COMET Trigger Electronics, Osaka University - Vedant Basu

Field: Experimental Particle Physics

Over the period of June- July 2017, I worked under the guidance of Prof. Yoshitaka Kuno at Osaka University, on the readout and trigger electronics as part of the multinational COMET Collaboration.

WORK

  In particular, I worked on the readout for the Cylindrical Drift Chamber, implementing a Bonsai Boosted Decision Tree as a Level-I Trigger to decide which events could match our expected signal. This involved working with the Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA, which would form the basis for the final design. I implemented the softcore PicoBlaze microprocessor to interface with the PC, the FPGA and the Flash Module. Following this, I used an FPGA-optimized implementation of the Circle Hough Transform to examine the tracks left by the particles, and identify the circular paths which were of interest.  

BACKGROUND

The prerequisites were primarily a solid background in Digital Electronics, along with rudimentary High  Energy Physics. Prior experience with Verilog and FPGAs in general is obviously recommended! I suppose a lot of the skills are picked up on the job, though ;p

SELECTION

The selection was through Osaka University’s Frontier Lab mini program, which can only be initialized after personal communication with the guiding professor.

All necessary documents were provided by the University, although I applied for a Short Term 90 day visa as I also needed to work at KEK, Tsukuba during May. The visa requires three working days to process, in a streamlined and efficient manner.

As the internship only begins in June, it would be advisable to apply for the six week program, which has a stipend of 160,000 yen covering the entire period.

LIVING

Accommodation is usually provided for in the International Dormitory, which charged 28000 yen for the entire period. Palatable vegetarian food is hard to come by, it’s advisable to carry readymade food from India. A plethora of campus restaurants provide for the more daring, at extremely affordable prices

Osaka is a lovely scenic city, full of life and the unexpected. The Japanese are some of the friendliest people I’ve met, and every day was a new adventure. The rail network is fast and cheap, allowing for lots of weekend expeditions to the rich and varied cities of Kansai, Japan.

Some of the highlights would have to be spending my birthday walking around Kyoto, sauntering aimlessly by the Bayside and meeting Potterheads from around the world at Universal Studios Japan, definitely worth a visit. Osaka University also has a thriving campus life, with regular excursions, classes and clubs. The circus club was certainly worth a visit!.

CONCLUSION

All good things must come to an end, and I can’t go on chattering about the incredible time I had in Japan. Kuno sensei was extremely encouraging, and I learned an incredible amount during my time with him. The camaraderie and warmth in Japan was one of the best parts, and certainly something I’ll carry forever.

No good story would be complete without some pictures, and right now, I’m having trouble choosing!