The Development of the Undulator Controls Module at the Linac Coherent Light Source

The Linac Coherent Light Source, LCLS, at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, SNAL, is the first hard x-ray Free Electron Laser. The Undulator Controls Module, UCM, controls five cams and two translation stages that regulate the position of each of the 33 permanent undulator magnet segments within 10 microns. The UCM package, hardware and software, was designed and built by the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne. Important lessons were learned throughout the collaborative design, installation, testing, and commissioning periods that could be invaluable to future similar controls projects.