Development of Control Softwares for the SRAO 6-Meter Telescope Based on PCs Running Linux

Abstract

We have developed a control system for the Seoul Radio Astronomy Observatory (SRAO) 6-meter telescope operating in the 85–115 Ghz frequency range. Four PCs running the Linux operating system control source tracking, take data, execute observations and handle user interface. The control system utilizes a modular and multiprocessing structure to facilitate easy upgrading and troubleshooting. Communication between the processes relies on the interprocess communication (IPC) resources on Linux such as shared memory, message queues, and TCP/IP sockets. Communication between PCs is made via an Ethernet link. We also use digital I/O lines for some status signals which require a short delay. The control system supports scheduling observations, updates observation logs automatically and also supports graphical user interfaces. These all makes the operation easy. By using a commercially available motion control card with an embedded microcomputer for antenna control, we achieved a tracking accuracy to better than 1 arcsec.