Choosing a control system for CCAT

D. L. Terrett; Patrick Wallace; Alan Bridger; Dennis Kelly

doi:10.1117/12.856371

19 July 2010 Choosing a control system for CCAT

D. L. Terrett, Patrick Wallace, Alan Bridger, Dennis Kelly

Proceedings Volume 7740, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy; 774028 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.856371
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope1 is a 25m aperture sub-millimeter wavelength telescope to be built in northern Chile at an altitude of 5600m. Like any modern telescope, CCAT will require a powerful and comprehensive control system; writing one from scratch is not affordable, so the CCAT TCS must be based, at least in part, on existing software. This paper describes how the search for a suitable system (or systems) was carried out, looks at the criteria used to judge the feasibility of various approaches to developing the new system, and suggests the further studies needed to validate the choices. Although the purpose of the study was to find a control system for a specific telescope with its own particular technical requirements, many of the factors considered, such as maintainability, the ability to adapt to new requirements in the future and so on, are of concern to all telescopes. Consequently, the processes used to select the system for CCAT are relevant to other projects faced with the same decision, even if the conclusions turn out to be different.

Citation Download Citation

D. L. Terrett, Patrick Wallace, Alan Bridger, and Dennis Kelly "Choosing a control system for CCAT", Proc. SPIE 7740, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy, 774028 (19 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.856371

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