How To Use Chronos Mount For Astronomical Use

Transcription

1 Hypervisor is a Linux-based appliance like the Android OS and Apple ios. The architecture is open, and this is a huge advantage from the user s perspective. You can be a novice or an advanced user, and Hypervisor will be your companion. To use Hypervisor it s not necessary to install any software on your local PC or tablet! You only need a web browser with JavaScript enabled. Think of Hypervisor as your astronomical hub. It is the connection between the user s PC running your favorite ASCOM compatible software, smartphone or tablet, and your observatory appliances. You can however, have more powerful functionalities using a remote terminal, an X11 Client, or an ASCOM driver in Windows. For some of our clients who are tasked to develop a sophisticated mount for payloads which may not be telescopes or astronomical in function, Hypervisor may be an elegant interface between your command-and-control system and the (Chronos) mount, as well as additional sensor systems and appliances. With the exception of the proprietary code developed by ChronosMount, Inc., which is written in C++, the rest of the software has an open architecture which is capable of user modification. The core proprietary code is a process-control system, and exposes the Chronos API. Hardware Capabilities! Hypervisor comes with a full set of interfaces and technologies that allows connection with networks, industrial interfaces, observatory support boards, telescopes, and their accessories. Hypervisor can function as a fully-accessible node server on the Internet, if so desired, as it includes all the required applications for this purpose!

2 The hardware is built by Advantek Co., Ltd. as a general purpose embedded computer. Hypervisor is based on a dual-core Intel Atom microprocessor with 2GB RAM that is available in either commercial or military specifications. Specifications: $ Dual-core Intel Atom microprocessor, 1.66GHz speed $ 2 GB RAM $ VGA output up to 2048x1436 pixels resolution; LVDS output up to 1366x768 pixels resolution $ Two SATA ports up to 300 MB/sec $ 1 SSD HD 128GB $ Watchdog Timer support $ Two 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 Ethernet connections $ Wireless connection g/b/n (master and client) $ Up to 6 USB 2.0 ports $ One RS422/RS485 port $ Up to 4 RS232 ports $ 8 bit GPIO $ One mini-pcie interface $ One parallel port $ One PS2 keyboard/mouse port $ High Definition Audio, Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in Additional custom Hypervisor configurations using in-place LED panels, standard military grade MIL-STD-810F and DO-160D certifications, as well as an IP54 rating for protection against dirt, dust and water may be requested.

3 Chronos Hypervisor Specifications Software Capabilities! Hypervisor is an extension of the ChronosMount HDxxHPO product line offering superior control of the mount because of its Linux operating system. With Hypervisor between your application computer and the mount hardware, you can extend the hardware capabilities of the mount and isolate it from the shortcomings so typical of Windows. $ Unguided imaging for up to 3 minutes at 5 arcseconds (peak-topeak), for astronomical (celestial, sidereal rate) tracking $ Higher speed slewing with more accuracy $ Higher speed non-sidereal tracking $ Improved mount status and control capability $ Identical interface with every ChronosMount model, for payload capacities of 250 lb to 1000 lb (for HD32HPO, HD50HPO, and HD65HPO) Hypervisor software is based on Linux with a full set of applications from webcentric support to astronomical libraries and industrial support applications. The heart of Hypervisor is a proprietary code developed by ChronosMount, Inc. (CMI) fully written in C++ that represents a process-controlling function and which exposes the Chronos API. For our clients who are mandated to develop customized code, in order to support their end-user s programmatic constraints, it is important to note that Hypervisor has an open architecture in software too. Apart from the proprietary ChronosAPI code,

4 everything else is open to user modification, including enhancing security and installing or developing new software, for whatever purposes they may require. The main software tools available are as follows: The ChronosAPI: This is a set of functions which allows any application, local or remote, to control appliances or Hypervisor s networks. It exposes the functions through a TCP/IP connection with a user-defined port and through a direct compilation, using it as a library. These functions control appliances for an observatory including the Chronos mount commands, Dome commands, other instrumentation, etc. Hypervisor may have any number of sites. Obviously, an organization developing a complex mechanical mount system for demanding mission requirements with precision pointing/repeatability, with goals for size and weight reduction consistent with high performance, can find that Hypervisor is a useful tool in their box. It can be used as a starting point for mandated custom code, or as an important adjunct to such code. It will also be useful for testing and calibration purposes. Source code and documentation can be purchased from ChronosMount, Inc. (CMI). The diagram below shows the current hierarchy of the main objects in the Hypervisor infrastructure:

5 Chronos Hypervisor Specifications Using a browser interface, or connected directly to a TCP/IP connection from a Windows or Linux computer, Hypervisor provides a wide range of observing capabilities, whether driving a single CMI mount, connected to multiple CMI mounts, or when multiple Hypervisors are connected together in a network (local TCP/IP or across the Internet).

6 If multiple mounts and/or multiple observatory instrumentation are connected, they can be directed in tandem (to all point at the same object), or separately and independently, depending on observing and programmatic requirements. For customers who wish to develop their own control software, either because of preference, or because of the demands of a specific project, Hypervisor, along with its application programming interface, allows a programmer to: $ Integrate ASCOM compatible software and instruments with custom built hardware and software $ For Windows users wishing to migrate to a Linux platform, Hypervisor provides an easy-to-use path while maintaining existing Windows components $ Continue using Windows applications plus all of the Hypervisor applications to expand system capabilities $ Use a CMI mount with an astronomical server inside with all Linux software like Apache, Tomcat, MySQL (LAMP), and more $ Connect directly to CMI mount hardware using RS-232 $ Take advantage of Chronos mount geometry: No meridian flip, no counterweights required, no rebalancing for new payload, etc. $ Develop custom software using the Chronos API, which is simply available on the website for use by customers

7 For added convenience, Hypervisor comes loaded with configured software: $ Webserver interface so user can control Hypervisor/appliances $ Forum, administration, picture gallery, wiki, other web features $ Apache $ Tomcat Astronomical $ IRAF $ EPICS industrial spec $ Cartes du Ciel, Guide 9, and Stellarium $ Optionally full catalogs like GSC and NOMAD $ OpenMPI for Grid computing capabilities $ ASCOM drivers $ MySQL and Postgres databases $ Eclipse-based development environment $ SSH and FTP servers $ X11 remote support $ Languages like C++, FORTRAN, Java, Python, etc. $ USB over IP allows forwarding USB wireless connections to remote computers as if the USB was a local connection Hypervisor uses the latest generation extensible format option ext4. It can support volumes with sizes up to 1 exibyte (EB) and files with sizes up to 16 terabytes (TiB). Ext4 uses a performance

8 technique called allocate-on-flush, also known as delayed allocation. That is, ext4 delays block allocation until it writes data to disk. (In contrast, some file systems allocate blocks before writing data to disk.) Delayed allocation improves performance and reduces fragmentation by using the actual file size to improve block allocation. Therefore, it can be extended with external storage hardware. The Hypervisor software can be run on an external tower compatible with Ubuntu v12 or higher should higher processing power be required, especially should the user decide to run their own applications in addition to those supplied. Hypervisor uses a distributed architecture to minimize the impact of one unit s (limited) processing capacity.