ESS EPICS environment.
    
    Speaker: Robert Modic (Cosylab)
    
    4_18_Integrating the ESS Cryoplant into EPICS.pptx
  - 16:40
    
    Camera calibration plugin for areaDetector 5m
    
    Sample visualization and alignment for ESS experimental setups requires
    knowledge of the pixel size of the imaged sample. Two cameras placed at 90
    degrees to each other are used to obtain three dimensional position information
    of the sample and sample features. A calibration target with features of known
    dimensions is placed at the sample position and images captured on the two
    cameras. Using image processing routines from the OpenCV library in an
    areaDetector plugin, the features are identified in the image, the image
    corrected for any rotation of the calibration target, and the pixel location of
    the feature corners calculated.
    
    Speaker: Wayne Lewis (OspreyDCS)
    
    20181115_ess_camera_calibration.pdf
  - 16:45
    
    Medical Imaging Detectors 5m
    
    Summary of detectors I have been involved with at the AS, including the detectors for the Breast CT Imaging project.
    
    Speaker: Mr Tom Fiala (AS)
    
    4_20_MedicalImagingDetectors.pptx
Friday, 16 November
- 09:30 → 10:30
  Plenary Talks
  - 09:30
    
    A model for developing control systems for vendor supplied beamlines 20m
    
    To support the evolution towards standard control systems at the Australian Synchrotron controllers for all future beamlines will be developed in-house, even though the beamlines themselves will be constructed by external vendors. This talk presents a collaborative model that has been developed to integrate in-house control systems with vendor supplied equipment.
    
    Speaker: Mr William Rambold (ANSTO - Australian Synchrotron)
    
    5_01_Vendor interaction.pptx
  - 09:50
    
    Lightflow - a lightweight, distributed workflow system 20m
    
    The Australian Synchrotron, is one of Australia’s most important pieces of research infrastructure. After more than 10 years of operation,
    the beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron are well established
    and the demand for automation of research tasks is
    growing. Such tasks routinely involve the reduction of TBscale
    data, online (realtime) analysis of the recorded data to
    guide experiments, and fully automated data management
    workflows.
    
    In order to meet these demands, a generic, distributed
    workflow system was developed. It is based on well established
    Python libraries and tools. The individual tasks
    of a workflow are arranged in a directed acyclic graph and
    one or more directed acyclic graphs form a workflow. Workers
    consume the tasks, allowing the processing of a workflow
    to scale horizontally. Data can flow between tasks and a variety
    of specialised tasks is available.
    
    Lightflow has been released as open source on the Australian
    Synchrotron GitHub page
    
    Speaker: Andreas Moll (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    EPICSCollab2018_Lightflow.pptx
  - 10:10
    
    Control System Breakdown Structure and Framework 20m
    
    Summary of the development of the Control System Breakdown Structure at the Australian Synchrotron and how it will fit in with the other existing and planned systems. This will include reasons for current approach and lessons learnt.
    
    Speaker: Rosemary Waghorn (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    csbs_epicx_collab.pptx
- 10:30 → 11:00
  
  Morning Break 30m
- 11:00 → 11:45
  Lightning Talks
  - 11:00
    
    Alarm Configuration Management 5m
    
    A micro service, built as part of to new kafka based phoebus alarm services, which provides the ability to record all changes to the alarm service configuration.
    
    Speaker: Kunal Shroff
    
    5_04_Alarm Configuration Service.pptx
  - 11:05
    
    Alarm History Service 5m
    
    An archiver for all the alarm messages generated by the new Kafka based phoebus alarm server.
    The archived alarm history can be used to
    1.) better configure the alarm server, by weeding out noisy alarms, etc.
    2.) discover pattern and relations between systems and devices.
    
    Speaker: John Sinsheimer (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
    
    alarm_history_service_Sinsheimer.pptx
  - 11:10
    
    Using Logstash with EPICS IOCs 5m
    
    Using Logstash with EPICS IOCs
    
    Speaker: Andrew Johnson (Argonne National Laboratory)
    
    5_06_Logstash for IOCs.pdf
  - 11:15
    
    Archiving and Alerting in ASKAP with InfluxDB, Grafana, Kapacitor and Alerta 5m
    
    The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) Radio Telescope is moving to web based interfaces for its control and monitoring. We describe here the use of non-EPICS open source software for archiving, visualisation and alerting.
    
    Speaker: Craig Haskins (CSIRO)
    
    archiving & alerting in ASKAP.pptx
  - 11:20
    
    EPICS-FPGA Interface Implementation part A 5m
    
    An brief introduction on the two types of EPICS to hardware(FPGA) interfaces will be provided.
    
    Speaker: Simin Chen (ANSTO)
    
    EPICS-FPGA interface.pptx
  - 11:25
    
    EPICS-FPGA Interface Implementation (Part B) 5m
    
    Part B of EPICS to FPGA interfacing where current implementations of local and remote EPICS interfaces are explored. These are in the form of embedded processor and FPGA technologies which are on the pathway to a future of converged EPICS-FPGA interfaces.
    
    Speaker: Ross Hogan (Australian Synchrotron - ANSTO)
    
    EPICS-FPGA interface - Part B.pptx
  - 11:30
    
    EPICS on Red Pitaya 5m
    
    Red Pitaya is a small board equipped with Xilinx Zynq SOC and Cortex A9. It has 2 14-bit, 125 MS/s RF inputs and outputs as well as slow analogue and digital inputs and outputs.
    We've written an asyn port driver fir it and it is currently used in a few applications across the Australian Synchrotron without any problems.
    
    Speaker: Andraz Pozar (Australian Synchrotron)
    
    5_10_red_pitaya.pptx
  - 11:35
    
    The Next EPICS Collaboration Meeting 5m
    
    ITER will be hosting the EPICS Collaboration Meeting in June 2019. The meeting will take place at the ITER site in Cadarache, 45 km north-east of Aix-en-Provence, France.
    
    Speaker: Mr Ralph Lange (ITER Organization)
    
    The Next EPICS Collaboration Meeting.pptx
- 11:45 → 12:30
  
  Facility Tour
- 12:30 → 14:00
  
  BBQ Lunch 1h 30m

EPICS Collaboration Meeting

Australian Synchrotron

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