MOB3O01
LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
ELI-BEAMS, Prague, Czech Republic
Czech Republic Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physics, Prague, Czech Republic
ELI-Beamlines, under construction in Prague, is the high-energy and repetition-rate site of the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) project scheduled for 2018 user capability. The main objective is delivery of ultra-short high-energy laser pulses for the generation of secondary electromagnetic radiation and accelerated particles for both fundamental and applied research. One of the four planned beamlines is the High Repetition Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS) being designed and constructed by LLNL in partnership with FZU IoP. The high average power short pulse laser will be capable to deliver Petawatt laser pulses at repetition rate 10 Hz. The system requires a high level of automation to safely and robustly operate. The integrated control system provides automatic operation of the high-energy machine and safety controls ensure fail-safe automated operation. The HAPLS control system requirements, design and architecture will be described, which consists of ~2,000 control points, 50 realtime computational nodes, and interfaces to supervisory systems, all based on a flexible and scalable LabVIEW framework to manage this complex system.
ELI-BEAMS, Prague, Czech Republic
OSL, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Czech Republic Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physics, Prague, Czech Republic
The ELI-Beamlines facility aims to provide a selection of high-energy and high repetition-rate TW-PW femtosecond lasers driving high intensity XUV/X-ray and accelerated particle secondary sources for applications in materials, medical, nuclear and high-field physics sectors. The highest repetition rate laser in the facility will be the L1 laser, producing 1 kHz, 20 fs laser pulses of 200 mJ energy. This laser is based entirely on picosecond chirped-pulse parametric amplification and solid-state pump lasers. The high repetition rate combined with kW pump powers and advanced technologies calls for a highly automated, reliable and flexible control system. Current progress on the L1 control system is discussed, focussing on the architecture, software and hardware choices. Special attention is given to the LabVIEW-EPICS framework that was developed for the ELI Beamlines lasers. This framework offers comprehensive and scalable EPICS integration while allowing the full range of LabVIEW real-time and FPGA embedded targets to be leveraged in order to provide adaptable, high-performance control and rapid development.