The 34th Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2026) took place in Aix-en-Provence, France, from September 21 to 25, 2026. SOFT is one of the premier international events dedicated to fusion technology, which brings together over 1,000 participants from around the world.
Prof. Dariusz Makowski and Piotr Perek, MSc Eng., represented the Department of Microelectronics and Computer Science at Lodz University of Technology (TUL) at the conference. They presented a scalable platform based on the MTCA.4 standard, designed for real-time image acquisition systems used in plasma diagnostics.
The platform was developed entirely within the Department, covering both its hardware and software components. Its modular and versatile architecture enables compatibility with cameras utilizing various technologies and interfaces, while its scalability supports configurations ranging from simple setups to complex multi-camera systems with precise time synchronization. The solution ensures low-latency, real-time data acquisition and processing and offers easy expandability to meet evolving application requirements.
This platform has been validated and deployed in diagnostic systems developed in collaboration with leading research centers and industrial partners, including the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP, Germany), the ITER Organization (France), the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST, Japan), and Bertin Technologies (France).
The conference presentation attracted significant interest and led to numerous discussions with scientists and engineers working on various challenges related to fusion energy. The Department has been conducting research and development in this field for many years, and participation in SOFT 2026 provided another opportunity to showcase its results to the international community.
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