To achieve the data quantity and quality required by increasingly demanding science drivers astronomical facilities have grown in size and complexity. This trend not only creates new challenges for technological aspects, but also creates the need for an advanced operations management approach to effectively and efficiently operate and maintain these large facilities throughout their life-cycle. In the context of astronomical observatories, operations management usually involves processes that are related to science operations, maintenance management, obsolescence, upgrades, enhancement, quality assurance, planning, and performance monitoring, among others. Starting with the experience acquired at the ALMA observatory, this paper presents the authors' thoughts on new factors and on apparent differences with respect to operations management of traditional large observatory facilities; and how these new challenges could be addressed via best practices and what the related key concepts are. The methodology used is to first identify those areas that contribute to increased complexity or more stringent operational constraints, in order to elaborate on possible resolution strategies. Rather than aiming at delivering turnkey solutions, this paper is intended to explore the interest within the community to gather and validate related operations management concepts and "best practices" in a collaborative manner.
The problem reporting and tracking system (PRTS) is the ALMA system to register operational problems, track unplanned corrective operational maintenance activities and follow the investigations of all problems or possible issues arisen in operation activities. After the PRTS implementation appeared several issues that finally produced a lack in the management of the investigations, problems to produce KPIs, loss of information, among others. In order to improve PRTS, we carried out a process to review the status of system, define a set of modifications and implement a solution; all according to the stakeholder requirements. In this work, we shall present the methodology applied to define a set of concrete actions at the basis of understanding the complexity of the problem, which finally got to improve the interactions between different subsystems and enhance the communication at different levels.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in Europe, North America, and East Asia, in collaboration with the Republic of Chile. ALMA consists of 54 twelve-meter antennas and 12 seven-meter antennas operating as an aperture synthesis array in the (sub)millimeter wavelength range. Since the inauguration of the observatory back in March 2013 there has been a continuous effort to establish solid operations processes for effective and efficient management of technical and administrative tasks on site. Here a key aspect had been the centralized maintenance and operations planning: input is collected from science stakeholders, the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and from the technical teams spread around the world, then this information is analyzed and consolidated based on the established maintenance strategy, the observatory long-term plan and the short-term priorities definitions. This paper presents the high-level process that has been developed for the planning and scheduling of planned- and unplanned maintenance tasks, and for site operations like the telescope array reconfiguration campaigns. We focus on the centralized planning approach by presenting its genesis, its current implementation for the observatory operations including related planning products, and we explore the necessary next steps in order to fully achieve a comprehensive centralized planning approach for ALMA in steady-state operations.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in
Europe, North America, and East Asia, in collaboration with the Republic of Chile. ALMA consists of 54 twelve-meter
antennas and 12 seven-meter antennas operating as an aperture synthesis array in the (sub)millimeter wavelength range.
Assembly, Integration, and Verification (AIV) of the antennas was completed at the end of the year 2013, while the final
optimization and complete expansion to validate all planned observing modes will continue. This paper compares the
actually obtained results of the period 2008-2013 with the baselines that had been laid out in the early project-planning
phase (2005-2007).
First plans made for ALMA AIV had already established a two-phased project life-cycle: phase 1 for setting up
necessary infrastructure and common facilities, and taking the first three antennas to the start of commissioning; and
phase 2 focused on the steady state processing of the remaining units. Throughout the execution of the project this lifecycle
was refined and two additional phases were added, namely a transition phase between phases 1 and 2, and a closing
phase to address the project ramp-down. A sub-project called Accelerated Commissioning and Science Verification (ACSV)
was carried out during the year 2009 in order to provide focus to the whole ALMA organization, and to
accomplish the start-of-commissioning milestone. Early phases of CSV focused on validating the basic performance and
calibration. Over time additional observing modes have been validated as capabilities expanded both in hardware and
software.
This retrospective analysis describes the originally presented project staffing plans and schedules, the underlying
assumptions, identified risks and operational models, among others. For comparison actual data on staffing levels, the
resultant schedule, additional risks identified and those that actually materialized, are presented. The observed
similarities and differences are then analyzed and explained, and corresponding lessons learned are presented.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in
Europe, North America, and East Asia, in collaboration with the Republic of Chile. ALMA will consist of at least 54
twelve-meter antennas and 12 seven-meter antennas operating as an aperture synthesis array in the (sub)millimeter
wavelength range. It is the responsibility of ALMA AIV to deliver the fully assembled, integrated, and verified antennas
(array elements) to the telescope array.
After an initial phase of infrastructure setup AIV activities began when the first ALMA antenna and subsystems became
available in mid 2008. During the second semester of 2009 a project-wide effort was made to put in operation a first 3-
antenna interferometer at the Array Operations Site (AOS). In 2010 the AIV focus was the transition from event-driven
activities towards routine series production. Also, due to the ramp-up of operations activities, AIV underwent an
organizational change from an autonomous department into a project within a strong matrix management structure.
When the subsystem deliveries stabilized in early 2011, steady-state series processing could be achieved in an efficient
and reliable manner. The challenge today is to maintain this production pace until completion towards the end of 2013.
This paper describes the way ALMA AIV evolved successfully from the initial phase to the present steady-state of array
element series processing. It elaborates on the different project phases and their relationships, presents processing
statistics, illustrates the lessons learned and relevant best practices, and concludes with an outlook of the path towards
completion.
S. Asayama, L. B. Knee, P. Calisse, P. Cortés, R. Jager, B. López, C. López, T. Nakos, N. Phillips, M. Radiszcz, R. Simon, I. Toledo, N. Whyborn, H. Yatagai, J. McMullin, P. Planesas
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will consist of at least 54 twelve-meter antennas and 12
seven-meter antennas operating as an aperture synthesis array in the (sub)millimeter wavelength range. The ALMA
System Integration Science Team (SIST) is a group of scientists and data analysts whose primary task is to verify and
characterize the astronomical performance of array elements as single dish and interferometric systems. The full set of
tasks is required for the initial construction phase verification of every array element, and these can be divided roughly
into fundamental antenna performance tests (verification of antenna surface accuracy, basic tracking, switching, and on-the-fly rastering) and astronomical radio verification tasks (radio pointing, focus, basic interferometry, and end-to-end
spectroscopic verification). These activities occur both at the Operations Support Facility (just below 3000 m elevation)
and at the Array Operations Site at 5000 m.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in
Europe, North America, and East Asia, in collaboration with the Republic of Chile. ALMA will consist of at least 54
twelve-meter antennas and 12 seven-meter antennas operating as an interferometer in the millimeter and sub-millimeter
wavelength range. It will be located at an altitude above 5000m in the Chilean Atacama desert. As part of the ALMA
construction phase the Assembly, Verification and Integration (AIV) team receives antennas and instrumentation from
Integrated Product Teams (IPTs), verifies that the sub-systems perform as expected, performs the assembly and
integration of the scientific instrumentation and verifies that functional and performance requirements are met. This
paper aims to describe those aspects related to the AIV Engineering team, its role within the 4-station AIV process, the
different phases the group underwent, lessons learned and potential space for improvement.
AIV Engineering initially focused on the preparation of the necessary site infrastructure for AIV activities, on the
purchase of tools and equipment and on the first ALMA system installations. With the first antennas arriving on site the
team started to gather experience with AIV Station 1 beacon holography measurements for the assessment of the overall
antenna surface quality, and with optical pointing to confirm the antenna pointing and tracking capabilities. With the
arrival of the first receiver AIV Station 2 was developed which focuses on the installation of electrical and cryogenic
systems and incrementally establishes the full connectivity of the antenna as an observing platform. Further antenna
deliveries then allowed to refine the related procedures, develop staff expertise and to transition towards a more routine
production process. Stations 3 and 4 deal with verification of the antenna with integrated electronics by the AIV Science
Team and is not covered directly in this paper. It is believed that both continuous improvement and the clear definition of
the AIV 4-station model were key factors in achieving the goal of bringing the antennas into a state that is well enough
characterized in order to smoothly start commissioning activities.
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in Europe, North
America, and Japan. ALMA will consist of at least 50 twelve meter antennas operating in the millimeter and submillimeter
wavelength range. It will be located at an altitude above 5000m in the Chilean Atacama desert. The ALMA
Test Facility (ATF), located in New Mexico, USA, is a proving ground for development and testing of hardware,
software, commissioning and operational procedure.
At the ATF emphasis has shifted from hardware testing to software and operational functionality. The support of the
varied goals of the ATF requires stable control software and at the same time flexibility for integrating newly developed
features. For this purpose regression testing has been introduced in the form of a semi-automated procedure. This
supplements the established offline testing and focuses on operational functionality as well as verifying that previously
fixed faults did not re-emerge.
The regression tests are carried out on a weekly basis as a compromise between the developers' response- and the
available technical time. The frequent feedback allows the validation of submitted fixes and the prompt detection of sideeffects
and reappearing issues. Results of nine months are presented that show the evolution of test outcomes, supporting
the conclusion that the regression testing helped to improve the speed of convergence towards stable releases at the ATF.
They also provided an opportunity to validate newly developed or re-factored software at an early stage at the test
facility, supporting its eventual integration. Hopefully this regression test procedure will be adapted to commissioning
operations in Chile.
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