Fusion Engineering and Design 48 (2000) 213 – 218 TCABR data acquisition system A.N. Fagundes a, *, W.P. Sa ´ a , P.M.S.A. Coelho b a Instituto de Fı ´sica, Uniersidade de Sa ˜o Paulo Cx Postal 66318 05315 -970 Sa ˜o Paulo, SP, Brazil b Centro de Fusa ˜o Nuclear Association EURATOM/IST, 1096 Lisbon Codex, Portugal Received 30 July 1999; received in revised form 4 January 2000; accepted 29 March 2000 Abstract A brief description of the design of the data acquisition system for the TCABR tokamak is presented. The system comprises the VME standard instrumentation incorporating CAMAC instrumentation through the use of a GPIB interface. All the necessary data for programming different parts of the equipment, as well as the repertoire of actions for the machine control, are stored in a DBMS, with friendly interfaces. Public access software is used, where feasible, in the development of codes. The TCABR distinguished feature is the virtual lack of frontiers in upgrading, either in hardware or software. © 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. Keywords: VME; CAMAC; Data acquisition www.elsevier.com/locate/fusengdes 1. Introduction and directives The TCABR Data Acquisition System (‘TCAqs’) refers to all the devices, computer and computing schemes that will support and register the TCABR tokamak activity. It has been con- ceived so that operation and maintenance should a matter of concern only to the staff directly involved in these tasks and not for the general user. Therefore, the users can direct their atten- tion to the machine and the physics being made with it. Automated procedures are to be imple- mented as much and as complete as possible in order to reduce the burden of the machine opera- tion, data reduction and analysis and the care for security and safety activities. These tasks will constitute routine machine actions executed by computers under the supervision of a manager. Efforts are being made to provide a modern sys- tem, open to be upgraded in all directions, using standard elements and also using, as much as possible, software of public access. Neither geo- graphical distances nor the number of simulta- neous users shall impose any severe restraining conditions on the system. The main goals to pursue in TCAqs construc- tion are: (1) efficiency; (2) speed; (3) simplicity; (4) easy of use and maintenance; (5) possibility of using different instrumental standards, through proper interfacing; (6) no limits in upgrading; (7) no limits on the number of users; (8) availability of software. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +55-11-8186908; fax: +55- 11-8186749. E-mail address: fagundes@if.usp.br (A.N. Fagundes). 0920-3796/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. PII:S0920-3796(00)00129-0