Real Controls with a Simulated Plant at the 40m

Other Versions:

Abstract:: Abstract
Interferometric gravitational-wave detectors are incredibly complex machines requiring many sub-systems and layers of controls to operate. At the Caltech 40m prototype interferometer we have been developing a method to test the software side of the controls, which we call the simulated plant. The simulated plant is a simple real-time model of
the response of the interferometer to the controls signals. We build the simulated plant code in the same way we build the code which controls the real interferometer and we run it on the same computers, allowing for a natural and seamless connection between the two. Once the controls for a sub-system have been created, it can be tested together with all the other controls of the interferometer, even if the physical hardware has not been installed yet.

Files in Document:

LIGO Document G1100524-v3