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Abstract: Ten years ago, the PandABox platform was first introduced in Melbourne during the MOCRAF workshop. Originally developed through a collaboration between Synchrotron SOLEIL and Diamond Light Source, PandABox was designed to support multi-technique scanning and feedback applications. Since then, the platform has been widely adopted across synchrotron facilities worldwide—including SOLEIL, DIAMOND, MAX IV, and DESY in Europe; NSLS-II in the United States; HEPS in Asia; and SESAME in Middle-East. With the fourth-generation light sources, there is an increasing need for high-performance, multi-channel encoder processing to enable synchronized data acquisition and motion control during continuous scanning experiments—now a critical feature for automation. In response to these evolving demands, and following discussions within the LEAPS-INNOV WP5.3 project, the opportunity to jointly develop a new state-of-the-art equipment became evident. This effort has since expanded into a broader collaboration that now includes MAX IV, ALBA, and DESY alongside the original partners. This paper presents the new generation of the PandABox platform, offering a comprehensive overview of its integration within EPICS and TANGO control systems. It also outlines future functionalities and the framework of the ongoing international collaboration driving its development.

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Abstract: Diamond-II will require two types of stripline kickers during normal operation: the kicker actuators for the transverse multibunch feedback system; and the injection stripline kickers which enable transparent injection. Both are very similar in design as they need to kick individual bunches without disturbing the following bunches. The main difference is the voltage requirements. The feedback kicker is expected to be driven with a maximum peak voltage of ~100 V using a broadband power amplifier, whereas the injection stripline kicker is driven with a trapezoid voltage signal with a maximum peak voltage of 20 kV using a dedicated power supply. This paper will describe the design and prototyping for both stripline kickers along with discussion of the required steps to get to final designs for each type.

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Abstract: Several laboratories and facilities recently started joined efforts towards the realization of a python accelerator middle layer (pyAML) for control, tuning and optimization. This software is intended as a successor to matlab middle layer (MML), inheriting its features but also expanding to new ones (e.g., nonlinear optics and machine learning tools). Presently, several codes are available that provide some of the desired features. These codes have been adapted and tested at several of the participating laboratories to give input to the design of the pyAML. The most relevant features and results have been analyzed and are presented here together with the implications for the pyAML design.

Open Access

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Abstract: Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron light source, operating 32 beamlines with an electron beam energy of 3.0 GeV. Over 14,000 researchers across life and physical sciences from academia and industry use Diamond to conduct experiments. Approval has been granted for the Diamond-II project. This machine upgrade [Citation1] will take Diamond, a third-generation light source, into a new era of scientific opportunity. This will exploit fourth generation developments in accelerator lattices and bring with it ­dramatic gains in brightness, particularly in the hard X-ray regime. Replacing the current double bend achromat lattice with a multi bend achromat will reduce electron beam emittance and increase the brightness and coherence of the synchrotron light. The design will increase the beam energy from 3.0 to 3.5 GeV, increasing photon flux at higher energies. The upgrade offers brighter beams, but also a capacity increase allowing for the upgrade of existing bending magnet beamlines to insertion devices and for five further insertion device “flagship” beamlines to be constructed on long (5 m or 8 m) low beta straights, three of which will be realised as part of the ­Diamond-II project. Substantial developments across controls, software and computing will maximise the scientific opportunities this upgrade will afford, and the knowledge gained. Experiments will become more complex, conducted with higher spatial and temporal resolutions, with need to store significantly greater data volumes. Developments will handle increasingly faster detectors, deliver rapid data processing and reduction, and support greater automation of experiments, data reduction and ­analysis. New data processing techniques will be introduced and developed, including the exploitation of recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques. A more open software ­environment will facilitate greater collaboration between software and scientist and the scope of services provided will be extended to include post-visit analysis provision. A new extensible software framework will address obsolescence, modernise software, and adapt for the changing needs and expectations of Diamond’s users.

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Abstract: Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron facility that produces synchrotron radiation for research. At source points of synchrotron radiation, the electron beam stability relative to the beam size is critical for the optimal performance of synchrotrons. The current requirement at Diamond is that variations in the beam position should not exceed 10% of the beam size for frequencies up to 140Hz. This is guaranteed by the fast orbit feedback that actuates hundreds of corrector magnets at a sampling rate of 10kHz to reduce beam vibrations down to sub-micron levels. For the next-generation upgrade, Diamond-II, the beam stability requirements will be raised to 3% up to 1kHz. Consequently, the sampling rate will be increased to 100kHz and an additional array of fast correctors will be introduced, which precludes the use of the existing controller. This thesis develops two different control approaches to accommodate the additional array of fast correctors at Diamond-II: internal model control based on the generalised singular value decomposition (GSVD) and model predictive control (MPC). In contrast to existing controllers, the proposed approaches treat the control problem as a whole and consider both arrays simultaneously. To achieve the sampling rate of 100kHz, this thesis proposes to reduce the computational complexity of the controllers in several ways, such as by exploiting symmetries of the magnetic lattice. To validate the controllers for Diamond-II, a real-time control system is implemented on high-performance hardware and integrated in the existing synchrotron. As a first-of-its-kind application to electron beam stabilisation in synchrotrons, this thesis presents real-world results from both MPC and GSVD-based controllers, demonstrating that the proposed approaches meet theoretical expectations with respect to performance and robustness in practice. The results from this thesis, and in particular the novel GSVD-based method, were successfully adopted for the Diamond-II upgrade. This may enable the use of more advanced control systems in similar large-scale and high-speed applications in the future.