DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

The Intelligent Observatory

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Description

The South African Astronomical Observatory and the STFC Hartree Centre are joining forces to deliver the Intelligent Observatory, where the human engineers and astronomers are aided by advanced software solutions to deliver the best scientific products and swift maintenance of the telescopes and instruments. This collaboration will deliver three main results: a platform to interrogate the scientific literature; a unified system to analyse all health-check signals from the instruments and predict necessary maintenance in advance; and automated pipelines to provide scientists with high-quality data, which can automatically correct disturbances from the atmosphere and unavoidable imperfections in the instruments. These three combined activities will accelerate ground-breaking research by the astrophysical community in South Africa and worldwide. Until now, many of these activities have been performed manually, requiring significant time and effort, and observing requests were evaluated only twice a year and allocated some hit-or-miss slots in advance. The SAAO telescopes have been refurbished for robotic operations, to enable a wider use by the community, and observing requests will be processed on a nightly basis. This shift will enable the rapid follow-up of new phenomena, including the many astrophysical transients that are now flagged every night and will become even more abundant with the advent of the Vera Rubin Observatory. This new approach requires operations to be prioritised and automated as much as possible, and advance warning of any possible faults such that the engineering teams can promptly intervene during the day. The Hartree AI researchers will build generative AI solutions, to aid the effective elicitation of knowledge in the scientific literature and in fault logs. Working closely with the SAAO scientists, they will develop a unified platform to collect and analyse all telemetry data (telescope and instrument health, weather stations), including audio and video data, to direct early maintenance efforts. Finally, Hartree and the SAAO will deliver automated pipelines to convert the instrument detector signals in ready data products for science, with minimal user intervention and using all information gathered during every night including the telemetry from the other strand of work. Some of these solutions are not yet available even at the most advanced observatories. Observatories are the best place to develop new technologies in a safe environment, strengthening them for wider industrial applicability. The work on knowledge elicitation will lower the barrier versus access to literature in many fields, accelerating new discoveries but also the interrogation of internal logs for similar occurrences of possible issues. The work on telemetry models will develop solutions for predictive maintenance that can be applied to the industrial sector, e.g. to predict whether some ambient conditions can result in more frequent manufacturing defects or catching early warning signs of machinery faults. The work on pipelines will provide advanced solutions for image reconstruction, defect detection and artifact correction in challenging regimes. By lowering the barrier to excellent science, the tools developed in this combined SAAO-Hartree endeavour can provide many hands-on training opportunities for STEM universities, including historically disadvantaged institutions.

Objectives

ISPF aims to foster prosperity by solving shared global research and innovation challenges. This will be done through working closely with international partners to: support research excellence and build the knowledge and technology of tomorrow strengthen ties with international partners that share our values; enable researchers and innovators to cultivate connections, follow their curiosity and pioneer transformations internationally, for the good of the planet. Activities under ISPF ODA aim to deliver research and innovation partnerships with low- and middle-income countries.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

South Africa

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