Data acquisition, processing and control for the SYRMEP/FRONTRAD experiment

The SYRMEP/FRONTRAD experiment is performing a R&D program in order to assess the performances of a scanning X-ray detector operating at the ELETTRA Synchrotron light source, in an energy range optimized for mammographic imaging. The detector itself consists of a stack of silicon detectors positioned edge-on with respect to the X-ray beam direction. The data acquisition system must perform several tasks: from the control of the motors during the scanning procedure, to the collection of the data that are recorded on CAMAC modules and refer to the slots of the image while it is forming. The system has to process the data during the scan and to store them on a local disk. In addition, the environmental conditions (global dose measured by an ionization chamber, temperature, dark current of the detector and status of the electronics power supplies) have to be monitored and the proper action taken. We have implemented a multiprocessing system using TCP/IP and RPC to manage the tasks. The overall control is done by a GUI built using the Tcl/Tk package.