Addressing obsolescence: migrating Grantecan's primary system to a new real-time solution

Josué Toledo; Ismael Álvarez; Pedro González; Héctor de Paz; Henry Brito; Manuel Huertas

doi:10.1117/12.3018378

25 July 2024 Addressing obsolescence: migrating Grantecan's primary system to a new real-time solution

Josué Toledo, Ismael Álvarez, Pedro González, Héctor de Paz, Henry Brito, Manuel Huertas

Proceedings Volume 13101, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VIII; 131012M (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018378
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Conference Poster

Abstract

The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), a 10.4-meter telescope with a segmented primary mirror comprising 36 hexagonal segments, relies on a crucial stabilization system to ensure the primary mirror behaves as a single entity. After 15 years of operation, some subsystems are beginning to incur high maintenance costs and are encountering obsolescence issues that, in some cases, limit their performance capabilities. The primary mirror stabilization system is among these subsystems, facing significant migration challenges due to its real-time characteristics and high number of hardware elements it manages. We introduce the validation process of a new platform based on Linux Preempt-RT, industrial Compact PCI computers, featuring real-time characteristics at both the operating system level and control card drivers. Due to the difficulty in accessing real hardware, both due to operational restrictions and security concerns, and to expedite the development process, a comprehensive test bench mimicking production hardware was constructed. Once the development reached sufficient maturity, tests were conducted on the production system, validating both the performance of the new solution and extracting performance metrics and satisfaction of real-time requirements. As a result, it has been confirmed that the new solution not only functions correctly and meets current requirements but also would allow for an increase in the nominal performance of the system and enable a control loop with higher performance.

Citation Download Citation

Josué Toledo, Ismael Álvarez, Pedro González, Héctor de Paz, Henry Brito, and Manuel Huertas "Addressing obsolescence: migrating Grantecan's primary system to a new real-time solution", Proc. SPIE 13101, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VIII, 131012M (25 July 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018378

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