Jarren Seson was born and raised in Kane‘ohe, O‘ahu. He is currently a junior computer science major at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. He is passionate about the applications of technology that can make day to day life easier. After graduating, he hopes to work as an AI engineer in the medical field. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, surfing, and going to the gym.
Home Island: O‘ahu
Institution when accepted: UH Manoa
Project Site: W. M. Keck Observatory, Waimea, Hawai‘i Island
Mentor: Charlotte Guthery
Project title: Developing a Wavefront Sensor Calibration Script and GUI at W.M. Keck Observatory
Project Abstract:
As part of the High-order Advanced Keck Adaptive Optics (HAKA) project, the Keck II telescope’s AO system will be upgraded from a 349-actuator deformable mirror (DM) to a 2844-actuator DM in June 2025. This project focuses on developing a Python-based calibration script for closed-loop testing of the new DM. The script is based on an existing legacy version written in IDL and is being modernized with more rigorous coding guidelines to improve maintainability, documentation, and scalability. This script will be tested on the Keck telescope AO benches to support the upgrade and validate the new system prior to telescope installation. The calibration routine uses a wavefront sensor to measure non-common path aberrations (NCPAs) between the adaptive optics system and the science camera, based on a reference DM shape. These measurements are converted into centroid offsets, which are used to refine system alignment and improve closed-loop performance. Centroid offsets quantify the displacement between measured and expected focal spot positions on the wavefront sensor subapertures. These displacements arise due to NCPAs and are computed by comparing the observed centroids to those from a reference state. The resulting offsets are used to derive corrective commands for the DM to minimize residual aberrations. After validation on the laboratory testbench, the script will be deployed to the Keck AO operational server and replace the existing IDL function.