Advanced MATLAB GUI Development with the DATAGUI LIBRARY

On the DESY campus Matlab is a widely used tool for creating complex user interfaces. Although the on-board GUI tools are easy to use and provide quick results, the generated low-level code lacks uniformity and advanced features like automatic verification and conversion of input and output data. These limitations are overcome by the newly developed DataGUI library. The library is based on the model-view-controller software pattern and supports enhanced data handling, undocumented Matlab GUI elements, and configurable resizing of the user interface. An outlook on features of the upcoming release is also presented

A Unified Matlab API for TINE and DOOCS Control Systems at DESY

At the European XFEL, MATLAB will play an important role as a programming language for high level controls. We present a standard MATLAB API which provides a unified interface for TINE and DOOCS control systems. It supports a wide variety of datatypes as well as synchronous and asynchronous communication modes

High Level Controls for the European XFEL

The European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) will generate extremely short and intense X-ray flashes from the electron beam of a 2.1 km long superconducting linear accelerator. Due to the complexity of the facility and the sheer number of subsystems and components, special emphasis needs to be placed on the automatization of procedures, on the abstraction of machine parameters, and on the development of user-friendly high-level software for the operation of the accelerator. The paper gives an overview of the ongoing work and highlights several new tools and concepts

The Virtual European XFEL Accelerator

The ambitious commissioning plans for the European XFEL require that many of the high-level controls are ready from the beginning. The idea arose to create a virtual environment to carry out such developments and tests in advance, to test interfaces, software in general and the visualisation of the variety of components. Based on the experiences and on the systems that are already in operation at the FLASH facility for several years, such a virtual environment is being created. The system can already simulate most of the key components of the upcoming accelerator. Core of the system is an event synchronized data acquisition system (DAQ). The interfaces of the DAQ system towards the device level, as well as to the high-level side is utilising the same software stack as the production system does. Thus, the software can be developed and used interchangeably between the virtual and the real machine. This allows to test concepts, interfaces and identify problems and errors at an early stage. In this paper the opportunities arising from the operation of such a virtual machine will be presented. The limits in terms of the resulting complexity and physical relationships will also be shown

High Level Software for the Commissioning of the European XFEL

The European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) will generate extremely short and intense X-ray flashes from the electron beam of a 2.1 km long superconducting linear accelerator. The commissioning and operation of the accelerator relies heavily on high level software for the automatization of measurements and procedures. The paper gives an overview of the ongoing work and highlights some new measurement techniques

The Large Scale European XFEL Control System: Overview and Status of the Commissioning

The European XFEL is a 3.4 km long X-ray Free Electron Laser in the final construction and commissioning phase in Hamburg. It will produce 27000 bunches per second at 17.5 GeV. Early 2015 a first electron beam was produced in the RF-photo-injector and the commissioning of consecutive sections will follow during this and next year. The huge number and variety of devices for the accelerator, beam line, experiment,cryogenic and facility systems pose a challenging control task. Multiple systems, including industrial solutions, must be interfaced to each other. The large number of bunches requires a tight time synchronization (down to picoseconds) and high performance data acquisitionsystems. Fast feedbacks from front-ends, the DAQs and online analysis system with a seamless integration of controls are essential for the accelerator and the initially 6 experimental end stations. It turns out that the European XFEL will be the first installation exceeding 2500 FPGAcomponents in the MicroTCA form factor and will run one of the largest PROFIBUS networks. Many subsystem prototypes are already successfully in operation. An overview and status of the XFEL control system will be given

The Large Scale European XFEL Control System: Overview and Status of the Commissioning

The European XFEL is a 3.4 km long X-ray Free Electron Laser in the final construction and commissioning phase in Hamburg. It will produce 27000 bunches per second at 17.5 GeV. Early 2015 a first electron beam was produced in the RF-photo-injector and the commissioning of consecutive sections will follow during this and next year. The huge number and variety of devices for the accelerator, beam line, experiment, cryogenic and facility systems pose a challenging control task. Multiple systems, including industrial solutions, must be interfaced to each other. The large number of bunches requires a tight time synchronization (down to picoseconds) and high performance data acquisition systems. Fast feedbacks from front-ends, the DAQs and online analysis system with a seamless integration of controls are essential for the accelerator and the initially 6 experimental end stations. It turns out that the European XFEL will be the first installation exceeding 2500 FPGA components in the MicroTCA form factor and will run one of the largest PROFIBUS networks. Many subsystem prototypes are already successfully in operation. An overview and status of the XFEL control system will begiven

The Large Scale European XFEL Control System: Overview and Status of the Commissioning

The European XFEL is a 3.4km long X-ray Free Electron Laser in the final construction and commissioning phase in Hamburg. It will produce 27000 bunches per second at 17.5GeV. Early 2015 a first electron beam was produced in the RF-photo-injector and the commissioning of consecutive sections is following during this and next year. The huge number and variety of devices for the accelerator, beam line, experiment, cryogenic and facility systems pose a challenging control task. Multiple systems, including industrial solutions, must be interfaced to each other. The high number of bunches requires a tight time synchronization (down to picoseconds) and high performance data acquisition systems. Fast feedbacks from front-ends, the DAQs and online analysis system with a seamless integration of controls are essential for the accelerator and the initially 6 experimental end stations. It turns out that the European XFEL will be the first installation exceeding 2500 FPGA components in the MicroTCA form factor and will run one of the largest PROFIBUS networks. Many subsystem prototypes are already successfully in operation. An overview and status of the XFEL control system will be given

First Experience with the Standard Diagnostics at the European XFEL Injector

International audienceThe injector of the European XFEL is in operation since December 2015. It includes, beside the gun and the accelerating section, containing 1.3 and a 3.9 GHz accelerating module, a variety of standard diagnostics systems specially designed for this facility. With very few exceptions, all types of diagnostics systems are installed in the injector. Therefore the operation of the injector is served to validate and prove the diagnostics characteristics for the complete European XFEL. Most of the standard diagnostics has been available for the start of beam operation and showed the evidence of first beam along the beam line. In the following months the diagnostics has been optimized and used for improvements of beam quality. First operational experiences and results from the standard beam diagnostics in the injector of the European XFEL will be reported in this contribution

First Experience with the Standard Diagnostics at the European XFEL Injector

The injector of the European XFEL started beam operation in December 2015. Besides the gun and the accelerating section, containing a 1.3 and a 3.9 GHz accelerating module, it contains a variety of standard diagnostics systems specially designed for this facility. With very few exceptions, all types of diagnostics systems of the whole XFEL are installed in the injector. Therefore the injector operation allows validating and proving of the diagnostics performances for the entire facility. Most of the standard diagnostics have been available from the very beginning of the beam operation and have been used for the monitoring of the first beam. In the following months the diagnostics have been optimized and used for improvements of beam quality. In this contribution, the first results and the operation experience of the standard beam diagnostics of the European XFEL are reported