SAMI Automated Plug Plate Configuration

• Main Authors: Lorente, Nuria P. F., Farrell, Tony, Goodwin, Michael
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: arXiv 2012
• Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics astro-ph.IM; FOS Physical sciences; sami
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1212.2722; https://arxiv.org/abs/1212.2722

The Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) is a prototype wide-field system at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) which uses a plug-plate to mount its 13 x 61-core imaging fibre bundles (hexabundles) in the optical path at the telescope's prime focus. In this paper we describe the process of determining the positions of the plug-plate holes, where plates contain three or more stacked observation configurations. The process, which up until now has involved several separate processes and has required significant manual configuration and checking, is now being automated to increase efficiency and reduce error. This is carried out by means of a thin Java controller layer which drives the configuration cycle. This layer controls the user interface and the C++ algorithm layer where the plate configuration and optimisation is carried out. Additionally, through the Aladin display package, it provides visualisation and facilitates user verification of the resulting plates. : 4 pages, 3 figures. Contributed paper at the ADASS XXII conference, held in Champaign, IL, USA, November 2012. Proceedings to be published in ASP Conf. Ser., D. N. Friedel and R. L. Plante (eds.)