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Abstract:
WENDELSTEIN 7-X as a super-conducting stellarator will be capable to run plasma discharges up to 30 minutes. The segment control concept [1] will allow the successive execution of multiple physic scenarios during one steady state discharge, as well as short pulse operation during commissioning of the machine or operating range enhancements. For both operation modes adequate tools for preparation, execution and monitoring of a plasma discharge experiment have to be provided. This contribution presents the user interaction concepts, the embedding within the segment control and first experiences with prototypes. For the three main tasks of the interactive control of a plasma discharge special adapted software will be used:
1. An specialized object editor [2] will be used for set-up of the control units’ configuration and preparation of physic scenarios.
2. A session leader program will be used for validation of the planned scenarios, for execution and manipulation of a plasma discharge.
This central interface for the session leader has to apply both extensive manual interaction possibilities and a high degree of intelligent automation. On one hand there will be options for on-line sequence editing or even direct control of specific values within the experiment. On the other hand it is aimed to implement sensible sequence transitions and error recovery strategies – so that a discharge can be run automatically to a large extent.
3. Monitors will be used for examining the discharge progress; in fact a sequence monitor for watching the sequences execution, and a data monitor for checking the physical data of the running discharge.
For an operating surveillance of all involved control units a notification server is responsible for displaying, storing, and retrieving status messages sent by the units.
The software implementation has to meet several requirements arising from the distributed but hierarchical structure of the experiment and its control concept, as well as the users’ needs, such as interface compatibility with the control components and the interaction software packages, sufficient on-time suitability, modularity, customization and platform independence.
[1] H. Laqua, H. Niedermeyer, and J. Schacht: Control system of WENDELSTEIN 7-X experiment, Fusion Engineering and Design Vol. 66-68 (2003), pp. 669-673.
[2] H. Kühntopf et al.: Specialized editor for processing objects in a database to prepare discharges for WENDELSTEIN 7-X: IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition, and Remote Participation for Fusion Research, 2005.
