Development of Data Acquisition and Control Software for Neutron Radiography Facility at Serpong, Indonesi

Abstract:

A system for data acquisition and control software for the neutron radiography facility at Serpong has been developed. The software was developed to replace the existing control software which was no longer used due to the problems on its computer hardware.

Visual Basic running under Microsoft Windows operating system was used in developing the new software. In the hardware side, the film grabber and the motor driver were replaced. The film grabber that was used to capture the image in the old system has been replaced with a programmable CCD camera in the new system. The motor driver that was used to control the camera in 2 directions has been replaced with 4 directions. The software was able to display the images in a real time mode and record the images onto the hard disk of a personal computer. The captured images were processed using this software to get optimal quality by adjusting temperature, exposure time of the camera, and integrating the captured image in a certain frame numbers. The software was able to take a numbers of snapshot pictures at a certain time interval. For neutron tomography purposes, the software will take the snapshot picture automatically at a sample position in line with the stepping movement of the rotating sample table. The snapshot images were saved in a picture format and a numeric format for further processing. The software has been successfully tested for real time method and tomography reconstruction. The data captured by using this software has been verified either by using the commercial or our in-house computed tomography software. 

Keyword: Neutron Radiography; Tomography; Data acquisition; Control; Software

Bharoto Bharoto
Center for Nuclear Industry Material Technology, National Nuclear Energy Agency Puspiptek Area, Serpong, Tangerang 15313
Indonesia