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20-08-2018
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ARTAMIS (All-Round Telescope Array Monitoring and Information System)

Submitter: Henk Mulder
Description: As the Apertif system keeps getting more spectacular and goes through its software releases so does the Westerbork monitoring.

Since around September Henk Mulder and Arthur Coolen have been working hard on designing, building, coding and testing our new Monitoring System for monitoring all of Westerbork. The All-Round Telescope Array Monitoring and Information System (ARTAMIS) monitors all the WSRT systems (Dish control, Weather Sensors, Radio Astron, Galileo, (e)VLBI, ARTS, Apertif..) giving us the capability to see everything we need in one monitoring system. Load data points in graphs, look back in time to spot anomalies, find failing fans, firmware problems, failing dishes.. you name it.

We have recently had our first feedback session were we ask for input from the people building the hardware, enthusiastic astronomers, software engineers, field engineers and other future users to see what needs to be monitored, what can be monitored and who needs what data points to be displayed in what way. And of course show everyone what fancy features we are working on for the future. We also sent out our first WinCC OA newsletter which shows some of the new features we just released, where to find them, and how they can improve your day to day work straight away (its been a productive few months).

The monitoring is developed and designed in-house and is being updated constantly. Like LOFAR has the Navigator thats become a piece of monitoring software that is invaluable for making sure we get the best out of our systems and get alerted to critical system problems before they happen. The Westerbork monitoring system has already given us new insights on how the Apertif hardware is performing and what needs extra attention. Building a SCADA system from scratch has also been a great way for us to really see what is now possible with WinCC OA, and this will also give us a head start for future projects like LOFAR 2.0.

So to the developers, users and WinCC OA friends many thanks, and continue giving us your feedback, only then you will get the product that is able to make your day to day life easier.
Copyright: Henk Mulder
 
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