A Control System consisting of two separate components enables the operators to manage the different activities of the whole wind tunnel plant.

The first unit, the Windtunnel Main Control (WMC), synchronizes the activities of the main aerodynamic sub-systems (compressor/drive, nitrogen injection system, blow-off system, second throat, supersonic nozzle) in order to perform the wind tunnel runs (start up, set point changes, set point maintaining during measurements, shutdowns) with a high level of safety and economy.

These activities are usually controlled in automatic mode with the possibility of manual interventions from the main tunnel control room.

Main Tunnel Control Room (MTCR)

The second unit, the Model Handling Control (MHC), coordinates the activities of other sub-systems (model cart transporter, remotely operated doors, purging system, temperature conditioning system) and generally provides the capability to perform any auxiliary task.

The Monitoring System allows the operators to observe all the components of the plant and to analyse the behaviour of the main parameters.
It provides for real time observation, can send alarms if failures are detected and gives details on failure reasons. It is able to relay necessary information to the control system in order to increase the safety level.

Both, the Control System and the Monitoring System, have been designed in order to be extremely reliable and user friendly. Through the use of computer screen images and a mouse pointer device, operators can access nearly every control or monitoring parameter throughout the facility.