Slow Controls for Experiments in Nuclear Physics
                        Ron Fox
                        National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
                        Michigan State University

 The NSCL is a national nuclear physics research facility.  Modern experiments in nuclear physics feature 
an increasing number and type of remotely controlled electronics including detector bias power supplies, 
discriminators, amplifiers and gas handling systems.  These devices in turn connect to the computers 
controlling them via a wide variety of interfaces including Etherent, CAN, VME, and even the venerable CAMAC.

   This paper will describe an open, extensible control system for these sorts of devices that uses a pair 
of metakit databases to attempt to impose some sort of order on this chaos.  The system described allows 
system integrators to rapidly add support for new devices and even new interface subsystems.  Experimenters, 
using a simple GUI, can describe the devices in their experiment.  This description of the experiment 
drives the automated generation of a control panel for the devices they use.

  Tcl/Tk technologies used include Snit, Metakit, and several widget libraries, as well as NSCL written 
extensions to acces VME and CAMAC.