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Slow Controls

Old Slow Controls Machines (Pre-2017)

Auxiliary DAQ Modules

The auxiliary DAQ system uses the Acromag XT series DIN-rail mounted ADC, DAC and BIO modules. The model numbers are in the format XTYYY1, where "XT" is a static prefix, "YYY" determines the function, and the "1" as the last digit denotes the ModBus/TCP version of the model. The 1 at the end is important, as the other variations will not be able to interface with CDS through EPICS.

HowTo

Configure auxiliary DAQ host machine

The following has proven to work with Debian Jessie (x64) on a Supermicro SYS-5017A-EP.

• Fresh install of Debian Jessie (or most recent stable release)

  • Username: controls

  • Optional: lightweight desktop environment LXDE

• Give sudo privileges to user controls

  su
  usermod -aG sudo controls

• Set up SSH access
  • Run

    sudo apt-get install openssh-client

  • Add lines "search martian" and "nameserver 192.168.113.104" to /etc/resolv.conf

• Set up martian and local ethernet adapters
  • Edit /etc/network/interfaces as follows:

    allow-hotplug eth0
    iface eth0 inet static
            address 192.168.113.XX
            netmask 255.255.255.0
            gateway 192.168.113.2
            dns-nameservers 192.168.113.104 131.215.125.1 131.215.139.100
            dns-search martian
    
    allow-hotplug eth1
    iface eth1 inet static
            address 192.168.11Y.1
            netmask 255.255.255.0
            network 192.168.11Y.0
            broadcast 192.168.11Y.255

  • XX is a placeholder for the machine's IP on the martian network
  • Y is placeholder for the IP root of the local subnet

    Hostname	Martian IP	Local IP
    C1SUSAUX	192.168.113.???	192.168.115.1
    C1AUXEX	192.168.113.???	192.168.114.1
    C1AUXEY	192.168.113.???	192.168.11?.1
    C1PSL	192.168.113.???	192.168.11?.1
    C1VAC	192.168.113.???	192.168.11?.1
    C1???	192.168.113.???	192.168.11?.1

• Set up remote file system access
  • Run

    sudo apt-get install nfs-common
    mkdir /cvs/cds

  • Add line "chiara:/home/cds              /cvs/cds        nfs     rw,bg,nfsvers=3" to end of /etc/fstab and run

• Install procserv for proper detaching of Modbus IOC systemd service

  sudo apt-get install procserv

Configure Acromag XT modules

Initial configuration via USB is required before the units can be used on the network. This requires:

• USB-to-miniUSB cable
• Microsoft Windows (virtual) machine

• Configuration Utilities: 9500465D.zip

The above zip file contains the setup executable to install the configuration software for all different modules. Depending on the module, a different version of the utility needs to be launched after install. As during operation, the to-be-configured device needs to be powered by a 12-32V DC voltage source, either through the designated blue plug-in terminal on the bottom, or the clip-on dock on the rail.

On a virtual machine it may be necessary to open some ports to allow the guest OS to access the physical USB device.

In USB Settings:

add a corresponding filter:

The vendor ID and product ID can be found via lsusb

Network Configuration

The primary screen of the configuration utilities looks identical for all models:

Once the device is connected to the host via USB and the correct application has been launched, it will appear in the drop down menu. On the right the device IP and other network parameters can be set. Every host machine of the auxiliary DAQ acts as a node between the martian network and a local subnet to which the Acromag modules belong and which is not directly accessible from other machines on the martian network.

• For consistency, the ADC, DAC, and BIO modules occupy different IP address spaces:

  Module	Local IP Address Space
  ADC	20-39
  DAC	40-59
  BIO	60-79

• Hostname and IP on the local network are assigned according to the following scheme:

  Hostname	Local IP
  C1XXX-ADCYY	192.168.11X.YY+20
  C1XXX-DACYY	192.168.11X.YY+40
  C1XXX-BIOYY	192.168.11X.YY+60

• Other settings (of no practical significance) are
  • Gateway is the local IP of the node machine
  • DNS is that of Chiara on the martian network: 192.168.113.104

Configure XT unit Modbus driver

# Use the following commands for TCP/IP 
# drvAsynIPPortConfigure(const char *portName,  # user-defined: used for subsequent referencing, 
#                        const char *hostInfo,  # format: "IP-Address:Port". Standard port for Modbus is 502
#                        unsigned int priority, # 
#                        int noAutoConnect,     # 
#                        int noProcessEos);     # 
#
# Examples:
# drvAsynIPPortConfigure("<TCP_PORT_NAME>","<UNIT_IP_ADDRESS>:502",0,0,1)
# drvAsynIPPortConfigure("c1auxex_xt1221a","192.168.114.11:502",0,0,1)

# modbusInterposeConfig(const char *portName,    # reference to portName created with drvAsynIPPortConfigure command
#                       modbusLinkType linkType, # 
#                       int timeoutMsec,         # define timeout for waiting for response from unit
#                       int writeDelayMsec)      #
#
# Example:
# modbusInterposeConfig("<TCP_PORT_NAME>",0,5000,0)
# modbusInterposeConfig("c1auxex_xt1221a",0,5000,0)

#drvModbusAsynConfigure(portName,                # used by channel definitions in .db file to reference this unit)
#                       tcpPortName,             # reference to portName created with drvAsynIPPortConfigure command
#                       slaveAddress,            # 
#                       modbusFunction,          # defines driver function for the unit (read register = 4, write register = 6, write single coil = 5) - see examples in next section
#                       modbusStartAddress,      # ADC and binary channel numbering starts with 0, DAC channel numbering with 1
#                       modbusLength,            # length in dataType units - see examples in next section
#                       dataType,                # 4 = 16-bit signed integers (for A/D and D/A), 0 = binary (for BIO, duh)
#                       pollMsec,                # how frequently to request a value in [ms]
#                       plcType);                #
#
# Example:
# drvModbusAsynConfigure("<PORT_NAME>","<TCP_PORT_NAME>",0,<modbusFunction>,<modbusStartAddress>,<modbusLength>,<dataType>,<pollMsec>,"Acromag")

XT1221

drvModbusAsynConfigure("C1AUXEX_XT1221A_ADC","c1auxex_xt1221a",0,4,0,8,4,32,"Acromag")

XT1541

drvModbusAsynConfigure("C1AUXEX_XT1541A_DAC","c1auxex_xt1541a",0,6,1,8,4,32,"Acromag")
drvModbusAsynConfigure("C1AUXEX_XT1541A_BIO","c1auxex_xt1541a",0,5,0,4,0,32,"Acromag")

XT1111 & 1121

drvModbusAsynConfigure("C1AUXEX_XT1111A_BIO","c1auxex_xt1111a",0,6,0,4,0,32,"Acromag")

Define EPICS channels

Note: Modbus/TCP is simply a protocol for sending commands via TCP that the XT units can interpret, as in read/write the correct register values to/from the channels. There may be multiple ways to define the channels have the same effect. The settings reported here have been found to work as intended.

Many of the fields in the EPICS records are somewhat supplemental and not required for the channel definitions, but some have real effect in MEDM screens, such as upper limits on slider bars and the such.

XT1221

field(INP,"@asynMask(<ADC_UNIT_PORT_NAME> 0 -16)MODBUS_DATA")

XT1541

record(ao, "<AO_CHANNEL_NAME>")
{
        field(DTYP,"asynInt32")
        field(OUT,"@asynMask(<DAC_UNIT_PORT_NAME>, 0, -16)MODBUS_DATA")
}

record(bo, "<BO_CHANNEL_NAME>")
{
        field(DTYP,"asynUInt32Digital")
        field(OUT,"@asynMask(<DAC_UNIT_PORT_NAME>, 3, 0x1)")
}

XT1111 & 1121

record( bo, "CHANNEL_NAME")
{
        field(DTYP,"asynUInt32Digital")
        field(OUT,"@asynMask(BIO0_Reg, 0, 0x1)")
}