The ESO-VLT X-shooter instrument software in the VLT environment

Marzio Vidali; Paolo Di Marcantonio; Paolo Santin; Joel Vernet; Andrea Zacchei

doi:10.1117/12.671080

27 June 2006 The ESO-VLT X-shooter instrument software in the VLT environment

Marzio Vidali, Paolo Di Marcantonio, Paolo Santin, Joel Vernet, Andrea Zacchei

Proceedings Volume 6274, Advanced Software and Control for Astronomy; 62740L (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671080
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

X-Shooter is the first 2^nd generation instrument to be installed at Paranal early 2008. It is a single target spectrograph covering in a single exposure a wide spectral range from the UV to the K' band with maximum sensitivity. Another key feature of the instrument is its fast response, obtained by making it simple and easy to operate. Compared to other big VLT instruments X-Shooter has a relatively small number of moving functions, but nevertheless the requirements on the whole instrument software are quite demanding. In order to cover the wide spectral range with high efficiency, the instrument is split into three different arms, one being cryogenically cooled. The high level coordinating software architecture provides all the facilities for parallel operation with the maximum achievable level of synchronicity. Low level X-Shooter requirements are also quite stringent, since to compensate for slit misalignments among the three arms, an active piezoelectric actuator system is envisaged. The low-level architecture, besides the typical control of single devices (like motors, sensors and lamps), handles the required real-time operations. The software integration and test is also an issue, being X-Shooter a collaborative effort among several institutes spread around Europe. The whole instrument software architecture is presented here, entering in details into its main modules such as the instrument control software, the observation software and the observing templates structure and their integration in the VLT software environment.

Citation Download Citation

Marzio Vidali, Paolo Di Marcantonio, Paolo Santin, Joel Vernet, and Andrea Zacchei "The ESO-VLT X-shooter instrument software in the VLT environment", Proc. SPIE 6274, Advanced Software and Control for Astronomy, 62740L (27 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671080

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