Doberman: a modular and distributed slow control system for small- to medium-scale experiments

TL;DR

Doberman is an open-source, modular slow control system designed for small- to medium-scale physics experiments, offering flexible architecture, real-time visualization, and robust alarm handling.

Contribution

It introduces Doberman, a lightweight, modular, and open-source control system that bridges the gap between industrial SCADA and ad hoc laboratory solutions.

Findings

Successfully deployed in various experimental setups

Supports heterogeneous instrumentation and distributed deployment

Provides real-time visualization and control

Abstract

We present Doberman (Detector OBsERving and Monitoring ApplicatioN), a lightweight, modular, and open-source slow control system designed for small-to medium-scale physics experiments. Doberman addresses the gap between heavyweight industrial SCADA frameworks and ad hoc laboratory solutions by providing a flexible software architecture that supports heterogeneous instrumentation, distributed deployment, automated control, and robust alarm handling. The web-based graphical user interface Doberview provides live and continuously updated visualization, configuration, and control of the entire experiment, supporting both routine operation and rapid response to exceptional conditions. Doberman has been deployed and validated in multiple experimental setups, ranging from a remotely operated underground gamma-ray spectrometer to a large, highly instrumented liquid xenon test facility with several hundred monitored quantities. Doberman and Doberview are released under permissive open-source licenses, and the software, documentation, and example device integrations are publicly available.