Open Source Remote Diagnostics Platform for Custom Instrumentation in Nuclear Applications

An open source remote diagnostics platform for custom electronics in experimental acquisition setups has been developed, targeting nuclear and high-energy physics (HEP) applications. We aim at enabling remote access to instrumentation hardware prototypes located in radiation-controlled areas by using existent network infrastructures. The platform relies on two components: a graphical user interface (GUI) developed in GNURadio and a remote hardware bridge (HB). The GUI was designed using the GNURadio’s optimized building blocks, ensuring a fluid visualization of real-time pulse traces and energy spectrum. No third-party libraries are used, turning our solution into an easy drop-in tool for instrumentation diagnostics in HEP and radiation-related experiments. Reliable communication between the remote instrument and the GUI is accomplished using TCP/IP, carried out by the HB in case of remote instruments without network interface. A Raspberry PI Zero-W is tested as the HB to demonstrate the few computational resources required for this end.