Experiments at the ESRF Tango at beamlines

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Experiments at the ESRFTango at beamlines

• Vicente Rey Bakaikoa
• Tango Workshop at DESY / 18 September 2007

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1. ESRF, Beamlines, BLISS2. Software for
beamlines3. Future evolution4. Tango at
beamlines
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ESRF Beamlines

• 29 ESRF beamlines
• 12 CRGs

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ESRF / Computing

TBS / Experiments Division
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BLISS / Software development and support
Computing Services
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BLISS

• Beamline Instrument Software Support
• 18 software engineers
• Giving service to ALL ESRF beamlines including
  CRGs

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BLISS developments

• Scope
• From low-level drivers to data analysis /
  visualization as far as concerns the successful
  running of the experiments
• Four development areas
• Hardware support software
• Graphical interfaces
• Automation projects
• Infrastructure software

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BLISS / Support

• Beamline instrumentation projects
• Participate to beamline instrumentation projects
• Small software developments
• Experiment macros
• Beamline specific GUI
• Software consulting / auditing
• Beamline support installation and problem
  resolution

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Beamline Control System
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A brief history of experiment control system

• Circa 1990
• Control choices VME (os9) / HP Sun
• Taco development for accelerator control
• 1994
• First beamlines open. Control system based on VME
  / Taco
• SPEC used as main control program
• 2001
• Modernization efforts
• ID31 control uses only Linux
• 2004
• BLISS graphical framework
• Tango on beamlines
• 2005-2007
• Automation efforts
• Icepap, musst, frelon 2k, medipix

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and there be light (at the beamlines)

• In the beginning there was TACO spec
• TACO
• Developed at the ESRF
• Objects in C. RPC communication.
• spec
• Commercial program for diffractometer control
• And some other features

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Taco

• Developed at the ESRF
• Used also at
• FRM-II neutron source (Garching-Munich)
• Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (South
  Africa).
• Anka
• Used massively at all ESRF beamlines
• 92 different servers distributed
• 7000 devices exported

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spec

• Pseudo motor/counter handling
• Client / server mode over TCP/IP
• TACO and epics
• And also
• Data arrays with math. functionality
• Statistics, fitting
• Interface to C user code

• Move, Count, Take data, Plot, and Save
• Built-in macro language
• Built-in code for diffractometers (kappa, fourc,
  sixc, surf, )
• Configuration
• Many motor controllers, counter-timers, CCD,
  Mcas integrated
• Generic I/O through CAMAC, VME, GPIB, Serial
  Line, Socket, Bus coupler and I/O ports

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Experiment visualization / evaluation

• Standalone tools for visualization
• Should work both online or offline
• Applications that users can bring along with
  their data
• Emphasis on performance.
• Non-intrusive
• Evolution with time and technologies

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Graphical user interface

• BLISS Graphical Framework
• Editor
• Application
• Hardware Repository / Hardware Objects
• Bricks

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Automation

• Optics automation
• Beam delivery
• Mirror alignment
• Experiment and sample handling
• Mx data collection
• Automatic (EMBL) and assisted sample centring
• Data analysis
• Experiment annotation, book keeping
• Remote access

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Handling software distribution

• RPM based
• Central database
• Manual / no automatic install
• Applications for
• Creating packages / versions
• Beamline installations
• Web monitoring

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The fun continues
some challenges ahead
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What beamline software in next years?

• Detector systems
• Beamline control evolution
• Nano positioning, sample environment
• Graphical interfaces
• Automation projects
• Fast acquisitions
• Data visualization, online analysis, large
  dataset handling
• Accrued beamline support

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Detectors Computing

• Essential on upgrade program / cutting edge
  technologies
• Commercialization / collaboration
• CCD
• Growing size Mar / ADSC
• Growing speed Sarnoff CCD / 1 tomography in 0.8s
• 500 frames/sec 150 MB/sec
• Example 75 frames / 40x slowdown
• Pixel detectors
• Maxipix ( 5 x 256 x 256 pixels) ESRF -
• 1000 frames / sec 600 MB/sec
• Expected limit datalink / disk speed
• Today
• 500 frame / sec for 1 x 256 x 256
• Pilatus 6M ( 2400 x 2328 pixels ) SLS/ PSI -
• 2ms readout 500 fr / sec 5 GB/sec

Click to start Sarnoff demo
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Detectors / and still more to come
CMOS Photron Ultima 10 bits Example 4000
fps Already tested at ID15 at 10000 fps (512 x
256) 2 Gb/sec
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libccd

• First started by D.Fernandez
• Goal
• Create a library to implement services for
  detector operation. These should include computer
  resources (memory, disk saving), soft ROIs,
  etc
• Specific code for one detector should implement
  just basic access to the detector and declare to
  the library the functionalities that the hardware
  is able to handle
• Integration code will just have the same
  interface for all detectors through the libccd
  library.
• Device servers and low-level detector software
  should then be libccd compliant, allowing for
  seamless integration of detectors with optimal
  functionality in any system Tango but also EPICS
  or Tine or.
• This is a call for partners

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Beamline control evolution

• Issue
• Ensure the evolution of the beamline control
  system for constant modernization
• Follow up with functionalities offered by
  electronics developments
• Participate from/to developments in other
  European synchrotrons
• Software
• Evolution with linux kernels, hardware
  protocols.
• Consider embedded solutions
• Tango participate to / profit of the advantages
  of the collaboration

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Fast / Continuous Acquisitions

• Enabled by electronics
• Detectors with data buffering and near- zero
  readout ( kinetics, pixel, mca buffering)
• Synchronization cards
• Intelligent motor controllers
• Synchronization buffering
• From VCT6 synchronization to ISG suite
• MUSST for signal synchronization
• Fully programmable features in Icepap
• Software must handle them
• Experiment sequences must be reconsidered

13-element detector 4xXIA DXP-XMAP
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Data handling

• Visualization
• multi-dimensional, virtual instruments
• Online analysis and experiment estimation
• Navigate through data
• Data formats and metadata
• Experiment databases

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ESRF beamlines and
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Tango usage statistics
Beamlines
Total Tango DB Running 1 server
ESRF 29 21 13
CRGs 11 5 3
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Tango usage statistics
Servers and devices
Servers Devices (BLs)
Vacuum et al. VacGauge, PlcVacuumValve, Libera 35 (6)
Video CCD Ccd1394, Falcon, Prosilica, Pixium, DirectShow 18 (10)
MX SampleChanger (embl) and Microdiff (embl) 9 (4)
GPIB, Serial GPIB (soleil), Serial, WinSerial 14 (7)
Other Electrometers (soleil), Datasocket, Opcds, Lakeshore (python), RBRTemperature, Ltr90, Agilent, SLS218 12 (4)
All 21 88 (16)
ID14 - EH3 20 different 130 (1)
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Tango applications

• Jive
• save and load server data very useful
• maybe missing a more instrument oriented
  configuration tool
• what about a template option for device
  properties?
• Pogo
• Cool. Also for Python generation
• Astor/Starter
• not used. bliss_dserver instead
• Astor would be useful but it has no support for
  Taco
• ATK applications
• Jvacuum talks both Taco and Tango
• See for BLISS graphical framework instead

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Server classes / Developed by BLISS

• Video
• Falcon, Prosilica, DirectShow and Ccd1394
• (adapted class from CCD abstract class)
• All sharing code (bpm, jpeg coding) and
  implementation
• Other
• Python server Lakeshore
• Pixium flat panel detector

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Tango and spec

• spec talks to Tango devices today through a Taco
  wrapper
• Taco esrf_io(id05/meteor/2,
  DevStatus)
• Tango cmd esrf_io(tango//katapum10000/id05/fa
  lcon/1, DevStatus)
• Tango attr esrf_io(tango//katapum10000/id05
  /falcon/1/status, DevRead)
• attributes.mac to create pseudo counters or
  motors on tango attributes
• No events, error handling, attribute quality
• No Tango classes accessed from spec C core
• ( but ccd classes accessed through server
  taco/tango wrapper)

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Other clients

• Jvacuum
• Talks both Taco and Tango
• Uses ATK
• BLISS graphical framework
• Through PyTango

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Experience with PyTango

• Qt PyTango, framework very nice
• But still
• Improve handling of Device / Attribute
  proxies/factories
• Unsubscribe automatic when callback object
  destroyed
• More pythonic interface?

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BLISS TANGO wish list

• Spec and tango
• Integrating specific classes in spec ( CCD,
  Motor, etc)
• Exposure of Tango data types, error handling,
  attribute richness and events for C clients
• ( foreseen on plans for Tango 7.0)
• Experiment control system
• Missing instrument oriented configuration tools
• Knowledge of experiments missing
• Sharing
• Sharing of classes in the collaboration is very
  limited.
• Promote abstract classes is good.
• Promote functional classes and libraries is
  REALLY good ( see for libccd, video (bpm, jpeg
  coding, etc..)

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BLISS Tango to-do list

• Bring our classes to sourceforge
• Participate to
• specification and implementation of tangospec
• device pool

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Tango Batteries

• I had a dream
• Get the Tango control system to know about
  beamline control
• Integrating in Tango the concepts of beamline
  control (positioning, acquisition,
  synchronization, experiment sequencing, services
  ) in a generic manner
• Get Tango to provide a ready to use system for
  final scientist users
• Through a generic beamline application
• Provide a configuration tool oriented to
  equipment / experiments
• Easy installation
• ( a lot of this in device pool project )

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Conclusion

• Tango presence at ESRF beamlines is still small
  but it has a long life ahead
• Profit of the Tango collaboration to catalyze
  European collaboration on beamline control
  systems

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Thank you