Status of the present ATLAS RPC system and overview towards HL-LHC

The RPC system covers the barrel region of the ATLAS muon spectrometer in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<1.05$, with six independent detector layers exclusively providing the first level trigger signal and the track coordinate in the non-bending plane of the muon candidates. The system is designed to operate up to the nominal LHC luminosity ($ {\cal{L}} = 10^{34} $ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$) which has been already exceeded thanks to the excellent performance of the collider. The experience in operating the present RPC system, up to the maximum instantaneous luminosity of $ 2.06 \times 10 ^{34}$~cm$^{-2}$ ~s$^{-1}$ reached in 2017, is reported. The performance of the system, in the severe background and pileup conditions of the last data taking period, is presented together with the improved tools implemented in order to have an effective monitoring of the detector status. The plans to successfully operate the present system during the HL-LHC phase are also introduced.