Blinky-Lite

An open-source secure , remotely accessible, full-stack, integrated hardware-software control platform.

Blinky-Lite was developed at the MaxIV Synchrotron Light Source and the European Spallation Source both located in Lund, Sweden. In this world of complex and costly particle accelerators, a strong 24/7 maintenance mindset is a must. It is essential to always understand the state of a machine remotely and to be able to securely troubleshoot it efficiently from anywhere in the world at any time.
That’s why we developed Blinky-Lite

Control system intelligence

When most people think of a control system, they imagine a room filled with dials and computer screens. But control systems are so ubiquitous that most people take them for granted. For example, the thermostat in a house is part of a control system . The stop lights in a city are synchronised by another system. One can even think of the central nervous system in a human body as a control system.

Control systems can be broken into four parts.

• First, there are sensors to observe the surrounding environment.
• Next, there is some type of intelligence to process the sensor input and decide on a course of action. The intelligence can be
  • a mechanical linkage,
  • an electronic circuit,
  • a computer program,
  • or even a human brain.
• The third part is a set of actuators to implement the course of action. Actuators can be anything
  • from human hands
  • to the control rods of a nuclear reactor.
• Lastly, but most important is the environment that reacts to the actuators and provides input to the sensors, thus, closing the loop.

What Blinky-Lite provides is the intelligence part of the control system, receiving input from sensors, deciding on a course of action, and relaying that course to the actuators.