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Digital vs. Analog Control Systems

Digital and analogue systems can be used to control accelerator systems. Analogue systems use potentiometers and operational amplifiers for position and current feedback, but have limitations in precision and accuracy due to component aging and voltage fluctuations. Digital systems use encoders and computers to precisely control positions to within 0.01% and currents. Modern linear accelerators predominantly use digital control systems for improved precision and reliability of treatment delivery.

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227 views33 pages

Digital vs. Analog Control Systems

Digital and analogue systems can be used to control accelerator systems. Analogue systems use potentiometers and operational amplifiers for position and current feedback, but have limitations in precision and accuracy due to component aging and voltage fluctuations. Digital systems use encoders and computers to precisely control positions to within 0.01% and currents. Modern linear accelerators predominantly use digital control systems for improved precision and reliability of treatment delivery.

Uploaded by

Abril de Vera
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Digital vs.

Analogue Control
Systems

Presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American College


of Medical Physics, Chattanooga, TN, May 1, 2011

Ivan A. Brezovich, PhD, Dept. of Rad Onc, Univ of Alabama at


Birmingham

Disclosure: Research supported in part by Varian Medical


Systems
Accelerator control systems
Mechanical Analogue or digital
Gantry angle
Collimator angle
Jaw position
MLC leaf position
Couch positions (angle, vertical, long, lat)
Internal devices (target, flattening filter, light field projector)
Electronic Analogue or digital
Beam production
Electron gun
Rf power
Steering coil current
Bend magnet current
Dosimetry system
Ancillary systems (vacuum, temperature control, etc.)
Analogue transducer, analogue readout
+ Single-turn potentiometer
Wiper

Vout

Resistance
wire
Shaft

Vout
10-turn potentiometer
+
Calibrated in deg gantry or
collimator angle, cm couch
position
Resolver: brushless analogue rotation
transducer
Analogue signal output

shaft
Resolver - principle of operation
Armature

shaft
Input signals Shaft angle Output signal
Vout = V0 sin ( )
Vin1 = V0 cos

Vin2 = V0 sin

Shaft angle found from phase angle of Vout


Rack and pinion drive for couch movements

Motor with Pinion


gear drive
with position
indicator in
back

Rack, attached to couch top


Spindle (screw) drive

Geared motor
with position
readout in back

nut

Rotating spindle
Limitations of analogue devices

Precision of potentiometer ~ 0.1% linearity


0.4 mm for 40x40cm2 field
Sensitive to small changes in wire resistance
Degraded accuracy by use and age (brush)
Sensitive to power supply voltage
Reading accuracy ~ 0.2%
Digital readout - used even in early linacs
Analogue transducer, analogue and digital readouts
(potentiometer)
Single-hand clock: purely analogue display
Reading accuracy about 6 minutes ~ 1%
2-hand clock: Hybrid, one digit + analogue
Reading accuracy min (0.1%)
Kings Cross railway station, London
3-hand clock: Hybrid, two digits + analogue
Reading accuracy sec ~ 0.001%
Analogue precision transducers

Geared potentiometers
Hour hand pot goes around once
Minute hand pot goes around many times
0.01% rotational precision readily obtained with 0.2%
accuracy pots
Geared (dual) resolvers same principle
Digital transducer: 3-bit shaft encoder
Standard binary encoding

2 Sector 1
3 Con- Con- Con-
Sector tact 1 tact 2 tact 3 Angle

4 1 off off off 0 - 45


2 off off ON 45 - 90
3 off ON off 90 - 135
4 off ON ON 135 - 180
5 ON off off 180 - 225
5
6 ON off ON 225 - 270
8 7 ON ON off 270 - 315
6 7 8 ON ON ON 315 - 360

Contact 1 Contact 2 Contact 3


3-bit shaft encoder
Gray encoding

2 Sector 1 Con- Con- Con-


3
Sector tact 1 tact 2 tact 3 Angle
1 off off off 0 - 45
4 2 off off ON 45 - 90
3 off ON ON 90 - 135
4 off ON off 135 - 180
5 ON ON off 180 - 225
5 6 ON ON ON 225 - 270
8
7 ON off ON 270 - 315
8 ON off off 315 - 360
6 7
Contact 1 Contact 2 Contact 3
13-bit shaft encoder
shaft Precision = 1rev/213
0.01% of 1rev

Digital
output
13-bit shaft encoder
Shaft 13 tracks Optical reader
Incremental encoders count pulses

Cannel A leads clockwise rotation


Cannel B leads ccw rotation
Stepper motor driver and encoder
Coil A energized
C

C B

B C
A

Energizing coils A, B, C . ccw rotation


Energizing coils A, C, B . clockwise rotation
Stepper motor in 1-D water tank

Stepper motor
200 pulses/rev

Spindle
6 mm/rev

nut
Stepper motor in 3-D water tank

Stepper motor spindle


with 90 turn gear nut
Initialization of Varian MLC
IR emitting diode Origin (zero) when light at
detector reduced by 50%
Light detector

60 leaves

Spindle (screw), 1.5 mm/rev pitch

16:1 reduction gear (two 1: 4 planetary

4.5 cm
gears in series)
MLC drive
assembly

DC electric motor with permanent magnet

Incremental encoder, 2 pulses per rev


Initialization of Varian x-ray jaws
Collision
block Hard stop
Incremental
Reduction gear encoder
Spindle (screw)
nut

DC motor

X-ray
jaw Origin (zero point) established when
Collision block hits Hard stop. Collision
detected by sudden surge of DC
current when motor stalls
Control systems: Operational amplifier

input pos

input inv

Vs+ , Vs pos and neg power supply voltages

Zin = Iin = 0 small input current


Zout = 0 Iout = high output current
Vout = (V+V)A high amplification A
Analogue mechanical control system
console accelerator

Motor spins until voltage of


potentiometer at back of motor
matches program voltage
+12V Program
voltage
output
op
power amp
amp

+12V

-12V motor

Feedback voltage -12V


Digital mechanical control system
Console Accelerator

Node (in stand


of linac)

Controller for Digital to analogue


gantry motions converter

Encoder Gantry
(absolute) motor

Compares desired gantry


position to actual position
Analogue electronic control system for energy
console accelerator

Output current increases until


feedback voltage matches program
voltage
+12V Program
voltage
+
Op Power amp
amp

Bend magnet coils

-12V

Feedback voltage Feedback resistor


Analogue electronic control for beam symmetry

Ion chamber Output current adjusts until (processed)


signals from both chamber halves
Upper half become equal, i.e., beam is symmetric
(toward gantry)

Op
Power amp
amp

Beam steering coils


Lower half
(toward couch)

Balancing network
Digital electronic control for beam symmetry

Ion chamber Node Computes ratio of inputs and compares


to desired ratio sent from node. Sends
Upper half correction signal to DAC
(toward gantry)

Con
Dig to anal Power
troll
converter amp
er

Beam steering coils


Lower half
(toward couch)

Analogue to digital
converters
Dual systems for safety of modern digital
accelerators
Mechanical systems
Encoder on back of drive motor + encoder on driven
object (gantry angle, couch position, etc.), agreement
monitored by computer
Electronic systems
Ion chamber has multiple segments, outputs
monitored by computer
Resistance of bend magnet measured
Neutron protection boron impregnated polyethylene plates
protect against single-event upsets
Merits of digital systems
Less sensitive to noise
Less sensitive to component drift
Easy return to original settings
Easy replacement of broken components
High precision of mechanical systems
Flattening filter and field light projector can be
remotely adjusted
Information readily available for processing
Monitor machine performance to predict problems
Cooling water flow rate monitored at many places
Vacuum system leaks
SF6 leaks
Merits of digital systems
Take into account second order effects
Flexing of image receiver arm
Automatic tuning
Slow changes of components
Thyratron aging
Waveguide resonant frequency

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