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N. H. Turner, T. A. ten Brummelaar, H. A. McAlister (CHARA, Georgia State University), S. T. Ridgway (NOAO), L. Sturmann, J. Sturmann, W. G. Bagnuolo, M. Hrynevych, M. A. Shure (CHARA, Georgia State University)
We describe the hardware layout and software control system used to align, maintain, and operate the CHARA Array. The control system links together over twenty CPUs, three operating systems and a plethora of peripheral devices using TCP/IP sockets, serial lines, parallel lines, and generic TTL lines through the use of Real-Time Linux (RTLinux). We describe some of the modifications to the RTLinux kernel to accomodate the Array sample time of one millisecond, as well as integration of a GPS-based clock signal.
The CHARA Array, a six-telescope Optical/IR interferometric array operated by Georgia State University on Mount Wilson, California, was funded by the National Science Foundation, the W. M. Keck Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Georgia State University.