Adaptive optics control system development

This paper describes the current control system of the multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) test bench system that is being developed at the University of Victoria, BC, Canada. The design and analysis of a control system for an AO system employing a Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) based deformable mirror is presented. The AO system is part of a larger test bed that is a scale version of an 8-meter telescope. This paper focuses on the control of one deformable mirror with a Shack-Hartmann wave front sensor. Diagrams of how all the components work together as a control system are given. A conversion from actuator signal space to Zernike mode coefficients is presented. Analysis shows that this control system is capable of reducing low frequency aberrations. Shortcomings of the system error rejection are discussed. The steady state and step response to tilt simulated on the wave front sensor is shown.