Observatory Sciences Ltd – Delivering control systems software for SKA’s telescopes
Image credit: SKAO/Max Alexander
The SKA Observatory (SKAO), with its global HQ at Jodrell Bank, UK, is building two of the world’s largest radio telescope arrays (SKA-Mid and SKA-Low), opening new windows into our universe, from timing pulsars and tracking gravitational waves, to searching for the signatures of life elsewhere in the galaxy.
The UK is playing a leading role in the development of software for the SKAO. Observatory Sciences Ltd. is providing controls systems expertise to the project alongside UK and international partners. They are one of seven UK companies, in addition to three STFC national labs and three UK universities, that are working on software development.
What did the SKAO need?
The SKAO needs a scalable distributed control system for both SKA-Mid and SKA-Low telescopes, to physically point the Mid dishes at certain parts of the sky, and to digitally “point” the Low antennas in one or more directions in the sky, to search for new galaxies, and pulsars and other transient phenomena.
The SKAO needed a Monitoring Calibration and Control Subsystem (MCCS) for SKA-Low that is responsible for creating and monitoring observations, performing calibration, and providing local monitoring and control of all of the telescope’s hardware components. This includes managing the allocation of resources for an observation, and the aggregation of health status.
The SKA-Low telescope, located at a remote site on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia, will eventually comprise 131,072 antennas. The sheer scale of the telescope means that, compared to its predecessors, it will provide a significant increase in resolution, sensitivity and survey speed.
The MCCS will provide one coherent interface to the SKA-Low antennas, which can virtually ‘point’ in a particular direction to look at an area of sky. These antennas will be split into 512 stations. The MCCS is a large distributed control system which will have at least 100 Tango device servers running across multiple hardware elements for each of the stations. Tango Controls is a free open source device-oriented controls toolkit for controlling any kind of hardware or software and building SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. It provides the higher-level software such as user interfaces to command the telescope and monitor its state.
To build the MCCS, the SKAO required software developers with a wide range of skills, including Python, SAFe® Agile, DevOps and specialist control software for both the SKA-Low and SKA-Mid telescopes.
Why were Observatory Sciences Ltd (OSL) best placed to help?
Observatory Sciences Ltd were established in 1998 from a small team at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, specialising in control systems for telescopes. In 2005 they expanded into control systems for wider research infrastructure, including particle accelerators such as the Diamond Light Source and the Australian Synchrotron, using the open source EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) software tool. This led them to explore other control systems, including Tango.
The SKAO had already adopted Tango as their control software, and by then OSL had some experience with Tango from work for ESRF, along with extensive experience in developing and deploying control systems for telescopes and the challenges that presents. They had a good understanding of building distributed control systems to control multiple pieces of hardware in multiple locations, and specifically in the use of EPICS and Tango, which is rare in commercial organisations.
In addition OSL had previously supported the SKAO prior to construction in developing the MCCS software using Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) skills. The SKAO had adopted SAFe® as a software development methodology because of its iterative approach, promoting flexibility and continuous feedback and embedded ability to adapt to change.
OSL has deep experience of working on control systems software for national facilities (EPICS for Diamond Light Source for many years, CLF and UKAEA), and international science facilities, having worked with ESO on their VLT software for over 7 years.
Observatory Sciences Ltd won a place on the SKAO’s Software Development Framework Contract in November 2021.
“OSL has been a key supplier for international scientific research facilities since the company was established, and has been a consistent and reliable partner in the SKAO’s software journey. They are, like the SKAO, always motivated by the scientific goals of the project and are unique because of their personal touch, ability to adapt to diverse environments, and significant experience of working and being at home in complex scientific systems.”
Nick Rees, SKAO Head of Computing and Software
What’s it like working for the SKAO and partners?
Alan Greer, Director, says, “We have excellent relationships with key members of the SKAO Software team, as well as international partners. This is a huge, globally distributed project, with many partners, and there’s a really positive spirit across the board. More than that though, it matches our values – there’s a real open, collaborative ethos, everyone is engaged and it’s just so rewarding to be part of something that will change what we know about our place in the universe.”
What was the impact on OSL?
Working with the SKAO has enabled the OSL team to expand, from 1 person working on the initial contract to a team of 7 in construction. Since the contract award in 2021, the company has grown by around 5 people (33%). They have upskilled team members in key technical areas, particularly in the use of the Tango control software, where an OSL team member is now one of the SKAO’s subject matter experts in this domain.
In addition the adoption of SAFe® as a methodology has positioned OSL for other opportunities.
“As major national facilities such as Diamond Light Source and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source prepare for large-scale upgrade projects, many are actively exploring how best to organise their work. With our growing expertise and practical experience in implementing SAFe® Agile, OSL is now well-positioned to support these organisations in adopting SAFe® or similar agile methodologies and we have already received some expressions of interest in this from software development teams.”
Alan Greer, OSL Director
“We’ve also been able to expand what we’re doing for the SKAO, with OSL now supporting Tango control systems for both SKA-Low and SKA-Mid, providing training and support to other SKAO SAFe® teams, and we’re providing support to GMV, another UK company working with the SKAO, on Tango. It’s also allowed us to grow our influence within the Tango community.
“Overall we’re proud to say OSL continues to make a significant contribution to the SKAO in two key areas: the specialised MCCS (Monitoring, Control and Calibration Subsystem) software for SKA-Low, as well as Tango control system components for both SKA telescopes. With the first results already emerging from a small subset of the data, it’s really rewarding to be part of this fantastic endeavour.”
