gbt a ctive s urface u pgrade perrin kurtz jeffrey smith gregory thurston charles allen taylor
TRANSCRIPT
GBT ACTIVE SURFACE UPGRADEPerrin Kurtz
Jeffrey Smith
Gregory Thurston
Charles Allen Taylor
ROBERT C. BYRD GREEN BANK TELESCOPE
Few Facts
World’s largest fully steerable radio telescope
485 feet tall
17 million pounds
Located in heart of the U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone
Used to detect signals from outer space
ACTIVE SURFACE DETAILS
2.3 Acre Parabola Shaped Collecting Area
2004 surface panels 2209 actuators
Primary Reflector is an off axis segment of paraboloid
CURRENT SYSTEM
oLinux Box
oMV167 VME Master Control Computer
oTwo MV167 VME Slave Computers
o8 Intelligent I/O Processors
o140 H-Bridge digital output modules
oH-Bridge paired with LVDT module
ACTIVE SURFACE UPGRADEo Design and develop an updated control system
o VME computers and I/O cards replaced
o IIOP interface will be replaced
o H-Drive and LVDT modules replaced by microcontroller based modules
CONTROL SYSTEM PROTOCOLS
Wide Commercial Acceptance
Components highly reliable
Readily available
DETAILED UPGRADE PATH [ STAGE 1: CONTROL
MODULE ]
o Select microcontroller platform
o Development of LVDT/H-Drive modules
o Development of associated control software
DETAILED UPGRADE PATH [ STAGE 2: SIB REPLACEMENT ]
Design (SIB) Standard Interface Board
The same microcontroller from stage 1 utilized
DETAILED UPGRADE PATH [ STAGE 3 ]
CURRENT VME SLAVE MODIFICATION
o Modification of existing Master and Slave computer software
DETAILED UPGRADE PATH [ STAGE 4: DEPLOYMENT ]
Deployment period Existing software interface to the
hardware will be modified to talk to either the old control hardware or the new
DELIVERABLES
o Demonstrating control of a single actuator using new interface
o Demonstration of monitor and control
CONCLUSION
o Deter downtime of facility
o Make repairs easier
o Upgrade past due
SOURCES:NRAO. GBT SCIENCE. N.D. WEB. 21 OCTOBER 2014.
O’NEIL, K., AND D.J. PISANO. “THE ROBERT C. BYRD GREEN BANK TELESCOPE.” AIP CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS (2008): 279-285.
WHITEIS, PETE. ACTIVE SURFACE UPGRADE PROPOSAL. 20 MARCH 2012. PDF. 21 OCTOBER 2014
Questions?