Project Manager’s Report MWA Canberra Meeting January 2009

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Project Manager’s Report MWA Canberra Meeting January 2009 Prof. Steven Tingay Curtin University of Technology 19 January 2009

description

Project Manager’s Report MWA Canberra Meeting January 2009. Prof. Steven Tingay Curtin University of Technology 19 January 2009. Outline. Overview of project plan; Project plan (July 08 - Dec 08); Progress against plan; Prototype -> mass manufacture; Site visit schedule; - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Project Manager’s Report MWA Canberra Meeting January 2009

Project Manager’s Report

MWA Canberra MeetingJanuary 2009

Prof. Steven Tingay

Curtin University of Technology

19 January 2009

Outline

• Overview of project plan;

• Project plan (July 08 - Dec 08);

• Progress against plan;

• Prototype -> mass manufacture;

• Site visit schedule;

• Project Management team and new appointments;

• AAL and NSF reviews

• 32T deliverables;

Overview of project plan

Starting from July 08, post-Boston. New management team. Guidance from MWA Board:

– Short-term goal of proving MWA systems in end-to-end fashion with 32 tile (32T) configuration (June 2009);

– Medium term goal of 256T deployment (Dec 2009);

– Long term goal of 512T deployment (July 2010)

Descoped to 128T in Geraldton, Nov08

Will likely become ~400T, basedon existing and expected funds

Project plan overview (July 08 - Dec 08)

• Undertake monthly visits to site, to make rapid progress;

• Complete installation of 32T tile and RF infrastructure (installation of beamformers, installation of cables to screened room, dress tiles, replace all batwing dipoles);

• Immediately improve infrastructure (lab and office space, adequate power, network access), sufficient to support 256T build-out;

• Install receivers into fielded, environmentally controlled enclosures;

• Major work on low-level monitor and control software;

• Installation of interim GPU-based software correlator;

• Undertake 1 - 3 months of engineering and limited science data collection with 32T system (limited bandwidth).

• Obtain quotes for mass manufacture of major systems.

Progress against plan

August site visit (5 days)

Merv Lynch, David Herne, David Basden, Jamie Stevens, Bruce Stansby

• Installation of cables to tiles;

• Tile dressing;

• Installation of network fibre to CSIRO hut;

• Installation of GPS equipment;

• Quotes obtained on electrical work

September site visit (7 days)

Steven Tingay, David Herne, Mark Derome, Bruce Whittier, Andrew Williams, Graham Allen, Bob Burns

• 12 m x 3 m site office/lab installed and outfitted;

• Power connections and aircon upgrade started;

• Cable penetration into screened room;

• Beamformers installed;

• Tiles dressed;

• Trenching attempted for power cable;

• Site cleaned up;

• Batwings refitted.

November site visit #1 and #2 (13 days)

Steven Tingay, David Herne, Frank Briggs, David Basden, Mark Waterson, Anish Roshi, Alan Whitney, Ed Morgan, Daniel Mitchell, Graham Allen + electricians (week before visit), Jamie Stevens and Randall Wayth (remote access) + second crew

• 35 kVA generator installed;

• Power connections and aircon upgrade completed;

• Receiver installation in screened room (lots of integration and testing work);

• Completion of beamformer installation;

• Robust network configured (remote access now possible);

• Low-level M&C work i.e. receiver/beamformer communications

• GPU-based software correlator installed and operational;

• Much data collected and first ~32T images made!!!!!!!

Had a week in Geraldton between the two site visits, during which many technical integration issues encountered in the first week were worked on and solved, to enable success in the second week.

Also hammered out first pass global budget based on current information.

A model for future major site visits requiring large integration efforts…….

Prototype -> Mass manufacture• Engagement of project and industry partners for manufacture of

MWA systems:

– Poseidon Scientific Instruments in WA. Looking at receivers. Providing final design of fielded receiver units.

– RRI have started mass manufacture of digital boards for the final receivers required for 128T.

– Purchase of FPGA components for correlator and receivers underway for 128T.

– Burns Industries in US. Looking at tiles, beamformers, clock, receivers.

– SAO engineers looking at clock design, have provided quote. Sourcing second quote.

– Horizon Power in WA. Looking at solar power options for fielded MWA receivers.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Future site visit schedule (exact dates under discussion at this

meeting)• February site visit

– Address remaining infrastructure issues (mainly generator and one aircon unit);

– Re-deploy prototype receivers/beamformers after fixes at RRI/ANU/Haystack;

– Collect engineering and science data;– Work on monitor and control around the site;

• March site visit– Re-deploy last prototype receiver;– Collect engineering and science data;– Prepare for arrival of correlator.

• April, May, June, July site visits– Install FPGA-based correlator, commission and verify full 32T array.

Biggest item is 32T hardware correlator (integration on bench and deployment on site)

Project management team and new appointments

• Interim Project Management team reappointed till July 2009:– Project Director: Alan Whitney;– Project Manager: Steven Tingay;– Project Engineer: Frank Briggs (TBC);– Project Scientist: Lincoln Greenhill;– Project management hold regular telecons and met face-to-face in

Hawaii in August 2008;– A Technical Coordination Group (TCG) also hold telecons to

address specific technical issues

• Permanent Project Management team being sought by MWA Board;

• MWA Commissioning Engineer appointed to a 4 year position at Curtin– Mr David Emrich (starts late January/early February)

AAL and NSF reviews• AAL review

– Stage 1 complete on December 8• Presentation of overall project progress to AAL Advisory

Panel• Presentation of 32T deliverables

– Stage 2 scheduled for February - March• Presentation of project budget and schedule for buildout

beyond 128T

• NSF review– NSF/US partner meetings January 12/13

• Material presented as above

32T deliverables (March - July 2009), as proposed to AAL

• 32 tiles with new batwings + beamformers:– Retire risk in antennas/beamformers

• Four prototype receivers in screened room with interim cabling to beamformers and interim clock:– Provide basis for redesign and packaging of

receivers for manufacture

• FPGA-based correlator (PFB board, RTM, correlator board):– Retire hardware risk with correlator– Retire majority of firmware risk with correlator

• Prototype Real Time Computer (RTC) based on GPU hardware, running Real Time System (RTS) algorithms for real-time imaging. Note, real-time calibration is not possible with 32T and cannot be demonstrated.

• Monitor and Control (M&C) of system, including generator, airconditioning, beamformer and receiver command, correlator, RTC/RTS control.

• Understanding of scalability of system and firm quotes for manufacture of 128T system:– Tiles;– Beamformers;– Fibre-based clock distribution;– Fielded, environmentally controlled receivers;– FPGA-based correlator + RTC

Caveat

During the January - June 09 period, international site RFI testing will commence (~April). MWA infrastructure and electronics will need to be appropriately shielded after that point in time. Extra expenses will likely be incurred.

Currently working closely with CSIRO on operational/construction requirements during this period of RFI testing

Summary• Progress since July 2008 has been excellent and is close to being on schedule

at the moment (congratulations to those who have worked hard out on site - you have achieved a lot in a short period);

• Confident that 32T will be delivered as described, on the anticipated timescale.

• Much progress achieved in understanding final designs and obtaining quotes for mass manufacture of the final system

– Some mass manufacturing now underway

• AAL (to release NCRIS funds) and NSF reviews of the project are currently underway and should be concluded in ~2 months. From my perspective, these reviews are going well.

• A more permanent project management team must be sought quickly

• Next 3 months critical on many fronts…….