The OCTOCAM instrument concept was built on the principles of efficiency and simultaneity. The aim was not only optical throughput and excellent detector response, but also broad wavelength coverage, temporal resolution and a very good duty cycle to make the best possible use of every photon collected by a telescope. This instrument would be optimized for the study of transient astronomical sources. This lead to a multi-channel instrument with the capability of doing imaging and spectroscopy, which is currently being developed for the 8.1m Gemini South telescope. In the Gemini implementation, OCTOCAM will perform imaging of a 3'x3' field of view in 8 simultaneous channels (g, r, i, z, Y, J, H, Ks) or long slit (3') spectroscopy covering the range between 3700 and 23500 Angstrom at a resolution of ~4000. In this talk I will present the OCTOCAM instrument concept, the origin and development of the idea and the path to becoming a reality at an 8 m class telescope. I will cover the technical, management and personal lessons learned throughout a decade long path from the experience of the principal investigator of the project, which I was, from the beginning and until the end of 2017. Finally I will comment on the possible reinterpretations of OCTOCAM on smaller and larger telescopes.

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Antonio de Ugarte Postigo and Christina C. Thöne, "The OCTOCAM instrument concept at Gemini and beyond (Conference Presentation)," Proc. SPIE 10702, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VII, 107020G (Presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation: June 10, 2018; Published: 9 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2309465.5807159587001.