A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
SOXS spectrograph instrument control software; 
Authors: Ricci, Davide; Salasnich, Bernardo; Baruffolo, Andrea; Achrén, Jani; Aliverti, Matteo; Araiza-Durán, José A.; Arcavi, Iair; Asquini, Laura; Battaini, Federico; Ben-Ami, Sagi; Bichkovsky, Alex; Brucalassi, Anna; Bruch, Rachel; Cabona, Lorenzo; Campana, Sergio; Capasso, Giulio; Cappellaro, Enrico; Claudi, Riccardo; Colapietro, Mirko; Cosentino, Rosario; D’Alessio, Francesco; D’Avanzo, Paolo; D’Orsi, Sergio; Valle, Massimo Della; Di Benedetto, Rosario; Di Filippo, Simone; Gal‑Yam, Avishay; Genoni, Matteo; Díaz, Marcos Hernandez; Hershko, Ofir; Kotilainen, Jari; Kuncarayakti, Hanindyo; Landoni, Marco; Li Causi, Gianluca; Marty, Laurent; Mattila, Seppo; Munari, Matteo; Oggioni, Luca; Ventura, Hector Pérez; Pariani, Giorgio; Pignata, Giuliano; Santhakumari, Kalyan Kumar Radhakrishnan; Smartt, Stephen; Rappaport, Michael; Riva, Marco; Rubin, Adam; Savarese, Salvatore; Schipani, Pietro; Scuderi, Salvatore; Stritzinger, Maximilian; Vitali, Fabrizio; Young, David; Zanmar Sanchez, Ricardo; Zins, Gerard
Publisher: SPIE
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
Article number: 024005
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
ISSN: 2329-4124
eISSN: 2329-4221
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.12.2.024005
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1117/1.jatis.12.2.024005
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/527048924
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY NC ND
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Son Of X-Shooter (SOXS) is a spectrograph for the European Southern Observatory (ESO), recently installed at the New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. The main instrument goal consists of the characterization of transient sources, based on alerts. It covers from (partially) ultraviolet to visible and near-infrared bands, with a spectral resolution of R∼4500, using two separate, wavelength-optimized spectrographs. A scientific-grade visible camera, primarily intended for target acquisition, also provides a “light imaging” mode. We present the design of the SOXS Instrument Control Software, which is in charge of controlling all motors, calibration lamps, and detectors; monitoring sensors and components’ status; coordinating the execution of exposures; and implementing all observation, calibration, and maintenance procedures. Given the extensive experience of the SOXS consortium in the development of instruments for the ESO Very Large Telescope, we decided to base the design of the control system on the same standards, both for hardware and software control. We illustrate the control network, the instrument functions and detectors to be controlled, the overall design of the SOXS Instrument Software and its main components. Then, we provide details about the control software for the most SOXS-specific components and peculiar features: the piezoelectric tip–tilt corrector used for active compensation of mechanical flexures of the instrument, the cryogenic piezoelectric slit exchanger for the near-infrared spectrograph, the co-rotator monitoring system, and the control of the commercial-off-the-shelf-based imaging camera.
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Funding information in the publication:
The authors thank INAF for funding the project. The authors also acknowledge the support of FONDECYT Postdoctoral Grant (Grant No. 3180673).
