NI combines Labview with Epics IOC

Epics IOC is used in the control systems of particle accelerators, tokamak fusion devices and other big physics applications.

With Labview Epics IOC integration, engineers and scientists can use Labview as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution for integrating industrial control and data-acquisition hardware, a task that previously required custom driver development.

The Epics set of open-source control-system applications is widely used in particle-physics experimentation systems in the US and other countries.

NI engineers worked with Slovenia-based Cosylab, a provider of turnkey particle-accelerator control systems, to implement an interface between Labview and the Epics IOC on embedded hardware for the linear accelerator project at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) in New Mexico.

The solution, based on the Wind River VxWorks real-time operating system, incorporated the NI CompactRIO programmable automation controller and demonstrated that, with Labview Epics IOC integration, Epics can run simultaneously with the Labview Real-Time Module to interface with I/O that is based on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology for high-speed data-acquisition and control.

CompactRIO offers an embedded hardware platform that features FPGA-based I/O.

With FPGA technology, systems become inherently parallel, efficient and reliable, which makes FPGA-based hardware valuable for critical systems such as those in particle accelerators.

Scientists can also program FPGAs using Labview, for enhanced system flexibility.

The Labview Epics solution is ideal for streamlining the control of tokamaks and accelerators because it reduces the need for time-intensive hardware development and custom driver implementation.