Detector Control System for JUNO Experiment

The Jiangmen underground neutrino observatory (JUNO) is a new generation of medium-baseline reactor neutrino experiments. Its main goal is to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy by accurately measuring the energy spectrum of nuclear reactor antineutrinos and achieving the world’s best level. To meet the specific requirements of JUNO, a detector control system (DCS) was developed to strictly constrain the various parameters in the experiment. The DCS is a critical component that enables data recording and ensures safe operation during the experiment. This DCS is a highly scalable solution based on the experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS). To control the very diverse equipment of JUNO, our scheme also relies on programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and uses the IPbus protocol. In this article, we detail how different types of equipment have been integrated into the proposed DCS and show the effectiveness of this system in JUNO. Our design approach and some of the elements we developed could be reused in other projects.