Particle accelerators are made of many components to control and monitor the beams produced. The physicists and operators need to be able to remotely control and monitor these elements; this is the role of the control system. Placed between the operators and the accelerator hardware, the control system’s job is to set reference values (a.k.a. settings) and states in active elements (e.g. power converters), to read instruments, to monitor the health of sub-systems, and to diagnose faults, etc. 

The Controls Group is responsible for the specification, design, procurement, integration, installation, commissioning and operation of the controls infrastructure for all CERN Accelerators, their transfer lines and the Experimental Areas. Support is also provided to the technical infrastructure services that rely on standard controls facilities provided by the group.              

The domain of responsibility extends from the embedded real-time front-end computers in collaboration with the equipment groups up to the applications software for operations developed in collaboration with the operations group on the basis of a set of standardised hardware and software controls components. 

For a detailed introduction to the activities of the Controls Group, read the Introduction to the BE-CO Controls System document.