The purpose of the CERN Control Centre (CCC) is to combine the control rooms of the Laboratory’s eight accelerators, as well as the piloting of cryogenics and technical infrastructures.  

The performance of the LHC depends on the injector chain that feeds it.  The CCC helps control this extensive process  by joining all of the accelerator operators with the engineering and cryogenics departments. By coordinating the process of injection, the CCC guarantee a high-quality beam. 

The centre also manages the beams of CERN’s other facilities. Similar to a rail network that uses the same infrastructure to send passengers toward various destinations, the accelerators of CERN can transport several beams simultaneously and adapt each one to a given facility. It is this ability to deal with several beams at the same time that makes CERN a unique laboratory in its field of research.

The distribution of consoles inside the control room, seen from the top, resembles the shape of a quadrupolar magnet. The tables are distributed in four islets of about 5 consoles, respectively dedicated to LHC, SPS, PS Complex and Technical Infrastructure (TI). Cryogenics operations consoles are spread between TI and LHC.

In the centre of each islet is a round table hosting 2 computers on the public network, and room for laptops which can connect to the WiFi.

A large oval table sits in the centre of the room, providing a social area for discussions between operators.

Finally, sixteen 46” screens are mounted on the walls to provide information throughout the control room.

During peak operation periods, there could be up to 13 operators working on any one shift, not counting the many experts responsible for assisting them.

More information here...

(*) For the bibliography used when writing this Section please go to the References Section