A reliable and robust system for detecting quenches in the superconducting portion of a magnet or changes in resistance in the resistive part of the magnet. Once detected, the system safely discharges the stored energy to prevent damage to the magnet and for the safety of personnel. The software has thorough internal checks for disruption or failure, and the software is designed to run on a combination of real-time Linux Operating System (OS) and Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platforms.
