THE ISL-CONTROL-SYSTEM UPGRADE: A MOVE FROM AN IN-HOUSE IMPLEMENTATION TO A COMMERCIAL CONTROL-SYSTEM

The control system software of the ISL-accelerator facility at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin is presently being converted and upgraded from a system which was developed in-house to the commercially available Vsystem by VISTA Inc. The upgrade plan for the continuously running facility has to cope with the maintenance of the installed hardware, with the maintenance of the old control system platform, the port of the knowledge base and tools contained in the old system to the new platform and the maintenance of the new platform. The maintenance includes updates due to modifications of the accelerator, of accelerator components or of operational rules. All this has to be provided with as little interference with every-day operation as possible. The paper discusses the added value gained by using a commercial system and to which extent the commercial system covers tools and features which were part of the previous system and its operational procedures.