The electronics, computing hardware, and computing used to provide rea
l-time modal control for a laser guide-star adaptive optics system are
presented. This approach offers advantages in the control of unobserv
ed modes, the elimination of unwanted modes (e.g., tip and tilt), and
automatic handling of the case of low-resolution lens arrays. In our t
wo-step modal implementation, the input vector of gradients is first d
ecomposed into a Zernike polynomial mode by a least-squares estimate,
The number of modes is assumed to be less than or equal to the number
of actuators. The mode coefficients are then available for collection
and analysis or for the application of modal weights. Thus the modal w
eights may be changed quickly without recalculating the full matrix. T
he control-loop integrators are at this point in the algorithm. To cal
culate the deformable-mirror drive signals, the mode coefficients are
converted to the zonal signals by a matrix multiply. When the number o
f gradients measured is less than the number of actuators, the integra
tion in the control loop will be done on the lower-resolution grid to
avoid growth of unobserved modes. These low-resolution data will then
he effectively interpolated to yield the deformable-mirror drive signa
ls. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.