Software Release Notes for Build "2013A"

Release Date: Jan 30, 2013
Release Name: 2013A
General Description:

Telescope Operator Overview Information

• none.

Support Astronomer Overview Information

• GCS: A weighting scheme is now available in support of the GCS acquisition sequence. The option to invoke this scheme is controlled by the GCS[L|R].weightSourcesFlag in the gcs.conf file (0: use the brightest object, 1: use the new weighting scheme). This implementation addresses Issue Trak 4379. Please see the GCS section below for the configuration files which have been updated.
• GCS: The wait time for the guide star to become stable in the guide box has been lengthened. This ad hoc solution (for now) has been implemented to address Issue Trak 4434.

The Details

New Functionality Tests that need to be performed with the Telescope

• AOS: No active tests required. After some use of the AO the effect of modifications must be verified in the event log. AOSGUI global functionality after porting to QT4 must be verified.
• GCS: Test the new weighting scheme for the guide star acquisition. DONE: OK
• GCS: Test (as able) the lengthed time for the guide star to become stable in the guide box. DONE: OK
• PCS: Test via the IRTC a request for the KFP coordinates for multiple guide stars .DONE: OK

Patches to the Release

• ENV Version 1.15A
  • Change the time to wait for LBT weather data to change from 60 to 180 seconds. This will avoid some of the recent 'glitches' seen in temperature which may be related to pointing errors (IssueTrak 4459).
• GCS_Version-2.10.1
  • The gcs client was modified by commenting out a block of new code which created a second guider image unnecessarily (sometimes) when using the readGuideCam command line function. This is a temporary fix to IT4466.
• GCS_Version-2.10.2
  • Sextractor can identify potential guide stars which have a negative FWHM. In order to avoid this issue, reject potential guide stars with a FWHM < 0.15" or FLUX < 0.0". This was a refinement to IT4379.
• GCS_Version-2.10.3
  • Added the computed mean and sigma FWHM values of the wavefront sensing spots to the GCSGUI display on the WFS/Camera View panel. This was done to address IT4490.
• GCS_Version-2.11.0
  • Added dynamically determined WFS reconstructor. The flag WFS_useDynRecon must be set in the appropriate AGw configuration file (LUCI_L.cfg, etc.)
  • Fixed writing of POSANGLE and PARANGLE in the WFS image FITS headers. IT4554.

Known Bugs

• none.

Release Overview

• Telemetry is now written to HDF5 files in the directory /lbt/telemetry_data/tcs.

IIF list of Public Data Dictionary Variables

• IIF Public Data Dictionary Variables compatible with this release.

Operating System, System Configuration, TCS and Hardware Computers

TCS Servers / Workstations

• none.

agw-control computer

• none.

jet computer, DSP, FPGA

• Additional signal handling was added to the DSP library code to trap illegal instruction, hang-up, and user-defined signals from mcstemp for proper shutdown and clean up of the DSPs and DMA memory used by the DSPs.

Networks

• none.

PLCs

• Lower left and right shutter DeviceNet encoders were added to the ECS PLC and are displayed in the ECS GUI. Shutter door speed changes remain controlled by the upper encoders as before. Tags SD0501_POSITION and SD1001_POSITION were reused for encoder positions.
• Two remote I/O racks were added to the ECS PLC and put on the ECS ControlNet.
• The Ethernet bridge in CPN0401 was replaced with ControlNet and added to the ECS ControlNet.

TCS Subsystems and GUIs, and significant configuration files

AGw control server

• none.

AOS - Adaptive Optics

• AOS version 10.13. AOSGUI version 4.0
• Various modifications to logging output
• AOSGUI has been ported to QT4
• The mechanism of mode offload has been modified (IssueTrak 4266). A DD variable (aos.side[s].adsec.do_offload) is set by AO Supervisor to disable offloading. This will avoid to continue execution of previously queued offload commands.
• A DD variable (aos.side[side].wfs_select, mirrored to AO Supervisor) has been added to provide the supervisor with information about the currently selected WFS.
• Telemetry names have been updated to support new scheme (Telemetry R18)

ECS - Enclosure Control

• none.

ENV - Environmental Sensors

• ENV Version 1.15
  • Put LBT raw wind directions into the DD and telemetry.
• ENVGUI Version 2.2
  • Make event window selectable by mouse so events can be copied and pasted into other applications (IssueTrak 4338).
  • Add display of new DIMM reflective memory variable seeingZenith.
  • Display LBT raw wind directions.

IIF - Instrument Interface

• IIF Version 8.20
  • Add new command GetKFPCoordinates for LINC (IssueTrak 4237).
  • Change the build name to 2013A in DDNames.
  • Add DIMM reflective memory variable seeingZenith (IssueTrak 2685). The public name is DIMMSeeingZenith. The item is also put in DIMM telemetry as "seeing zenith".
  • Add new client method lookupDDname() to translate public names to DD names.
  • Create public names for LBT "front" wind data (LBTWindDirFront, LBTWindSpeedFront) and "raw" wind directions (LBTWindDirRaw, LBTWindDirFrontRaw).
  • Do not pause guiding/wfs or AO or move the guide or AO stage in StepFocus if the focus change is less than 0.0001 mm (IssueTrak 4398). This means a StepFocus 0 will just update collimation without touching the guiding or AO process.
  • Allow public DD names in SetDDEntry and SetMultiDDentry. This allows an instrument to write its own variables using the public name. The old form is still supported for backwards compatibility.
  • Reject Guide commands if there is no active Preset, or if an Offset is running (IssueTrak 4410).
  • Do not delete an old ICE proxy if the one replacing it is not valid (IssueTrak 4397).
  • Cancel a Preset if the primary mirror becomes not ready (cell not RUNNING, mirror not RUN, or air not ON) if the RIP ignore flag is not set (IssueTrak 4425).
  • Add reflective memory variables iif.azOnSource and iif.elOnSource to support the new mcs variables mcs.azDrive.azOnlyOnSource and mcs.elDrive.elOnlyOnSource. The public names are IIFAzOnSource and IIFElOnSource.
• IIFGUI Version 4.2
  • Add support for new command GetKFPCoordinates.
  • Add support for new client command lookupDDname.

GCS - Guiding Control

• GCS Version 2.10
  • The new method, determineWeightedGS(), has been implemented in the GCS class to be used during the guide star acquisition. This method processes all the sources found according to Sextractor, and uses a weighting scheme to determine which source is the most plausible guide star. All new configuration variables in support of this new method have been put into instrument_side.cfg (e.g., LUCI_L.cfg) files. Please note the ZeroPoints are filter-dependent. The new configuration variables are: MSCALE, RSCALE, FSCALE, CSCALE, CCDGain, and (filter-dependent) ZeroPoint values. This implementation addresses Issue Trak 4379.
    • Programmer's only: The public (PUB_CONF_DIR_GCS) GCS configuration files for use on the programmer's workstation (locale: testing) use the path "./gcs/configuration/PUBLIC"; for use on the downtown test cluster (locale: downtown) and mountain, the path is "/home/telescope/TCS/Configuration/GCS". The location of the private GCS files has not changed: "./gcs/configuration/GCS".
  • The wait time in the method verifyStarInBox() has been lengthened to 30 seconds for both instances of the "endWaiting" variable. This is an ad hoc fix to allow valid processes to succeed. This somewhat addresses Issue Trak 4434.
  • The gcs.conf file has been modified in three ways.
    • The file includes a new variable, GCS[L|R].weightSourceFlag. This flag controlled the scheme used for determining the guide star in the acquisition sequence: 0=brightest object method, 1=new weighting scheme.
    • All image data on a programmer's workstation (locale: testing) and on the downtown cluster (locale: downtown) will now be stored in /data/tcs/GCS. On the mountain, the images go to the Repository.
    • Please be aware of the location of the public GCS configuration variables on the programmer's workstation. The variables are now stored in "./gcs/configuration/PUBLIC".
  • The modified public configuration files are:
    • LUCI_L.cfg (previous: LUCI_L.cfg.20130128)
    • LUCI_R.cfg (previous: LUCI_R.cfg.20130128)
    • LUCI_IRTC_L.cfg (previous: LUCI_IRTC_L.cfg.20130128)
    • LUCI_IRTC_R.cfg (previous: LUCI_IRTC_R.cfg.20130128)
    • MODS_L.cfg (previous: MODS_L.cfg.20130128)
    • IRTC_DG_L.cfg (previous: IRTC_DG_L.20130128)
    • AO_IRTC_L.cfg (previous: AO_IRTC_L.cfg.20130128)

LSS - Logging and Events

• LSS Version 3.9
  • Generate an "lss.newlog" event whenever a new log file is created.
  • Correct sound directory names for sided subsystems.

MCS / mcstemp - Mount Control

• MCSGUI Version 3.1
  • Make event window selectable by mouse so events can be copied and pasted into other applications (IssueTrak 4338).
  • The MCSGUI has had 2 additional on-source flags added to the display. There is now a separate on-source for the AZ axis and one for the EL axis.

• MCSPU version svn-719
  • This version replaces svn-706 which is from September of 2012.
  • All reference to the TELEMETRY_ON_OFF environment variable has been removed. The recording of MCSPU telemetry is now controlled only by the "collectTelemetry" flag in tcs.conf and the "mcsTelemetryFlag" in mcs.conf. BOTH must be true for telemetry to be collected.
  • The MCSPU now computes separate on source flags for AZ and for EL axes. The AZ axis value is corrected for cos(elevation). So a 1 arcsec criterion at EL=60 deg. is 1 arcsec on the sky, which is 2 arcsec of AZ. These 2 flags are also available to instruments or other subsystems from the data dictionary.
  • The way the MCSPU records errors encountered when reading from the PLCs (TPLC, ERPLC, HBPLC) has changed. It now maintains a count of the number of consecutive read errors and logs that value when the reads start working again. When there is a read failure, it logs the number of successful reads that occurred before the failure.
  • The MCSPU telemetry for the AZ and EL axes has been changed to use the new hdf5 telemetry system.

OSS - Optical Support

• OSS Version 2.29
  • Make tertiary simulation work again after a change by Torsten in December.
  • Set MCSPU heartbeat true for dynamic balance and swing arm simulation.
• OSS Version 3.0
  • Convert to standard Gtype reflective memory access.
  • General cleanup, not yet finished
  • Convert to standard SYSLOG.
  • Add error events.
  • Log events instead of SYSLOG messages for errors.
  • Add side information to SYSLOG and events where appropriate.
  • Clean up namespaces.

PCS - Pointing Control

• PCS Version 6.24
  • Added a new method getKFPCoordinates() to accommodate the need of some instruments to obtain the focal plane coordinates for multiple guide stars. This function takes a vector of guide star Position objects and computes the focal plane coordinates for each star. The routine returns sequential arguments of X and Y (in mm) for each guide star and in the order the guide stars were provided to the TCS. This implementation addresses Issue Trak 4237.

Pointing Kernel / Pointing Kernel tools

• none.

PMC - Primary Mirror Cell

• PMC Version 5.25
  • Add audio message to mirror panic event (IssueTrak 4425).

PSF - Point Spread Function

• PSF Version 6.1
  • Add mirror positions to the "ACTOPT collimated" syslog messages for the primary and secondary mirrors.
  • Change the maximum values for primary mirror Zernike coefficients per John Hill.
• PSFGUI Version 6.1
  • Disable primary mirror "Clear C00" button if absolute Zernikes are in use to avoid confusing the PSF.

TCS GUI

• none.

WX - Weather Station

• none.

TCS Common Software

commandreturn - client command status returns

• none.

commandsequencer - client/subsystem command handling

• none.

core - foundation routines

• Change LogFile methods open() and log() to return bool; true if a new file has been created.

datadictionary - reflective memory and event support

• none.

eventhandler - event handling

• none.

networkconfig - subsystem management

• syslogserver: Add a message containing the build name whenever a new log file is created.

reflectivememory - global shared memory

• none.

rpc - communication protocol

• none.

setvalue - reflective memory access

• Add address and bitfield index to SysLog error messages in Gtype class.
• Add getDescription() methods to the SetValueInterface class to return the reflective memory variable description.

tcs_config - tcs configuration

• none.

TCS Tools

DDEditor - Data Dictionary Editor

• none.

DDBrowser - Data Dictionary Browser

• none.

DDViewer - Data Dictionary Viewer

• none.

Event Editor

• none.

Telemetry

Collector

• Telemetry is now written to HDF5 files instead of the MySQL database. Subsystems AOS, ECS, ENV, GCS, IIF, MCS, OSS, PCS, PMC, and PSF were changed to support a new Ambassador callback giving the path for the HDF5 files. The standard path is "/lbt/telemetry_data" and is NFS mounted. The top level stream name (see below) is the first directory under this path. The stream names were changed for AOS, ENV, GCS, IIF, OSS, PMC, and PSF. The following gives the old stream name to new stream mapping:
  
  • aos
    • adsc.sx.xxx -> aosl.xxx
    • adsc.dx.xxx -> aosr.xxx
  • ecs
    • daq.xxx -> ecs.xxx
  • env
    • wxtc.xxx -> env.xxx
  • gcs
    • gcs.sx.xxx -> gcsl.xxx
    • gcs.dx.xxx -> gcsr.xxx
  • iif
    • dimm.dimm -> iff.dimm
  • mcs
    • mcs.az.xxx -> mcs.az.xxx
    • mcs.el.xxx -> mcs.el.xxx
    • mcs.xxx -> mcs.xxx
  • mcspu
    • mcs.az.xxx -> mcs.az.xxx
    • mcs.el.xxx -> mcs.el.xxx
  • oss
    • terc.xxx -> oss.terc.xxx
    • adsc.sx.xxx -> oss.adsc.sx.xxx
    • adsc.dx.xxx -> oss.adsc.dx.xxx
    • swa.xxx -> oss.swa.xxx
    • dyb.xxx -> oss.dyb
  • ovms
    • daq.ovms.xxx -> ovms.xxx
  • pcs
    • pcs.sx.xxx -> pcs.sx.xxx
    • pcs.dx.xxx -> pcs.dx.xxx
    • pcs.xxx -> pcs.xxx
  • pmc
    • pmcc.sx.xxx -> pmcl.xxx
    • pmcc.dx.xxx -> pmcr.xxx
  • psf
    • psf.sx.xxx -> pslf.xxx
    • psf.dx.xxx -> psfr.xxx

Instruments and Environmental Sensors

DIMM - Differential Image Motion Monitor

• DIMM software version 2.6
  • fixed sort on distance
  • don't include stars in the list if the distance is > 90 deg
  • updates to focuser - don't allow slider to make changes; made stop button available all the time
  • don't re-read Az/El from telescope just to log, get it from the LBT info structure
  • added on-the-fly configuration of spiral search non-overlap size
  • more exception handling - spiral search could throw a mount exception that wasn't caught
  • log distance from pointing with RA/DEC move
  • change logging of guide updates to be in arcminutes instead of degrees
  • conversion for exposure time from camera units to milliseconds was incorrect when reading - commented out some code that would reset the exposure time if the FOV was 200x200 since it wasn't happening because of the bug, and now would happen!
  • make exposure time configurable parameter (it was hard-coded to 10 milliseconds) and set it to 15
  • make all camera settings in GUI changeable (ROI, exp time, binning, ..) by only refreshing the settings in the GUI every 10 secs
  • message to std::err when centroiding fails
  • admin user config item to control some GUI options - reset to mount factory settings, set mount origin, reset focuser, reset min focuser position
  • added a first cut at adjusted seeing calculation
  • don't calculate seeing in update loop (2x/second), only in camera thread every 5secs
  • fix places in GUI that would trigger by default on return - random buttons because it has to do with the order they were created, not where they are.
  • added FITS file dump from camera settings GUI window - 1-shot dump of next camera image to dated file.

IRTC - Infrared Test Camera

• IRTC Version 3.7
  • Add GetKFPCoordinates command.
  • Clean up IRC help text.
  • Do not create default proxy in IRC for Register command (IssueTrak 4397).

LBC - LBT Binocular Camera

• none.

LBTO Weather Station - 3DWGUI

• none.

MAT - Mount Axilliary Telescope

• none.

All Sky Monitor

• none.

-- MicheleDeLaPena - 28 Jan 2013