Software solution for autonomous observations with H2RG detectors and SIDECAR ASICs for the RATIR camera

摘要

The Reionization And Transients InfraRed (RATIR) camera has been built for rapid Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB)followup and will provide quasi-simultaneous imaging in iugri/iiZY JH/i. The optical component uses two 2048 × 2048pixel Finger Lakes Imaging ProLine detectors, one optimized for the SDSS iu, g/i, and ir/i bands and one optimizedfor the SDSSi i/i band. The infrared portion incorporates two 2048 × 2048 pixel Teledyne HgCdTe HAWAII-2RGdetectors, one with a 1.7-micron cutoff and one with a 2.5-micron cutoff. The infrared detectors are controlled byTeledyne's SIDECAR (System for Image Digitization Enhancement Control And Retrieval) ASICs (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits). While other ground-based systems have used the SIDECAR before, this systemalso utilizes Teledyne's JADE2 (JWST ASIC Drive Electronics) interface card and IDE (Integrated DevelopmentEnvironment). Here we present a summary of the software developed to interface the RATIR detectors withRemote Telescope System, 2nd Version (RTS2) software. RTS2 is an integrated open source package for remoteobservatory control under the Linux operating system and will autonomously coordinate observatory dome,telescope pointing, detector, filter wheel, focus stage, and dewar vacuum compressor operations. Where necessarywe have developed custom interfaces between RTS2 and RATIR hardware, most notably for cryogenic focus stagemotor drivers and temperature controllers. All detector and hardware interface software developed for RATIRis freely available and open source as part of the RTS2 distribution.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.