Mobile remote surveillance system for the CERN LHC cryogenic system

This thesis documents the research, planning and partial implementation of a remote surveillance system for use in the CERN LHC machine tunnel. The system is planned to provide surveillance of the cryogenic system in the LHC, eliminating the need for the personnel to go personally to look at a piece of possible faulty equipment. For this project, the complete system is planned. The system will be controlled via an Ethernet connection. This is fed into a 400V power line as a powerline communication signal, and picked up by the surveillance system. Then it is decoded into an Ethernet signal again, and sent to a camera with an on board web server. The power is transported by the same powered rail as used for communication, so that the system can take power and communication along the whole tunnel. The thesis describes the goals of the system and explains the requirements it needs to meet. Several solutions, especially technologies for communication, are considered, and details about them are described. A solution that can fulfill the requirements is proposed. The concept of internal communication is proven in laboratory testing, as well is the camera. The powerline communication device is designed and a prototype is being manufactured. The communication system is built, but not fully tested, and therefore not yet operational. Also, the dynamics of the system is modeled and simulated, and a controller for the positioning system is developed. This controller is tested in Matlab Simulink, where the results indicate that it works. The simulations tell that the motor will be exposed to an unnecessary amount of wear, so some further development of the controller will be needed. The same is true for the model, which can be made more accurate if parameters are measured of a real prototype. An analysis of the planned system reveals that not all requirements will be met, but the most important ones will be satisfied. For the future, it is recommended to finish the prototype, and use precise measurements to improve the theoretical model.