An innovative telescope control system architecture for SST-GATE telescopes at the CTA Observatory

Gilles Fasola; Shan Mignot; Philippe Laporte; Abdel Abchiche; Gilles Buchholtz; Isabelle Jégouzo

doi:10.1117/12.2054478

22 July 2014 An innovative telescope control system architecture for SST-GATE telescopes at the CTA Observatory

Gilles Fasola, Shan Mignot, Philippe Laporte, Abdel Abchiche, Gilles Buchholtz, Isabelle Jégouzo

Proceedings Volume 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V; 914551 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054478
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

SST-GATE (Small Size Telescope - GAmma-ray Telescope Elements) is a 4-metre telescope designed as a prototype for the Small Size Telescopes (SST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a major facility for the very high energy gamma-ray astronomy of the next three decades. In this 100-telescope array there will be 70 SSTs, involving a design with an industrial view aiming at long-term service, low maintenance effort and reduced costs. More than a prototype, SST-GATE is also a fully functional telescope that shall be usable by scientists and students at the Observatoire de Meudon for 30 years. The Telescope Control System (TCS) is designed to work either as an element of a large array driven by an array controller or in a stand-alone mode with a remote workstation. Hence it is built to be autonomous with versatile interfacing; as an example, pointing and tracking —the main functions of the telescope— are managed onboard, including astronomical transformations, geometrical transformations (e.g. telescope bending model) and drive control. The core hardware is a CompactRIO (cRIO) featuring a real-time operating system and an FPGA. In this paper, we present an overview of the current status of the TCS. We especially focus on three items: the pointing computation implemented in the FPGA of the cRIO —using CORDIC algorithms— since it enables an optimisation of the hardware resources; data flow management based on OPCUA with its specific implementation on the cRIO; and the use of an EtherCAT field-bus for its ability to provide real-time data exchanges with the sensors and actuators distributed throughout the telescope.

Citation Download Citation

Gilles Fasola, Shan Mignot, Philippe Laporte, Abdel Abchiche, Gilles Buchholtz, and Isabelle Jégouzo "An innovative telescope control system architecture for SST-GATE telescopes at the CTA Observatory", Proc. SPIE 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V, 914551 (22 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054478

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available