ATPneumatics¶
Warning
This CSC documentation is still under development.
Overview¶
The ATPneumatics CSC controls the air-driven (pneumatic) systems of the Auxiliary Telescope Mount. This is primarily the actuators located under the M1 mirror, which are used to support the mirror and hold the shape as the telescope moves in elevation and the force of gravity results in mirror sag. Without correction of this sag, the image quality would become significantly deteriorated. The ATPneumatics CSC also controls the opening and closing of the M1 mirror cover and multiple air vents located in the mirror cell. Although independent, the ATPneumatics CSC works in tandem with the ATMCS CSC during the slewing of the telescope. The source code is also co-located in the ATMCS repository. Like the ATMCS, the software is deployed on the cRIO inside the Telescope Control Cabinet located on the first level of the Auxiliary Telescope Building.
In nearly all cases, the ATPneumatics CSC is controlled from the high-level ATCS class. Using this class is important as it ensures the system is operated according to proper procedure (e.g. the mirror cover isn’t opened with the dome slewing).
Generally, the pneumatic actuators under M1 are controlled via the ATAOS (Auxiliary Telescope Active Optics System). This system monitors the telescope position and continually adjusts the pressures to ensure the mirror remains in the proper shape.
Like the ATMCS, the ATPneumatics CSC was developed by a team at CTIO who created the control system(s) for the mount. Their deliverables included documentation that is heavily referenced in these documentation pages. The top-level index of their docs is found in Docushare.
Note that improper use of this CSC can result in the mirror being lifted from its hardpoints. Please reach out to the product owner prior to commanding this CSC outside the ATCS class.
Note
If you are interested in viewing other branches of this documentation repository append a /v to the end of the url link. For example https://ts_atpneumatics.lsst.io/v/
User Documentation¶
User-level documentation, found at the link below, is aimed at personnel looking to perform the standard use-cases/operations with the ATPneumatics.
Configuring the ATPneumatics¶
The configuration for the ATPneumatics is described at the following link. However, no changes to the configuration are expected to be performed by the user.
Development Documentation¶
This area of documentation focuses on the classes used, API’s, and how to participate to the development of the ATPneumatics software packages.