Advanced tools for enhancing control room collaborations

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design Vol. 81; no. 15; pp. 2039 - 2044
• Main Authors: Abla, G., Flanagan, S.M., Peng, Q., Burruss, J.R., Schissel, D.P.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.07.2006; New York, NY Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Controled nuclear fusion plants; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; Instant Messaging; Jabber; National Fusion Collaboratory; Remote participation; Shared large display; Remote participation; Instant Messaging; Shared large display; National Fusion Collaboratory; Jabber; Tokamak; Nuclear fusion reactor; Data analysis; High resolution; Control room; Software; Real time
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2006.04.059

The US National Fusion Collaboratory (NFC) project has been exploring a variety of computer and network technologies to develop a persistent, efficient, reliable and convenient collaborative environment for magnetic fusion research. One goal is to enhance remote and collocated team collaboration by integrating collaboration software tools into control room operations as well as with data analysis tools. To achieve this goal, the NFC recently introduced two new collaboration technologies into the DIII-D tokamak control room. The first technology is a high-resolution, large format Shared Display Wall (SDW). By creating a shared public display space and providing real time visual information about the multiple aspects of complex experiment activity, the large SDW plays an important role in increasing the rate of information dissemination and promoting interaction among team members. The second technology being implemented is the “tokamak control room aware” Instant Messaging (IM) service. In addition to providing text-chat capabilities for research scientists, it enables them to automatically receive information about experiment operations and data analysis processes to remotely monitor the status of ongoing tokamak experiment. As a result, the IM service has become a unified portal interface for team collaboration and remote participation.