Speaker
Description
The learning curve for beamline control systems is often challenging due to the use of command line controls, or various custom made GUIs. Access to beamlines is limited and time constrained, so learning command line controls or scripts takes up valuable time that could be used for the experiment.
This talk focuses on the creation of a web browser application that acts as a beamline controls system. This app eliminates the learning curve for beamline controls by providing an intuitive browser based interface that utilizes a modern open source controls system (Bluesky [1]) on the backend. It also creates a common interface that can be used at all EPICS-based [2] beamlines to unify the user experience.
By studying workflows of beamline scientists at ALS, we established a set of minimum user requirements as a starting point to decide the essential UI components and functionality. Additionally, existing projects that provide similar browser based UI for control systems were reviewed including ESRF Daiquiri [3], Diamond Light Source UI Library [4], and the ANSTO Beamline GUI [5]. These existing applications and UI libraries helped guide decisions on suitable frameworks and architecture.
The Web-browser app was initially developed using simulated motors and area detectors to mock connections with physical hardware devices to enable offline development and testing. We then deployed the solution with physical devices at the ALS beamline 5.3.1.
The current web app works with both simulated devices and physical devices. Live updates to motor positions and area detector frames can be displayed on the browser, and the motor positions can be set with the app.
The initial results prove that a browser based controls system is feasible at ALS. Future development will continue to expand on this core functionality to incorporate the Bluesky Run Engine for experiment planning and the Queue Server for instrument coordination.
References:
[1] Allan, D. et al. (2019) ‘Bluesky’s Ahead: A Multi-Facility Collaboration for an a la Carte Software Project for Data Acquisition and Management’, Synchrotron Radiation News, 32(3), pp. 19–22. doi: 10.1080/08940886.2019.1608121.
[2] EPICS, https://epics.anl.gov/
[3] Fisher S, Oscarsson M, De Nolf W, Cotte M, Meyer J. Daiquiri: a web-based user interface framework for beamline control and data acquisition. J Synchrotron Radiat. 2021 Nov 1;28(Pt 6):1996-2002. doi: 10.1107/S1600577521009851. Epub 2021 Oct 29. PMID: 34738955; PMCID: PMC8570207.
[4] Diamond Light Source, https://diamondlightsource.github.io/web-ui-components/
[5] ANSTO, https://github.com/bluesky/bluesky-web/files/14053727/ANSTO.Australian.Synchrotron.beamline.GUIs.pdf
| Abstract publication | I agree that the abstract will be published on the web site |
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