Implementing Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics LQG control: Simulations and experimental results

The corrected Field of View (FoV) in Adaptive Optics (AO) is limited by the anisoplanatism effect. Multi-Conjugate AO (MCAO) aims at providing a wide FoV correction through the use of several Deformable Mirrors (DMs) and of multi-guide-star WaveFront Sensor (WFS). However the performance optimization of such complex systems raises new questions in terms of calibration and control. We present our current developments on performance optimization of MCAO systems. We show that performance can be significantly improved with tomographic control based on LQG control, compared with standard methods. An experimental demonstration of this new approach is now implemented on HOMER, the recent bench developed at ONERA, and devoted to MCAO laboratory research. We present here simulation results of the LQG control in HOMER case, compared with results obtained with an integrator control. We also present very preliminary results of the implementation of LQG control in AO and tomographic AO.