ALMA test interferometer control system: past experiences and future developments

Ralph G. Marson; Martin Pokorny; Jeff Kern; Fritz Stauffer; Alain Perrigouard; Birger Gustafsson; Ken Ramey

doi:10.1117/12.552359

15 September 2004 ALMA test interferometer control system: past experiences and future developments

Ralph G. Marson, Martin Pokorny, Jeff Kern, Fritz Stauffer, Alain Perrigouard, Birger Gustafsson, Ken Ramey

Proceedings Volume 5496, Advanced Software, Control, and Communication Systems for Astronomy; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552359
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) will, when it is completed in 2012, be the world's largest millimeter & sub-millimeter radio telescope. It will consist of 64 antennas, each one 12 meters in diameter, connected as an interferometer. The ALMA Test Interferometer Control System (TICS) was developed as a prototype for the ALMA control system. Its initial task was to provide sufficient functionality for the evaluation of the prototype antennas. The main antenna evaluation tasks include surface measurements via holography and pointing accuracy, measured at both optical and millimeter wavelengths. In this paper we will present the design of TICS, which is a distributed computing environment. In the test facility there are four computers: three real-time computers running VxWorks (one on each antenna and a central one) and a master computer running Linux. These computers communicate via Ethernet, and each of the real-time computers is connected to the hardware devices via an extension of the CAN bus. We will also discuss our experience with this system and outline changes we are making in light of our experiences.

Citation Download Citation

Ralph G. Marson, Martin Pokorny, Jeff Kern, Fritz Stauffer, Alain Perrigouard, Birger Gustafsson, and Ken Ramey "ALMA test interferometer control system: past experiences and future developments", Proc. SPIE 5496, Advanced Software, Control, and Communication Systems for Astronomy, (15 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552359

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