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18 July 2008VST telescope primary mirror active optics actuators firmware implementation
The VST (VLT Survey Telescope) is a 2.6 m class Alt-Az telescope in installation phase at Cerro Paranal in Northern
Chile, at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) site. The VST is a wide-field imaging telescope dedicated to supply
databases for the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) science and to carry out stand-alone observations in the Ultraviolet
to Infrared spectral range. The VST is provided with an active optics control system to actively compensate the optical
aberrations; it is based on 84 actuators controlling the shape of the primary mirror and a hexapode for secondary mirror
positioning. The present paper focuses on the implementation of the microcontroller programming firmware for the
Primary Mirror Actuators Electronic Control Board. The most relevant problems encountered during the implementation
of this real time multitasking distributed control application are described; optimization problems due to low performing
hardware platform, not provided with operating system, are also reported. Several described topics are applicable to
other distributed control systems, requiring closed loop control system and communication capability with a higher level
computer.
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C. Molfese, P. Schipani, L. Marty, "VST telescope primary mirror active optics actuators firmware implementation," Proc. SPIE 7019, Advanced Software and Control for Astronomy II, 701926 (18 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.786594