Astronomy Tea Talk

  The world of astronomy research is moving towards an era of more automated observatories and instruments.  From networks of small telescopes to the demands of the next generation of large telescopes, the ability to achieve the scientific goals of these projects will require major investment in creating hardware and software systems that can be partially or fully automated.  Design decisions made early in these projects can severely impact the ability to automate systems, and, while there is no single correct way to automate a system, there are many ways that decrease capability, efficiency, and scientific output.  In this presentation, I will discuss my experience with two fully autonomous astronomical systems:  the Thirty Meter Telescope site testing program, and Robo-AO, the first  astronomical laser guide star adaptive optics system designed to operate completely independent of human supervision.  I will compare and contrast the two systems, examine how the design decisions impacted the final operational performance, and evaluate the lessons learned.