Design of EPICS and Web-Based Remote Control Software of Near-Infrared Sky Brightness Monitor in Antarctica

The near-infrared sky brightness monitor (NIRBM) aims to measure the near-infrared sky background in Antarctica. The NIRBM mainly consists of an InGaAs detector, a chopper, a reflector, a cooler, and a blackbody. Considering the environment is harsh for humans in Antarctica, a multilevel remote control software system, based on experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS), and Web technology is implemented. A set of EPICS input–output controllers (IOCs) is developed to control each hardware module independently via serial port communication with the STM32 microcontroller. As a client toolkit of the EPICS, PyEpics is used to monitor or change the value of EPICS Process Variables. Tornado web framework is responsible for the specific operation process of interdevice collaboration, and expose a set of interfaces for users to make calls. The Tornado back-end is designed as a master–agent architecture. The master–agent nodes communicate with each other through the WebSocket protocol running on a low- bandwidth satellite link. The graphic user interface is implemented in the form of a single-page application using the Vue framework, which communicates with Tornado through WebSocket and AJAX request. The web page integrates the interfaces of device configuration, device control, data curve drawing, alarm display, and auto operations.