Operation and remote collaboration tools in view of the ITER neutral beam test facility experimental campaigns

The ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) serves as a crucial testing ground for the development and validation of neutral beam injection systems essential for ITER’s fusion power plant. For this purpose two experimental campaigns in the two prototypes (SPIDER and MITICA) are conducted within the NBTF. Collaborative efforts at the NBTF, involving scientists from different institutions across Europe, India and Japan, emphasize the importance of data sharing and advanced computing infrastructures. Common computing platforms facilitate analysis of scientific data, aiding informed decision-making. Remote collaboration tools play a crucial role in fostering communication among global experts. The involvement of EUROfusion and ITER experts in strict collaboration accelerates ITER’s neutral beam heating and diagnostic systems development. Moreover, remote participation, data visualization, and efficient operation tools are essential for enhancing accessibility and collaboration in scientific research. These tools enable researchers to remotely access and control experimental facilities, visualize data in real-time, and collaborate with colleagues worldwide. This paper presents the design and implementation of operation tools based on EPICS and MDSplus, developed using Grafana, Python, and NodeJS, to enhance remote participation, data visualization, plant operation and collaboration in fusion experiments. A key improvement in SPIDER’s pulse repetition rate, now reaching 300 s, was achieved through pre-approved pulses and automatic repetition, significantly increasing the average daily pulses. By using ITER CODAC standards and open-source tools like PostgreSQL, Redis, Grafana, MDSplus, and EPICS, we have optimized both operations and remote collaborations, improving security and efficiency in real-time trend visualization, automating experimental setup verification, optimizing experimental time and performance using real-time pulse sequence reconfiguration.