The Wavefront Correction Control System for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

The ATST Wavefront Correction Control System (WCCS) is the high-level control software for the Wavefront Correction (WFC) system to be employed in the new Advanced Technology Solar Telescope. The WFC is comprised of a set of subsystems: the high-order adaptive optics system for correction of wavefront aberrations, an active optics system that calculates corrections for low-order distortions caused by optical misalignments, a context viewing camera to provide quick-look quality analysis data, and a limb guider for positioning an occulting mask on the solar disk. The operation and configuration of the WFC is determined by the operational modes set by the operator. The Telescope Control System (TCS) sends these operational modes to the WCCS, which is the interface between the telescope and the WFC. The WCCS adopts a modular approach to the organization of the software. At the top-level there is a high-level management controller which is the interface to the TCS. This management controller is responsible for the validation of commands received from the TCS and for the coordination and synchronization of the operation of the WFC subsystems. Separate subsystem controllers manage the functional behavior of each WFC subsystem. In this way the WCCS provides a consistent interface to the TCS for each subsystem while synchronizing and coordinating the components of the Wavefront Correction system.