Magnet Control and Monitoring System

The magnet control and monitoring system is one of the crucial parts for reliable and safe operation of the LNCMI (Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses) high field resistive magnets (up to 35 T), the 24 MW power supply and the cooling system. To take advantage of latest electronic components and real-time software, we decided to upgrade the entire system: network infrastructure, user consol, magnet safety system and power supply controller. In our contribution we will present the new setup. Our new control system is an assembly of in-house electronic and real-time software development. The new electronic components consist of different converters providing enhanced resolution (up to 24 bits) for a more precise measure of the field. We also developed tailored magnet coil voltage conditioning device used by the safety system. Software developments now provide enhanced process control between the different parts by using a real-time operating system. It also simplifies the network used to remotely control the power supply. In the new solution, it is based on RS485 communication over optical fiber. Finally we will show that the choice of Linux, customized with the real-time patch RTAI, is the main key to bring efficiency and flexibility for further extensions.