The ATLAS facility (Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System) is located at the Argonne National Laboratory. The facility is a tool used in nuclear and atomic physics research focusing primarily on heavy-ion physics. Due to the complexity of the operation of the facility, a computerized control system has always been required. The nature of the design of the accelerator has allowed the accelerator to evolve over time to its present configuration. The control system for the accelerator has evolved as well, primarily in the form of additions to the original design. A project to upgrade the ATLAS control system replacing most of the major original components was first reported on in the Fall of 1992 during the Symposium Of North Eastern Accelerator Personnel (SNEAP) at the AECL, Chalk River Laboratories. A follow-up report was given in the Fall of 1993 at the First Workshop on Applications of Vsystem Software and Users` Meeting at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. This project is presently in its third and final phase. This paper briefly describes the ATLAS facility, summarizes the control system upgrade project, and explains the intended control system configuration at the completion of the final phase of the project.

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The final phase of the ATLAS control system upgrade

Certain components of the ATLAS control system are two generations behind today's technology. It has been decided to upgrade the control system. in part, by replacing Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-11 computers with present-day VAX technology. Two primary goals have been defined for the upgraded control system. The first of these goals is to keep additional in-house'' written software to a minimum, while providing the portability necessary to ensure the continued use of existing software. In an attempt to achieve this goal, commercially-available software has been utilized to provide a foundation for the final control-system configuration. The second goal is to develop the new control system, while not interfering with accelerator operations. This paper describes some of the motivation for upgrading the ATLAS control system, the basic features of the new control system, and the present status of the system's development.

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M. Ferraretto

Papers

Status of the ATLAS control system upgrade