’intelligent’ Automatic Beam Steering and Shaping

The strategy for Automated Beam Steering and Shaping (ABS) in the PS complex is to use theoretical response matrices calculated from an optics database. The main reason for this is that it enforces a certain understanding of the machine optics. A drawback is that the validation of such a matrix can be a lengthy process. However, every time a correction is made using an ABS program, a partial measurement of the response matrix is effectively performed. Since the ABS programs are very frequently used, the full matrices could thus be measured on an almost daily basis, provided this information is retained. The information can be used in two ways. Either the program passively logs the data to be analysed off-line, or the information is directly fed back to the matrix, which makes the program ’learn’ as it executes. The data logging provides a powerful machine debugging tool, since deviations between the measured and theoretical matrices can be traced back to incorrect optical parameters. The ’learning’ mode ensures that the correction will always converge. Implementation details and simulation results are discussed.