Software Design for the Tritium Systems Test Assembly

The control system for the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) must execute complicated algorithms for the control of several sophisticated subsystems. It must implement this control with requirements for easy modifiability, for high availability, and provide stringent protection for personnel and the environment. Software techniques used to deal with these requirements are described including modularization based on the structure of the physical systems, a two-level hierarchy of concurrency, a dynamically modifiable man-machine interface, and a specification and documentation language based on a computerized form of structured flowcharts.