Modelling and Control of Magnetic Fusion Plants Based on ARM CPU and STM32 MCU Platforms

This thesis is devoted to the modelling, design and implementation of systems that can be integrated into magnetic fusion plant controllers. These systems, usually referred to as control and data acquisition systems, supply the interface to all the instrumentation required for the nuclear fusion plant. At an extremely high level of description, control and data acquisition systems can be divided into two main subsystems: plasma control and integrated control systems. The plasma control system (PCS) controls the fusion reactor runtime operation, it runs on heavily customised hardware platforms real-time, high frequency, data acquisition and control loops. The integrated control system (ICS), instead, controls the auxiliary plants like electric distributors, water, and cryogenic cooling pumps, running on off-the-shelf hardware (PLC/PAC/PXI). The presented work result falls under the PCS subsystem categorisation and follows a path starting with the study of the model for the vertical stabilisation of the plasma position, with an insight on the RFX experiment. The study also evaluated the possibility to implement a circuital analogous of the plasma model, to enable the rapid development and validation of real-time control strategies using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) platforms. The second part of the thesis will present the contribution to the development of MARTe2, a framework deployed in several fusion real-time control systems PCS. The contribution was aimed (1) at the integration of the MARTe2 framework with ICS field peripherals (PROFINET®) and (2) at the porting of the framework on ARM-based platform, both as CPU (Central Processing Unit) and MCU (Micro Controller Unit). Purpose of the porting is to bring the standardisation, modularity and reusability offered by the MARTe2 framework on devices able to directly work with the field, which would otherwise require ad-hoc firmware solutions and approaches. The PROFINET® component, as part of the MARTe2 components suite, adds several opportunities related to the interaction of the framework with the ICS field, which will be discussed thoroughly in the designated chapter. While the ARM porting of the MARTe2 framework will be employed as part of the magnetic sensor diagnostic system, the PROFINET® component will serve the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) factory acceptance testing (FAT) tools suite. Aside main research and development activities, several side quests enrich the contribution given to one of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor – ITER software frameworks, contributing to the development of real-time diagnostics of the PCS subsystem.