software acts autonomously, ensuring the telescope and dome are
safely parked, closed, or stopped,
even with the loss of commercial
power.
The first trial run was part of our
“gradual descent” strategy, which
broke down the work into 17 manageable pieces (work packages)
that followed different schedules.
The second run started on October 12th, and we ensured that all
SOSs had opportunities to use the
summit configuration and learn
how to operate in base facility operations mode, before attempting
remote operations from Hilo.
Figure 3.
Sample of data from
the Gemini North
CloudCam system.
Figure 4.
Eduardo Tapia
(left) and Gustavo
Arriagada (right) work
on the remote sensing
system which is now
mounted on the roof
of the Gemini North
Maunakea support
building adjacent to
the telescope.
56
if what we have developed and tested works
in the real remote observing configuration.
During base operations trial runs, several systems were tested, which included a set of five
Cloud Sensing Cameras (strategically located
on the roof of Gemini’s support building),
two external surveillance cameras, one external fog camera (equipped with a remotely
operated flashlight), five internal pan tilt
cameras (located in the observing floor), and
two sets of environmental
sensors (designed to measure humidity, temperature, and detect the presence of snow, ice, and rain).
In November, the third trial run focused on operating from the base
facility, while still having personnel on the summit — at the very
least at the beginning of the night. SOSs
were able to open and close the upgraded
primary mirror covers from the base facility
control room. This was a big milestone for
BFO, since, as mentioned, it was necessary
to modify th R6