Julia Hutchison is from Oahu, where she graduated from President Theodore Roosevelt High School in 2022. She is in her second year at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, majoring in a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and minoring in Business. Julia is currently part of the student government body that uphold the community standards at her school and the treasurer of the largest multi-cultural organization on campus called all students interested in Asia. In her free time, Julia enjoys indoor rock climbing and advocacy work for Asian American’s and Pacific Islander’s at her school to promote inclusivity and awareness. Julia hopes to expand her knowledge and experience in computer science and its impactful applications.
Home Island: Oahu
High School: President Theodore Roosevelt High School
Institution when accepted: Rhodes College
Project Site: Subaru Telescope, Hilo, Big Island HI
Mentor: Russell Kackley
Project Title: Increasing the Functionality of Subaru’s Telescope Simulator
Project Abstract: The Subaru Telescope employs Telsim, a simulator system to train new operators. The current simulator is part of the Gen2 system, representing the second generation of Subaru Telescope’s observatory control system and data management software. Gen2 manages various aspects of telescope operations, and operators interact with the systems through a combination of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and command-line interfaces (CLI), allowing them to input commands, monitor system status, and adjust parameters in real-time. While the current simulator fulfills basic training requirements, it lacks several advanced features crucial for a comprehensive training experience. Our project aims to enhance the simulator by implementing an emergency stop button, integrating control of tertiary mirrors, incorporating new knowledge of the instrument rotator into the Telsim model and having the telescope perform normal activities again when the ‘telescope’ tracks objects outside of its physical range. To achieve this goal, we reverse engineered the functions of the Telescope Control System (TCS) because it was developed by a subcontractor, and we do not have access to the source code. By analyzing the TCS’s inputs, outputs, and status values, we are able to develop scripts to emulate these operations and values within the telescope simulator. We then compare the scripts to the real TCS to verify their accuracy and functionality. These enhancements, developed using Python-based scripts, will provide operators with a more realistic and robust training environment and will significantly refine the training process, ensuring that new operators are well-equipped to handle the complexities of operating the Subaru Telescope.