ISSN:
1089-7623
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
,
Electrical Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology
Notes:
This article deals with the study and fabrication of a system for the automation of a multipurpose spectrograph used in Astronomy. This system allows the 19 movements of the instrument to run by using high-level software, a "master" board, and 19 "slave" boards. The Astrophysique Lineal et BIdimensional par RÉseaux Optiques (ALBIREO) spectrograph has three working modes and is installed in the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain. We describe a low-cost system realized for the automatization of a multifunction spectrograph. It allows the control of a large number of motors: 19 for Albireo; the theoretical limit is 32 768! Another advantage of this architecture based on "slave" boards is to supply each motor with exactly the current it needs to reach the required torque (reliability and repetitivity of motions are obtained when the motor torque is at least twice the resistant torque). Thus, we can avoid unnecessary overheating which would be detrimental to the material as well as to the local image quality (seeing). The reliability of the system is obtained by software filtering the commands and also by using optocoupled electronics to avoid interference. For a complex instrument, the high-level software must be user friendly. The efficiency of the present software in this respect has been appreciated since first being used on the telescope. This system may be of interest to laboratories and observatories with similar needs for automation of motions. The adoption of this system will be supported by the IAA Laboratory, Granada, Spain. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1150655
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