In the scope of the installation of Laser Guide Stars on all Very Large Telescopes and on the Extremely Large Telescope, the control electronics of the system including the laser source, the laser projector, the heat exchanger and the safety cameras is being developed inside ESO. It is a Beckhoff PLC based control system overseen by remote workstations. We are in the final stages of the design and in spring 2023 we will start the implementation and testing of the control system.

The roles of the intern will be to help the responsible engineer with the final design of the control electronics, to implement prototypes of the control electronics and to start testing and tuning the sub-systems including the laser source, the cooling system and the safety features necessary when using a high power laser system.

The intern could also participate to a mission to the Very Large Telescope in Chile to prepare the future installation of the Laser Guide Star, including a major re-cabling of the existing telescopes.

The required competencies include a good command of the English language and the ability to create and implement electronic drawings. Some general knowledge of the software Eplan, of PLC and/or of safety electronics would be an asset. The willingness to learn about these and about hazard analysis linked to functional laser system safety is essential

Supervisor: Françoise Delplancke-Ströbele and Ivan Guidolin

Start: from May 2023