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CERN Uses NI LabVIEW Software and PXI Hardware to Control World’s Largest Particle Accelerator

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Superconducting magnets are used to control the trajectory of the beams, which contain enough energy to melt 500 kg of copper.

Author(s):
Alessandro Masi - CERN
Roberto Losito - CERN

Industry:
Research, Machines/Mechanics

Products:
Data Acquisition, Real-Time Module, R Series, LabVIEW, SoftMotion Controllers, PXI/CompactPCI, FPGA Module

The Challenge:
Measuring and controlling, in real time, the position of bulk components to absorb energetic particles out of the nominal beam core with high reliability and accuracy at the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The Solution:
Using LabVIEW, the LabVIEW Real-Time Module, the LabVIEW FPGA Module, and NI SoftMotion software with NI R Series reconfigurable I/O hardware for PXI to develop an FPGA-based motion control system capable of intercepting misguided or unstable particle beams.

"We selected the LabVIEW and PXI solution for the deployment platform due to the small size, ruggedness, and cost savings over the traditional VME and programmable logic controller-based model. "

 

Author Information:
For more information on this Case Study, contact:
Roberto Losito
CERN
Tel: 41-22-767-6263
roberto.losito@cern.ch

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