Precise measurement of magnet currents in Alpha-g experiment

In the Alpha-g experiments, precise manipulation of magnetic fields is essential to experimentation with anti-hydrogen. Hence, the magnet current controller requires precise measurement of the magnet current. The current controller is a PID system which uses DC Current Transformers (DCCTs) to read the magnet currents and provide feedback to the controller. As of yet, the feedback signal is analogue. This makes it more susceptible to noise, the presence of which would reduce the accuracy of the error signal being fed into the controller. Analogue filtering in the feedback loop is also undesirable due to it effecting the response of the closed loop system. Thus, it was determined that the DCCTs should be measured by the high precision HMP-7177 ADC, produced by the CERN ADC team. The data is then to be transferred to the controller digitally. This approach was chosen due to digital data transfer having higher signal fidelity in the presence of noise. The scope of this project is the creation of a LabView based system to sample the ADC UART output of the CERN ADC and transfer the data to the computer-based system, where the data is analysed and used in the closed loop system