Use of transputers in instrument control systems

Breda, I. G. van; Newton, G. M.; Johnson, Andrew N.; Waltham, Nicholas R.

doi:10.1117/12.19107

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…At the end of the 80's, a new type of microprocessor appeared on the market , being most interesting for the control of astronomical instruments [2]: the transputer. This new VLSI microcircuit gathered all the functionalities of a microcomputer at the chip level: memory, processor, interconnection and communication.…”

Section: A Transputer Network Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

<title>Robust control system for the new 1.2-m telescopes of the Geneva Observatory</title>

Russiniello¹,

Huguenin²,

Wildi

2000

Advanced Telescope and Instrumentation Control Software

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The Geneva Observatory has built two new 1.2-meter twin telescopes, one of them already operating in Chile since May 1998. The second prototype will be installed at the end of the year 2000 on the Canary Island La Palma (Spain). The technological complexity of these alt-azimuthal telescopes, as well as the operational constraints (an observer should be able to command on his own the whole infrastructure) required a control system taking care of all observation tasks, similar to the ones mounted on much larger telescopes. This paper presents the hardware and the distributed software architecture of this 1.2-meter telescope control system, entirely designed and built by the Geneva Observatory. The modular concept and the choices of hardware tested in industrial automation made it possible to obtain great operational robustness and guarantee for long-term maintenance. The adopted solution is based on a transputer tree-network. The interactions between telescope and observer are transparent and completely integrated in the observation software of the attached instrument.

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Section: A Transputer Network Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%