LCOGT network observatory operations

Andrew Pickles; Annie Hjelstrom; Todd Boroson; Ben Burleson; Patrick Conway; Jon De Vera; Mark Elphick; Brian Haworth; Wayne Rosing; Eric Saunders; Doug Thomas; Gary White; Mark Willis; Zach Walker

doi:10.1117/12.2055215

6 August 2014 LCOGT network observatory operations

Andrew Pickles, Annie Hjelstrom, Todd Boroson, Ben Burleson, Patrick Conway, Jon De Vera, Mark Elphick, Brian Haworth, Wayne Rosing, Eric Saunders, Doug Thomas, Gary White, Mark Willis, Zach Walker

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V; 914912 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055215
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

We describe the operational capabilities of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. We summarize our hardware and software for maintaining and monitoring network health. We focus on methodologies to utilize the automated system to monitor availability of sites, instruments and telescopes, to monitor performance, permit automatic recovery, and provide automatic error reporting. The same jTCS control system is used on telescopes of apertures 0.4m, 0.8m, 1m and 2m, and for multiple instruments on each. We describe our network operational model, including workloads, and illustrate our current tools, and operational performance indicators, including telemetry and metrics reporting from on-site reductions. The system was conceived and designed to establish effective, reliable autonomous operations, with automatic monitoring and recovery - minimizing human intervention while maintaining quality. We illustrate how far we have been able to achieve that.

Citation Download Citation

Andrew Pickles, Annie Hjelstrom, Todd Boroson, Ben Burleson, Patrick Conway, Jon De Vera, Mark Elphick, Brian Haworth, Wayne Rosing, Eric Saunders, Doug Thomas, Gary White, Mark Willis, and Zach Walker "LCOGT network observatory operations", Proc. SPIE 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V, 914912 (6 August 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055215

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