Architecture of the SOXS instrument control software

Abstract

SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) is a new spectrograph for the ESO NTT telescope, currently in the final design phase. The main instrument goal is to allow the characterization of transient sources based on alerts. It will cover from near-infrared to visible bands with a spectral resolution of $R\sim 4500$ using two separate, wavelength-optimized spectrographs. A visible camera, primarily intended for target acquisition and secondary guiding, will also provide a scientific "light" imaging mode. In this paper we present the current status of the design of the SOXS instrument control software, which is in charge of controlling all instrument functions and detectors, coordinating the execution of exposures, and implementing all observation, calibration and maintenance procedures. Given the extensive experience of the SOXS consortium in the development of instruments for the VLT, we decided to base the design of the Control System on the same standards, both for hardware and software control. We illustrate the control network, the instrument functions and detectors to be controlled, the overall design of SOXS Instrument Software (INS) and its main components. Then, we provide details about the control software for the most SOXS-specific features: control of the COTS-based imaging camera, the flexures compensation system and secondary guiding.

arXiv comment8 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (8)

• X-shooter, the new wide band intermediate resolution spectrograph at the ESO Very Large Telescope
• The new SOXS instrument for the ESO NTT
• GRAWITA: VLT Survey Telescope observations of the gravitational wave sources GW150914 and GW151226
• SOXS: a wide band spectrograph to follow up transients
• Optical design of the SOXS spectrograph for ESO NTT
• The Acquisition Camera System for SOXS at NTT
• MITS: the Multi-Imaging Transient Spectrograph for SOXS
• SOXS Control Electronics Design

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Development status of the SOXS spectrograph for the ESO-NTT telescope
• Optical design of the SOXS spectrograph for ESO NTT
• Final design and development status of the acquisition and guiding system for SOXS
• SOXS: a wide band spectrograph to follow up transients
• Development status of the SOXS instrument control software
• The Acquisition Camera System for SOXS at NTT
• SOXS Control Electronics Design
• The internal alignment and validation of a powered ADC for SOXS
• Improvements to SHINS, the SHARK-NIR Instrument Software, during the AIT phase
• Son of X--Shooter: a multi--band instrument for a multi--band universe
• The VIS detector system of SOXS
• The mechanical design of SOXS for the NTT
• The Common Path of SOXS (Son of X-Shooter)
• Operational modes and efficiency of SOXS
• Development status of the UV-VIS detector system of SOXS for the ESO-NTT telescope
• The Son-Of-X-shooter (SOXS) Data-Reduction Pipeline