Thursday, September 25, 2008
2008 R&D 100 Winner
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a large-scale, high-energy laser fusion system atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, Calif. Its purpose is to achieve inertial confinement fusion in a controlled laboratory setting and to study the physics of extreme energy densities and pressures. Experiments at NIF require the precise alignment of 192 high-energy laser beams, each with a 300 m optical path that focuses on a 10 mm-sized target. Multiple beam lines require precise focusing on the 10-mm-sized target with a tolerance of 10 µm. The Autonomous Alignment Process for Laser Fusion Systems (AAPLF) does precisely that. Developed by scientists and engineers at LLNL, AAPLS is a revolutionary system of software, signal and image processing, sensors, and actuated optical devices that autonomously directs and aligns all 192 NIF laser beams. In addition, AAPLF uses process leveling to distribute the system’s demanding computational load evenly among computer clusters. AAPLF completes the autonomous alignment process for the entire NIF laser system of 35,000 devices in 15 minutes, and it can be scaled to any size system.
Technology
Autonomous alignment process
Developer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
