Standardization and Modularity of Instrument Controls for Astronomical Applications at ESO

Since the European Southern Observatory (ESO) was founded in 1962, a quarter of a century ago, an immense evolution has taken place in the scientific and technological fields. The very first minicomputer system at ESO, a Hewlett Packard HP-2114 with 8k memory, was installed at the Observatory site in 1970 for data-acquisition applications. Companion systems soon followed for telescope controls, data-reduction, etc. Larger and more powerful telescopes with their associated instrumentation (photometers, Polarimeters, spectrographs, new types of detectors) were gradually introduced. Today, at its observatory site in La Silla, Chile, ESO operates some 13 optical telescopes with primary mirror diameters ranging from 3.6m down to 50cm, plus all their associated instruments and a large pool of minicomputer systems used for telescope and instrument control applications.