UCam: universal camera controller and data acquisition system
2010
This paper describes the software architecture and design concepts used in the UKATC's generic camera control and data
acquisition software system (UCam) which was originally developed for use with the ARC controller hardware. The
ARC detector control electronics are developed by Astronomical Research Cameras (ARC), of San Diego, USA. UCam
provides an alternative software solution programmed in C/C++ and python that runs on a real-time Linux operating
system to achieve critical speed performance for high time resolution instrumentation. UCam is a server based
application that can be accessed remotely and easily integrated as part of a larger instrument control system. It comes
with a user friendly client application interface that has several features including a FITS header editor and support for
interfacing with network devices. Support is also provided for writing automated scripts in python or as text files. UCam
has an application centric design where custom applications for different types of detectors and read out modes can be
developed, downloaded and executed on the ARC controller. The built-in de-multiplexer can be easily reconfigured to
readout any number of channels for almost any type of detector. It also provides support for numerous sampling modes
such as CDS, FOWLER, NDR and threshold limited NDR. UCam has been developed over several years for use on
many instruments such as the Wide Field Infra Red Camera (WFCAM) at UKIRT in Hawaii, the mid-IR
imager/spectrometer UIST and is also used on instruments at SUBARU, Gemini and Palomar.
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