LabVIEW Control Software for the UH-Hilo 0.9m Telescope Jessica Solano Home Institution: University of Puget Sound University of Hawaii-Hilo Physics & Astronomy Department Research Advisors: John Hamilton & Bill Heacox Good Afternoon! My name is Jessica Solano. This past summer, I worked for the Physics and Astronomy Department at University of Hawaii at Hilo, under the direction of John Hamilton and Bill Heacox. My project dealt with helping to implement the Telescope Control Software for their new 0.9m telescope.

Presentation Overview UH 0.6m Telescope & UH 0.9m Telescope Problem: Telescope Control Software & LabVIEW Design: Steps to Solution LabVIEW Software Results: Manual & Program Conclusion: Benefits for UH 0.9m Telescope First I will compare the two telescopes, the 0.6m and the 0.9m, and inform you on some of their differences. Then I will introduce the problem and how I approached the problem. I will also show you some of my work through LabView and what it resulted to, and finally show how my work helped to implement the telescope control software for the department.

UH 0.6m Telescope Operated manually by hand paddle. The UH 0.6m was the first to be built on Mauna Kea in 1968. It was known to capture some of the best planetary images which confirmed that Mauna Kea was one of the best sites for telescope viewing. It is presently operated manually, excessively worn down by instrumentation testing, meaning before the instruments are used on the big professional telescopes they’re tested on the UH 0.6m first. Also, it is not in very functional shape meaning it can’t see certain objects in the sky very well, which prevents undergraduate students from doing all the research that they’re capable of. In 1968, the first telescope on Mauna Kea. Photo courtesy of Bill Heacox. Operated manually by hand paddle. It’s not fully functional for researchers and students. Used for Instrumentation Testing.

The New 0.9m Telescope Upgraded to see modern astronomical images. Electronically controlled from sea-level, UH-Hilo’s control room. Available for the research of UH-Hilo students, including undergraduates. UH Hilo’s BIG PROJECT is the new UH 0.9m telescope, which will be upgraded to see astronomical images, be electronically controlled from sea level at Uh-Hilo, and it will be available for research including undergraduates. So this is a very EXCITING project for UH-Hilo, because they will have one of the first educational observatories on a great site like Mauna kea. For their telescope control software (a.k.a. TCS) this telescope will be using LabVIEW, which was given by the manufacture currently building their telescope, Equinox, Interscience. Sketch of the 0.6m Telescope. Photo courtesy of Bill Heacox

Photo courtesy of Bill Heacox. Problem ? ? ? The problem is that there is no standard TCS system distributed among all telescopes. Each telescope customizes or creates their own software using their own programming language. LabVIEW is fairly new to the TCS market, which means their TCS is still in need of improvement and many changes will be done, in which P & A dept. are planning to perfect in the future. The other issue, is that although the P & A faculty have had lots of programming experience, none of them have started working with LabVIEW or seen it in action. My objective is to teach them the foundational basics of LAbVIEW and start implementing it to their new telescope, so they can be able to maneuver their telescope and allow it to develop over time. I tackled this problem by creating an easy-to-read labview manual and a TCS program that plots the telescope’s target on a polar graph that represents the visible sky. I manipulated some the existing programs for some of the future changes they want to see. Photo courtesy of Bill Heacox.

Choosing LabVIEW South African Telescope First I will give you a little background on labview, LabVIEW is a graphical programming language. It is used at several telescopes around the world, including the 16inch IFA telescope on Mauna Loa, and it is capable of a lot of technical scientific controlling programs. It is also an engineering programming language, meaning a lot of the scientific programs and functions are already installed making it ideal for virtual instrumentation hookup and data analysis. South African Telescope

This is a picture of LabVIEW This is a picture of LabVIEW. On the left is the front panel, basically your interface what you see when you execute the program, your controls, buttons and inputs. On the right is your block diagram, this is your source code and your behind-the-scenes work. One of the aspects of labView is that the code is graphically represented than written in text-code and you are easily able to see where the data flow is coming from and where it’s going to. (pointing out the diagrams, and wires). This also prevents spelling errors that are usually run into when building text code. (Point out, this is an amplitude graph being calculated and manipulated by the amplitude knob.) LabVIEW Software: Front Panel and Block Diagram

Design Approach UH 24 inch Telescope UH 88 inch Telescope I approached the problem, by being able to understand the basic operations of a telescope, how it moves including the other parameters involved. I visited the UH 24inch and the UH 88inch on Mauna Kea as well as the 16inch IFA Telescope on Mauna Loa, which is the telescope presently using LabVIEW. However Mauna kea hasn’t been able to function well yet for viewing. From this, I was able to see the telescopes in action, control one of them manually, and see what is needed in order to make them work. IfA 16 inch Mauna Loa Telescope

My second task was to understand LAbVIEW, so I was went through all the manuals and books, while creating multiple sample programs to understand LabVIEW’s basic components. I was also able to integrate it with the TCS by looking at Labview TCS programs already made by VYSOS made for the Mauna kea telescope, and record everything about what I learned from labview and some of the complications I came across. In addition, I updated the faculty weekly on different LabView TCS capabilities while teaching them the basics at the same time. I found the easiest way to learn the language, was to create numerous programs and learn from my mistakes. Manually controlling the UH 0.6m Telescope. Photo courtesy of Bill Heacox.

Experiment and Record So, I started off with simple programs that worked with the basic programming functions, like loops, arrays, and mathematical functions, and then I was given the task to try to replicate an interface like the one given by equinox, but instead locate the position of the telescope’s target on a star catalog represented by a polar graph. My notebook, held all sorts of calculations, ideas, and drawings that helped to have on paper before executing the program.

Compiling Notes By creating sample programs and looking through the problems I encountered, I compiled my notes to pinpoint which examples and points would be important to share for students and faculty controlling a telescope using labview. I also kept in my mind how I can use the programs I created to add the modification I made to the main TCS. I started by capturing labview screens that resembled good and easy-to-follow examples for the manual and researched online at different websites including the national instruments website who owns labview, for helpful resources. I was able to compile what I call a sample library, and this was very convenient to making the manual and building the program, because the subprograms seem to already be created, and I would just pull up one of the files from the library.

This was the result of my Interface (it’s not really the result yet) This was the result of my Interface (it’s not really the result yet). The star catalog will be imported as a picture or electronic catalog for the polar graph. I will explain what it shows (the added feature), what it looks like, etc. Explain how testing went and mention how some things didn’t work. Changed the axes and colors, for visibility at night. Angle positionlabels, and the way it plots it’s going the opposite direction. Few features.. In comparison to the old VYSOS the colors are hard to see in the night, and then compared to the dials bigger numebrs. BEFORE

You are able to see some of the changes that the department wanted to see: Color for night sky visibility, digital indicators instead of dials, and a visible polar graph. A simple program converting RA/DEC to AZ/ALT and plotting these values. AFTER

Bock Diagram of my program Bock Diagram of my program. You can see the documentation for faculty to easily see what’s going on. The behind the scenes work. (Pinpoint out a certain section, Takes in RA and DEC and converts in degrees, converts into pi radians, and is inputting into the main calculation for calculating azimuth and altitude.)

This is the VI hierarchy, showing all the sub programs executing one another. We were able to test my program, by testing it with the same data values into my program and with a credible site converting celestial coordinates to horizon coordinates. At first it didn’t match, and I couldn’t find out what was wrong with my program, but I was able to notice the difference between my calcualtions and the calculations of the manufactured program, and we had different RA – degrees calculations, I tested both and was able to see that the manufactured program had an error in multiplying 15 by a wrong number. This is a great start to finding other errors in the system.

LabVIEW MANUAL I typed my LabVIEW manual through Microsoft Word, capturing images from some of the programs I wrote and from other existing programs. It breaks down the several parts of LabVIEW and what each button and icon means. I Inputted a few helpful tips boxes and side notes throughout the manual. The hardest thing when writing this manual, was keeping my audience in mind. I constantly had to re-word and change several parts of the manual to make it easy to read for first-time Labview users, by using little programming language and technical terms. Also learned to integrate lots of pictures, but at the same time keep it simple, short, and enough to understand Labview. This manual is based on personal experience, references from other books, and as a labview first time user myself, I included pictures, colors, and my samples and very low terminology.

Conclusion Easy-to-read LabVIEW Manual Finding the first error in the system. Program showcasing future features. Ultimately, the start of my manual will help the department understand the foundation of LabVIEW and my sample program will be a big start many future changes for the change and implementation of their TCS system on their new 0.9m telescope. With my manual, students and faculty will be able to change their program to their convenience and be able to further their research by what they know as well as add to the manual. With the program they can take one of their features and easily implement it into their program, as well as perfect their system in finding their first bug and this can create a long-running effective and efficient labview telescope control software system for their telescope. Students at the 0.6m Telescope. Given by Bill Heacox.

References Jennings, Richard, and Gary W. Johnson. 2006. LabVIEW Graphical Programming. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Kring, Jim, and Jeffrey Travis. 2007. LabVIEW for Everyone: Graphical Programming Made Easy and Fun. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. National Instruments Corporation. NI Developer Zone. [updated 11 July 2007; cited 12 July 2007]. Available from http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/main.\ Schmitt, Stephen R. Converting Celestial to Horizon Coordinates. [2007; cited 16 July 2007]. Available from http://home.att.net/~srschmitt/script_celestial2ho rizon.html I need to add a few Astronomy websites.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements John Hamilton, Bill Heacox, and Jay Slivkoff. Physics and Astronomy Department at University of Hawaii-Hilo for their facilities. Hilary O’Bryan, Sarah Anderson, Scott Seagroves, and Akamai Interns. Funding provided through the Center for Adaptive Optics, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center (STC), AST-987683. I would like to thank UH-Hilo Physics and Astronomy Department, John Hamilton and Bill Heacox. Funding by Center of Adaptive Optics.