SKAO Observation Execution Tool: Designing for concurrent, responsive observations

TL;DR

This paper discusses the design and development of the SKAO Observation Execution Tool, focusing on enabling concurrent, responsive observations for the world's largest radio telescopes within a flexible, scalable software framework.

Contribution

It presents novel design solutions for robust, concurrent observation management in a complex, large-scale radio telescope control system using an agile development approach.

Findings

Designed a system supporting multiple simultaneous subarray observations

Ensured responsiveness to user commands during complex operations

Developed a flexible architecture accommodating future requirements

Abstract

The SKA Observatory, currently in the construction phase, will have two of the world's largest radio telescopes when completed in 2028. The scale of the project introduces unique challenges for the telescope software design and implementation at all levels, from user interfacing software down to the lower-level control of individual telescope elements. The Observation Execution Tool (OET) is part of the Observation Science Operations (OSO) suite of applications and is responsible for orchestrating the highest level of telescope control through the execution of telescope control scripts. One of the main challenges for the OET is creating a design that can robustly run concurrent observations on multiple subarrays while remaining responsive to the user. The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) development process followed by the SKA project also means the software should be allow to iterative implementation and easily accommodate new and changing requirements. This paper concentrates on the design decisions and challenges in the development of the OET, how we have solved some of the specific technical problems and details on how we remain flexible for future requirements.