GHOST instrument control software: a progress report

Jon G. Nielsen; Ian A. Price; Peter J. Young; Michael J. Ireland

doi:10.1117/12.2313068

6 July 2018 GHOST instrument control software: a progress report

Jon G. Nielsen, Ian A. Price, Peter J. Young, Michael J. Ireland

Proceedings Volume 10707, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy V; 1070706 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313068
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

The Gemini High Resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOST) is a dual-object integral-field unit fed echelle spectrograph currently under construction by an Australian-led consortium including the Australian National University (ANU), the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) and Canada’s Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Center. The instrument control software for GHOST is under development by ANU. A brief overview of the relevant instrument subsystems is presented from the point of view of instrument control, along with a high-level overview of the software design. We discuss the operational concepts that have required specific software solutions, including IFU positioner collision avoidance, focal plane image reconstruction, and the guiding loop. We provide details of the various screens in the Acceptance Test and Engineering User Interface, showing how they support the operational concepts. The project comprises a variety of software technologies, including the Gemini Instrument Application Programmer Interface (GIAPI), ANU CICADA software, and various off-the-shelf packages. We discuss the use of these technologies, and our experiences with using them. The various different hardware devices also require specific software support, and we discuss our experiences with vendor-supplied libraries and code. We conclude with a brief outline of the development process, together with a discussion of successes and challenges.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Jon G. Nielsen, Ian A. Price, Peter J. Young, and Michael J. Ireland "GHOST instrument control software: a progress report", Proc. SPIE 10707, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy V, 1070706 (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313068

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