[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”30px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”143.8px” custom_margin=”|auto||auto|false|false” custom_padding=”||1px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_orientation=”left” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]After 10 years of operation there are systems that need to be rethought and adjusted to new technologies due to obsolescence problems. One of the most critical areas is the real-time controller (known as ABMs): there are about 80 such controllers distributed throughout the observatory.<\/p>\n
To address this challenge, a funding of $CLP 200M was granted by ANID (Chilean National Agency of R+D) to the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) and its technical laboratory, which has also provided the opportunity to do research with students.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”217px” custom_margin=”14px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alma.loadingediciones.cl\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/selfie-Sebastian-scaled-e1669930595454.jpg” title_text=”selfie Sebasti\u00e1n” admin_label=”foto leopoldo” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Cu\u00f1a Leopoldo” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_orientation=”left” min_height=”192px” custom_margin=”|-144px|-201px||false|false” custom_padding=”|204px|||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is to try to develop an solution that could be an alternative to replace the ABMs, which are computers that are responsible for monitoring and controlling in real time all the hardware devices in each antenna, using industrial equipment based on EtherCAT, also validating that this approach can be viable technically and economically\u201d, says UFRO student, Sebasti\u00e1n Carrasco<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Sebasti\u00e1n, a graduated computing engineer, and the other students Rodrigo Seguel and Rodrigo Augsburger visited the OSF together with the professor in charge of this project, Patricio Galea, to get to know the systems they are investigating in the field.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-16px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Cu\u00f1a Leopoldo” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_orientation=”left” min_height=”192px” custom_margin=”|-144px|-201px||false|false” custom_padding=”|204px|||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n \u201cThere are much more specialized topics that I would probably have overlooked if I didn\u2019t have the chance to visit the laboratory at \u00a0ALMA\u201d, says the student at UFRO. “Its also important to highlight that the Hardware in the Loop testing environment (HILSE) allowed us to test, verify and validate our design.”<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”49px||-23px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”cu\u00f1a nestor” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_orientation=”left” width=”100%” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]Jorge Sep\u00falveda<\/strong>, a former ALMA collaborator and current working at the Center of Astro-Engineering UC (AIUC), which is also collaborating with the Universidad de La Frontera, has participated in the project from the beginning, since May 2020. \u201cDuring the development of the project we have been able to appreciate the true potential and the impact that the use of new technologies from the automation industry, based on EtherCAT, can have on the observatory. On the one hand, we verified at the laboratory level that the antenna devices can be controlled and monitored correctly. On the other hand, we demonstrated that the potential of collaborative works between university, local research centers, and the observatory, to tackle complex problems in the discipline of astroengineering\u201d, says Jorge.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alma.loadingediciones.cl\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Selfie_JorgeSepulveda-copy-1-1-e1669930408818.png” title_text=”Selfie_JorgeSepulveda copy (1) (1)” admin_label=”foto nestor” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”cu\u00f1a vero” _builder_version=”4.19.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_orientation=”left” custom_padding=”|||1px||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]This project, led by ALMA’s Engineering Services Group Manager, Tzu-Chiang Shen<\/strong>, places the observatory in an advantageous position to incorporate new approach to resolve the challenges of real-time control requirement in the ALMA observatory using hardware\/software tools used in the automation industry based on open standard that could guarantee the life-time duration of this solution for the next decades. At the same time, it is an important instance of linkage with research centers in Chile, thus collaborating with the creation of knowledge and training of human capital.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n After 10 years of operation there are systems that need to be rethought and adjusted to new technologies due to obsolescence problems. One of the most critical areas is the real-time controller (known as ABMs): there are about 80 such controllers distributed throughout the observatory. To address this challenge, a funding of $CLP 200M was […]<\/p>\n