Running DCS Simulator for DEIMOS

Liz Chock
June 2002

Background

The DCS simulator is software which can emulate the real DCS (drive and control system) software used to control the telescope and rotator. This document describes the procedure for running this software for DEIMOS.


Notes

  • dcsSim task runs on polo to offload cpu usage from roto
  • real DCS keyword access (when in REAL mode) :
    • from polo and keamano: same via dcs2 or dcs service
    • from roto: via dcs2 service only
  • simulated dcs keyword access (when in SIM mode) :
    • from polo and keamano: via dcs2sim service explicitly
    • from roto: via dcs2 OR dcs2sim service
  • note that $KROOT/data directories differ on roto and keamano, so dcs*cake*real/sim links are changed only on roto

Procedure

Follow these steps to launch the simulator:

Configure software on polo

  1. Log in to polo as user kics
  2. Set up the EPICS env-vars for looking @ the dcsSim channels: (specify tdc, aux vme crates and polo where dcsSim runs; and avoid "ambiguous channel" errors when looking at dcs2sim keywords)
    	setenv EPICS_CA_ADDR_LIST "128.171.136.30 128.171.136.35 128.171.136.63"
    	setenv EPICS_CA_AUTO_ADDR_LIST NO
  3. if the dcsSim task is not running in the background on polo, type:
    	dcsSim dcs2sim < /tmp/fooliz &	
    
    If /tmp/fooliz doesn't exist, just touch it.
  4. test keyword access on polo:
    	[593] kics@polo% show -s dcs2 az simulate instrume
                                az = 67.35 deg
                          simulate = false
                          instrume = ESI 
     
    	[594] kics@polo% show -s dcs az simulate instrume
                                az = 67.35 deg
                          simulate = false
                          instrume = ESI 
     
    	[595] kics@polo% show -s dcs2sim az simulate instrume
                                az = 350.07 deg
                          simulate = true
                          instrume = AO 

Configure software on roto

  1. Log in to roto as user kics:
  2. Set up the EPICS env-vars for looking @ the dcsSim channels: (specify tdc, aux vme crates and polo where dcsSim runs)
    	setenv EPICS_CA_ADDR_LIST "128.171.136.30 128.171.136.35 128.171.136.63"
    	setenv EPICS_CA_AUTO_ADDR_LIST NO
  3. Run check_dcs_mode will yield something like
    	rotop:kics 294 % check_dcs_mode
     
    		talking to the DCS SIMULATOR ...
      	                    instrume = AO 
       	                   simulate = true
  4. To switch between modes, type
    	make_dcs_sim
    or
    	make_dcs_real

Shutting down the simulator

  1. Execute the following command on roto as user kics:
    	make_dcs_real
  2. Log in to polo as user kics and kill the dcsSim task
Last modified: 07/10/2020 05:20
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