Improving SALT productivity by using the theory of constraints

Johannes C. Coetzee; Petri Väisänen; Darragh E. O'Donoghue; Paul Kotze; Encarni Romero Colmenero; Brent Miszalski; Steven M. Crawford; Alexei Kniazev; Éric Depagne; Paul Rabe; Christian Hettlage

doi:10.1117/12.2231376

15 July 2016 Improving SALT productivity by using the theory of constraints

Johannes C. Coetzee, Petri Väisänen, Darragh E. O'Donoghue, Paul Kotze, Encarni Romero Colmenero, Brent Miszalski, Steven M. Crawford, Alexei Kniazev, Éric Depagne, Paul Rabe, Christian Hettlage

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9910, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI; 991004 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231376
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

SALT, the Southern African Large Telescope, is a very cost effective 10 m class telescope. The operations cost per refereed science paper is currently approximately $70,000. To achieve this competitive advantage, specific design tradeoffs had to be made leading to technical constraints. On the other hand, the telescope has many advantages, such as being able to rapidly switch between different instruments and observing modes during the night. We provide details of the technical and operational constraints and how they were dealt with, by applying the theory of constraints, to substantially improve the observation throughput during the last semester.

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Johannes C. Coetzee, Petri Väisänen, Darragh E. O'Donoghue, Paul Kotze, Encarni Romero Colmenero, Brent Miszalski, Steven M. Crawford, Alexei Kniazev, Éric Depagne, Paul Rabe, and Christian Hettlage "Improving SALT productivity by using the theory of constraints", Proc. SPIE 9910, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI, 991004 (15 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231376

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