Management of EPICS IOCs in a Distributed Network Environment Using Salt

An EPICS-based control system typically consists of many individual IOCs, which can be distributed across many computers in a network. Managing hundreds of deployed IOCs, keeping track of where they are running, and providing operators with basic interaction capabilities can easily become a maintenance nightmare. At the Institute for Beam Physics and Technology (IBPT) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), we operate separate networks for our accelerators KARA and FLUTE and use the Salt Project to manage the IT infrastructure. Custom Salt states take care of deploying our IOCs across multiple servers directly from the code repositories, integrating them into the host operating system and monitoring infrastructure. In addition, this allows the integration into our GUI in order to enable operators to monitor and control the process for each IOC without requiring any specific knowledge of where and how that IOC is deployed. Therefore, we can maintain and scale to any number of IOCs on any numbers of hosts nearly effortless. This paper presents the design of this system, discusses the tools and overall setup required to make it work, and shows off the integration into our GUI and monitoring systems

Integration of an Optimizer Framework into the Control System at KARA

Tuning particle accelerators is not straightforward, as they depend on a large number of non-linearly correlated parameters that, for example, drift over time. In recent years advanced numerical optimization tools have been developed to assist human operators in tuning tasks. A proper interface between the optimizers and the control system will encourage their daily use by the accelerator operators. In this contribution, we present our latest progress in integrating an optimizer framework into the control system of the KARA storage ring at KIT, allowing the automatic tuning methods to be applied for routine tasks

Data Management Plans for the Photon and Neutron Communities

This paper presents the interdisciplinary work undertaken by six photon and neutron research institutes to develop a common approach and implementation to data management plans in the context of the Photon and Neutron Open Science Cloud project. The paper introduces the context of the project and then describes the approach based on the concept of active data management plans and a common template of questions. The comparison of and choice of a common tool, the Data Stewardship Wizard, is then described. Finally, the deployment of the tool and its integration in the different facilities’ data workflows is described in more detail. The paper concludes with a summary of the achievements, the lessons learned, and which issues still need to be addressed

Definitions of Drawing 2

Curated by Courtney Spencer, Definitions of Drawing II was the second incarnation of the exhibition bringing together the work of artists who interrogate the medium of drawing through their practices. My drawings presented in this exhibition continue my research into drawing practice and how the experience of landscape, might impact or inform the drawn mark. As a starting point, I took a road traffic website which observes the conditions of roads in Iceland. Images from this website were used to create drawings. The imagery from webcams for me evokes historical landscape painting tropes: this project enabled me to re-address these, through the means of drawing. The drawings bring together older processes and ideas of landscape, with contemporary technologies. Consequently, the finished works intersect fleeting images of roadsides in Iceland with historic art dialogues, connecting two different perceptions of time

LEAPS data strategy

The continuous evolution of photon sources and their instrumentation enables more and new scientific endeavors at ever increasing pace. This technological evolution is accompanied by an exponential growth of data volumes of increasing complexity, which must be addressed by maximizing efficiency of scientific experiments and automation of workflows covering the entire data lifecycle, aiming to reduce data volumes while producing FAIR and open data of highest reliability. This papers briefly outlines the strategy of the league of European accelerator-based photon sources user facilities to achieve these goals collaboratively in an efficient and sustainable way which will ultimately lead to an increase in the number of publications

Recommendations for the improvement of existing European norms for testing the resistance of windows and glazed façades to explosive effects - ERNCIP Thematic group Resistance of structures to explosion effects

It is important to protect critical buildings (shopping centres, government buildings and embassies), infrastructure and utilities and train and underground stations from getting damaged, destroyed or disrupted by deliberate acts of terrorism, criminal activity and malicious behaviour. Normal regulations and building guidelines do not generally take these threats into account. The introduction of appropriate regulations or guidelines, where deemed necessary, should enhance the resilience of buildings and infrastructures against explosion incidents. In order to protect the infrastructure, testing methods which can answer the question as to whether certain building elements can withstand certain loading conditions created by an explosive event are required. The applicable state-of-the-art techniques may include either experimental or numerical methods, or a combination of both. Therefore, the thematic group (TG) on the resistance of structures to explosion effects was formed in order to bring the required expertise together, to make it commonly available and to find and define harmonised methods and solutions which can be provided to the decision-makers responsible for critical infrastructure protection. The TG described in a first report (JPC87202) the physical phenomena which have to be understood in order to ensure a proper testing of the elements and a correct interpretation of the results. In a second stage, the differences between the existing standards for testing blast-resistant glazing and windows have been derived, and a basis for fundamental recommendations for the future development of the suite of European standards has been addressed (JRC94930). Based on the prior findings, this report now formulates the proper enhancements of the existing standards in terms of actual recommendations for the improvement of the test standards.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

Definitions of Drawing 2

Curated by Courtney Spencer, Definitions of Drawing II was the second incarnation of the exhibition bringing together the work of artists who interrogate the medium of drawing through their practices. My drawings presented in this exhibition continue my research into drawing practice and how the experience of landscape, might impact or inform the drawn mark. As a starting point, I took a road traffic website which observes the conditions of roads in Iceland. Images from this website were used to create drawings. The imagery from webcams for me evokes historical landscape painting tropes: this project enabled me to re-address these, through the means of drawing. The drawings bring together older processes and ideas of landscape, with contemporary technologies. Consequently, the finished works intersect fleeting images of roadsides in Iceland with historic art dialogues, connecting two different perceptions of time

Recommendations for a new generation of standards for testing numerical assessment of blast-loaded glass windows

The determination of the blast protection level of civil engineering buildings components against explosive effects represents a design topic of crucial importance, in current practice. However, some key aspects of blast resistant structures design have been only marginally considered in the last decade, and currently still require appropriate regulations. This is especially true in the case of glass windows and facades, where the intrinsic material brittleness is the major influencing parameter for blast-resistant assemblies. While blast assessment of buildings and systems is usually achieved by means of experimental investigations, as well as Finite-Element numerical simulations, general regulations and guidelines are currently missing. In this regard, the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection - Task Group (ERNCIP-TG) “Resistance of Structures to Explosion Effects” attempts to develop guidelines and recommendations aimed to harmonise test procedures in experimental testing of glass windows under blast, as well as standardized approaches for their vulnerability assessment via Finite Element numerical modelling. In this paper, major ERNCIP-TG outcomes and next challenges are briefly summarized.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building