Elements: Real-time Adaptive Optics Control and low-latency Edge Computing

Large ground-based astronomical telescopes deliver blurry images due to perturbations introduced by Earth's atmosphere. To recover sharp images, these distortions must be optically corrected in real time by an adaptive optics (AO) system. The control system that performs this task must operate thousands of optical sensors and correction elements at kHz speed to finely match the fast-changing incoming aberrations.

This project develops a free and open-source software (FOSS) package to perform the adaptive optics computations with the required compute speed. Its modular design allows for flexibility and customization for multiple applications, including imaging life-bearing planets orbiting nearby stars, which requires exquisite image quality with large telescopes.

To achieve their full diffraction-limited angular resolution, large ground-based astronomical telescopes must overcome the blurring of images induced by atmospheric turbulence. Sharp images can be recovered by Adaptive Optics (AO), using optical sensor(s) to measure optical aberrations and deformable mirror(s) to compensate for them. The correction must be done at high speed (kHz) to keep up with fast-changing atmospheric turbulence.

A key application is imaging planets around nearby stars to search for life outside our solar system. Adaptive Optics also finds uses in medical imaging and laser beam propagation in air. This project develops a free and open-source software (FOSS) package for high-performance, low-latency computing pipelines with stringent real-time requirements for astronomical adaptive optics (AO).

The Compute and Control for Adaptive Optics (CACAO) is an AO real-time computing toolkit, developed with a mindset of high performance and high modularity. CACAO's performance will be improved as well as its ease-of-use to broaden its adoption and enable the next generation of AO instruments on large astronomical telescopes.

This award by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure is jointly supported by the Division of Astronomical Sciences in the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.