IGISOL control system modernization

Since 2010, the IGISOL research facility at the Accelerator laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä has gone through major changes. Comparing the new IGISOL4 facility to the former IGISOL3 setup, the size of the facility has more than doubled, the length of the ion transport line has grown to about 50 m with several measurement setups and extension capabilities, and the accelerated ions can be fed to the facility from two different cyclotrons. The facility has evolved to a system comprising hundreds of manual, pneumatic and electronic devices. These changes have prompted the need to modernize also the facility control system taking care of monitoring and transporting the ion beams. In addition, the control system is also used for some scientific data acquisition tasks. Basic guidelines for the IGISOL control system update have been remote control, safety, usability, reliability and maintainability. Legacy components have had a major significance in the control system hardware and for the renewed control system software the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has been chosen as the architectural backbone.