Poster Abstract

P.10 Nuria Lorente (AAO - Macquarie University)

The TAIPAN Software System: enabling multi-object spectroscopy via Starbug control

The TAIPAN instrument is a multi-object fibre positioner and spectrograph built by AAO-MQ and installed on the 1.2m UK-Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. The positioner, a prototype for the MANIFEST positioner on the Giant Magellan Telescope, uses independently controlled Starbug robots to position up to 300 optical fibres on a 32cm glass field plate, to an accuracy of 8 microns.
This paper will describe the instrument’s software including Starbug monitor and control, metrology and routing, telescope systems, and auxilliary systems such as database, middleware, and data transport.
With TAIPAN nearing the end of its commissioning phase we will also discuss the software’s role in the integration, testing, and commissioning phases of the project.