Plasma Copilot: Breeder Shot and Scenario Design

Drafting a breeder shot as a set of time-dependent actuator waveforms constrained to the certified safe operating envelope and checked against the twin before proposal.

Shot design as constrained waveform synthesis

A breeder (Hyperion) shot is a set of time-dependent actuator waveforms: plasma current ramp toward the 9.66 MA flat-top, poloidal-field shaping toward negative triangularity delta -0.30, gas puffing and pellet fueling, and auxiliary heating. The Plasma Copilot drafts these waveforms from a natural-language objective ("reach a stable ELM-free flat-top with maximum confinement time") and a library of prior shots retrieved from L2.

The copilot does not invent numbers. It retrieves the closest historical or simulated scenarios via RAG over the data fabric, adapts their waveforms, and validates every candidate against the twin. Each candidate is checked for envelope membership before it is ever shown to an operator.

Objective and constraints

minimize   J = w1*(1/tau_E) + w2*shape_error(delta,-0.30)
                 + w3*heating_effort
subject to  Ip(t)  ramp <= dIp/dt_max
            q95(t) >= q_min          (safety factor)
            li(t), betaN(t) in envelope   (stability)
            vertical_growth_rate < gamma_max
            all setpoints in L4-certified safe operating envelope

The waveforms are candidates only. The copilot ranks them, annotates each with twin-predicted confinement time tau_E, stability margins, and disruption risk, and returns the top options with citations. Turning a chosen scenario into an executed shot requires L4 authorization and human sign-off; the copilot cannot arm a pulse.

Grounding and honesty

• Every waveform segment traces to a retrieved prior shot or an explicit twin simulation
• Predicted metrics carry uncertainty bands from the twin's UQ, not point claims
• Scenarios that leave the envelope are rejected, not clipped silently
• No net-gain or performance claim beyond what the twin and frozen canon support (Q_sci 3.076, 85.0 MW)

Because the machine is not yet built, scenario design today targets the twin and the FOAK commissioning plan. Designs feed the Operations Copilot runbook generator so that an approved scenario becomes a step-by-step procedure. Optimization of a chosen scenario family is covered in scenario optimization.