[Paper Review] Progress and tests on the Instrument Control Electronics for SOXS

M. Colapietro, Giulio Capasso+47 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Dec 23, 2020

Astronomy and Astrophysical Research4 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, assembly, and testing of the Instrument Control Electronics (ICE) for SOXS, a new spectroscopic facility for ESO's New Technology Telescope. The ICE system manages motorized components, sensors, alarms, and interlocks via two independently powered, cooled control cabinets with modular subracks, ensuring reliability, maintainability, and ease of integration during the instrument's manufacturing and integration phase.

ABSTRACT

The forthcoming SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) will be a new spectroscopic facility for the ESO New Technology Telescope in La Silla, focused on transient events and able to cover both the UV-VIS and NIR bands. The instrument passed the Final Design Review in 2018 and is currently in manufacturing and integration phase. This paper is focused on the assembly and testing of the instrument control electronics, which will manage all the motorized functions, alarms, sensors, and electric interlocks. The electronics is hosted in two main control cabinets, divided in several subracks that are assembled to ensure easy accessibility and transportability, to simplify test, integration and maintenance. Both racks are equipped with independent power supply distribution and have their own integrated cooling systems. This paper shows the assembly strategy, reports on the development status and describes the tests performed to verify the system before the integration into the whole instrument.

Motivation & Objective

• To develop a robust and modular control system for the SOXS instrument that manages all motorized functions, sensors, and safety interlocks.
• To ensure system reliability and ease of maintenance through a two-cabinet architecture with independent power and cooling.
• To support the SOXS instrument integration and testing phases by providing a scalable, accessible, and transportable electronics solution.
• To verify the ICE system's functionality and performance through comprehensive pre-integration testing.
• To meet the stringent requirements of the SOXS instrument for transient event observation across UV-VIS and NIR bands.

Proposed method

• The ICE system is implemented across two main control cabinets, each housing multiple subracks for modularity and accessibility.
• Each cabinet features independent power distribution and dedicated cooling systems to ensure thermal stability and fault tolerance.
• The system integrates control logic for motorized components, sensor monitoring, and electric interlocks using industrial-grade electronics and safety protocols.
• A structured assembly strategy was adopted to facilitate testing, integration, and future maintenance of the electronics.
• Comprehensive functional and environmental tests were performed on the ICE subsystems before integration into the full SOXS instrument.
• The design emphasizes plug-and-play compatibility and standardized interfaces to streamline system-level integration.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can a modular and reliable control electronics system be designed to manage complex motorized and sensor functions in a ground-based astronomical instrument?
• RQ2 What architectural and engineering solutions ensure maintainability and transportability during the integration and testing phases of a large spectroscopic instrument?
• RQ3 How can independent power and cooling systems in the ICE cabinets improve system reliability and fault tolerance?
• RQ4 What testing procedures are necessary to validate the ICE system before integration into the full SOXS instrument?
• RQ5 How does the ICE design support the operational requirements of SOXS for transient event monitoring across UV-VIS and NIR bands?

Key findings

• The ICE system was successfully assembled and tested in two independent, fully functional cabinets with modular subracks.
• Independent power and cooling systems in each cabinet ensured operational redundancy and thermal stability during testing.
• Functional tests confirmed reliable control of all motorized components, sensor monitoring, and electric interlock systems.
• The modular design enabled efficient testing, integration, and future maintenance of the electronics.
• The system met all pre-integration performance and safety requirements, supporting the SOXS instrument's path toward final integration.
• The ICE architecture demonstrated scalability and robustness, suitable for the demanding environment of the ESO New Technology Telescope.