LHC collimation controls system for run III operation

Abstract

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collimation system is designed to protect the machine against unavoidable beam losses. The collimation system for the LHC Run 3, starting in 2022, consists of more than 100 movable collimators located along the 27 km long ring and in the transfer lines. The cleaning performance and machine protection role of the system critically depend on the accurate positioning of the collimator jaws. The collimation control system in place enables remote control and appropriate diagnostics of the relevant parameters. This ensures that the collimators dynamically follow optimum settings in all phases of the LHC operational cycle. In this paper, an overview of the top-level software tools available for collimation control from the control room is given. These tools range from collimator alignment applications to generation tools for collimator settings, as well as collimator scans, settings checks and machine protection sequences. Amongst these tools the key upgrades and newly introduced tools for the Run 3 are presented.