The LIGO Executive Committee Agenda for Monday, February 2, 2009 will be:
(Meeting time: 10:30 am Pacific Time)
1. Announcements
2. LSC - Reitze
3. Focus Topic
Report from the Cybersecurity Officer (Abe Singer)
4. Change Control Actions
There are no open Change Requests for LIGO Operations.
5. Advanced LIGO
- Overall - Shoemaker
- Project Management - Wilkinson
6. Enhanced LIGO - Adhikari / Zucker
7. Sites
- Hanford - Raab
- Livingston - Giaime
- MIT - Shoemaker / Fritschel
8. Caltech
- Administration - Lindquist
- Engineering
Optical and Mechanical - Coyne
Control and Data Systems - Bork
- Lab Computing - Anderson
- Instrument Science - Gustafson
- Data Analysis and 40M - Weinstein
Calendar of future Executive Commitee Meetings
LSC
Issues (Reitze)
- No major news from the LSC this week.
LIGO
Laboratory Administration (Lindquist)
STATUS OF LSC MOUs (Lloyd)
- For status of MOUs press here.
- Also received today, the revised MOU from the University of Sannio at Benevento. These revisions will be posted and the review panel members notified ASAP.
PROPERTY ACCOUNTING (Luna)
- Assisted G. Billingsley with storing three Heraeus fused silica blanks.
- Started LIGO-Caltech physical inventory.
-
Assisted J. Romie at LLO with making arrangements for shipping the ERGO Arm from MIT to LLO.
-
Assisted B. Wooley at LLO with clearing a shipment of Aluminum parts from the UK through US Customs.
- Filed a report with Campus Police for the two LCD Monitors and the Oscilloscope missing from the synchrotron mezzanine.
DOCUMENT CONTROL CENTER (Turner, Mak)
>From: Cleveland Mak <mak_c@ligo.caltech.edu>
- Continued to work on editing the DCC Wiki Page.
- Continued to work on addressing bug reports to the DCC.
- Working on setting guidelines for DCC document access.
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS (Funaro, Oracion)
>From: Karl Oracion <koracion@ligo.caltech.edu>>
>From: Rudy Arvizu <arvizu_r@ligo.caltech.edu>
>From: Jackie Champagnie <jchampag@caltech.edu>
>From: Steve Marroquin smarroqu@caltech.edu
- See Advanced
LIGO below.
- Executed renewal contract with Dynamic Corporation for Silver Support Service for the Sun Microsystem equipment Hardware Maintenance at the LIGO Livingston Observatory.
- The Invitation to Bid (ITB) for FM-106, entitled “LHO Warehouse Modifications” was submitted on January 29, 2009. The job walk is scheduled for February 10, 2009 and bid opening on February 23, 2009.
- Commenced close out activities for the remaining contracts under the old Operations Cooperative Agreement.
>From: Gina Salone <gsalone@ligo.caltech.edu>
>From: Ed Jasnow <jasnow@ligo.caltech.edu>
-
See Advanced
LIGO below.
- Negotiated price for internet capability with Embassy Suites Hotel for LSC March meeting. Awaiting response from Embassy Suites management on latest offer.
PROPOSALS and REPORTS (Lindquist)
- We have been scrubbing the FY 2009 Operations Budgets with the various task managers, and I have been incorporating revisions as provided. We would like to get these revised budgets into the reports for the end of January even though the process is not yet 100 percent complete. I have put a copy of the current version (21) on the financial web page for information and review.
CHANGE REQUESTS (Lindquist)
- There are no open change requests.
HUMAN RESOURCES (Akutagawa)
>From: Cindy Akutagawa <cindy@ligo.caltech.edu>
- The next Staffing Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 9.
- A Staffing Committee meeting was held on Friday, January 16th and the minutes and action items have been posted on the SC web page.
- All files for the Staffing Committee are up-to-date and posted on the SC web page.
Quality/Safety (Tyler)
>From: Bill Tyler tyler@ligo.caltech.edu
- Arranged for Caltech Safety to conduct a general laser safety class for new LIGO personnel. Unfortunately, we had to arrange for an additional class to accommodate personnel that failed to show-up for the first class.
- Distributed schedule for next week’s LIGO campus lab safety audits.
- Provided QA consulting as requested for the Advanced LIGO Procurement Team.
Computer Security (Singer)
- Wrote up draft of KDC best practices document for LSC.
- Submitted commends on LSC CA Design Document.
- Drafted copyright policy (actually last week).
- Prepared presentation for Excomm next week.
LIGO
Hanford
Observatory (LHO) and Interferometer Operations (Raab)
Summary of Activities at LIGO Hanford Observatory
(compiled by M. Landry)
- The OMC photodiodide oscillation problem was mitigated to some degree by the removal of a hardware bandpass filter (unique to LHO), modifying the oscillation threshold threefold. The length dither filter may need replacement with some other unit that does not encourge oscillations.
- Our 25W locks were being truncated to a highly predictable 10 minutes and without evidence of instabilities in error signals. It turns out our software shutter threshold on the OMC photodiodes was conservative and thus shutting the machine down.
- Audio frequency WFS schemes for OMC input alignment control are being revisited.
- An additional POX photodiode was implemented to reduce sensing noise in auxilliary degrees of freedom.
Astrowatch (B. Behnke)
- We have enough people to cover every night again, weekend shifts are 'on demand'
- The average inspiral range of the last week has been 6.9 Mpc, uptime about 43%.
- Opening the fast shutter (which prevents laser light to hit the photo diodes 1-4) on the way to 'common mode' causes immediate lock losses. It's possible to open it already in 'detect' and make it to 'power up'. This issue kept us unlocked for about 2 days. Investigations are ongoing.
Outreach (D. Ingram)
- Danny Atkinson and Ewan Douglas hosted a total of six students from Mabton High School for job shadows on 1/28. Some high schools require shadows as part of their career awareness requirement.
LIGO
Livingston Observatory (LLO) and Interferometer
Operations (Giaime)
General Operations (Rusyl Wooley)
- The beam tube enclosure joint repair is on schedule. A total of 270 are finished with 251 to go. The y-arm should be complete by next Wednesday. The FMP work in the warehouse is coming along. The ceiling grid is up and the HEPA filters have been installed. We will tie in the 480 vac feed next week. The office buildout in the staging building is also on schedule. Al the dry wall is up and the painters have started.
CDS Computing (Keith Thorne)
Upgrades:
- Setup two additional Linux workstations in control room. Prepared wiki page to document setup procedure.
- Ordered rackmount PC (Dell) to host EPICS interface for Facilities Management.
- Ordered 2 Linux servers for new web server, EPICS gateways.
- Solved system configuration problem preventing use of DTT and MATLAB on new workstations.
- Working with LDAS personnel to migrate CDS file-system for frames to new frame-builder (FB0).
SysAdmin:
- Completed 'universal' CDS environment setup script to auto-handle Solaris/Linux setup for scripts.
- Built up 32-bit i386 CentOS box for diaggui rebuilds.
- Corrected full-frame file allocation on LDAS-hosted system to prevent overflow from existing frame-builder (FB1).
Commissioning Support:
- Worked with Rupal, Carl to implement TCS ISS Servo channels and MEDM screens.
Safety & Security (Rich Riesen)
- Conducted a LLO site safety walk-thru. The SEC area was in need of Exit signs, AED, AED cabinet and applicable signs. These items have been addressed.
- The BTE work contractors are still using good safety work habits. No safety concerns to date.
- IR scanned all laser tables for errant beams. All laser tables check O.K. Found no laser safety concerns on site.
- Jeremy Birch has been granted a Laser Operator access level with a 35w laser system addendum.
- Gave all ALigo visitors a site safety indoctrination.
- Issued 4 lost or broken access cards to site staff.
- Continuing work on updating LLO site safety documentation.
- Repaired 2 emergency eyewash stations and flushed all rusty water from all stations on site.
Livingston Education & Outreach
(Kathy Holt)
- Prepared for, participated in and hosted the SUBR Project MISE Share-a-thon, 25 teachers, 8 docents, 4 SUBR professors participated in this event on Sat. 1/23/09.
- Created new math/science activity for teacher workshop.
- Prepared materials and designed program for teacher workshop to be held here 1/31/09.
- Worked on docent training, and scheduling for future school visits and prepared for Docent Recognition Ceremony.
- Prepared and attended planning meeting with Luria Stubblefied and Bobbie Remble.
- Prepared programs and conducted 2 school visits for a total of 75 students.
- Compiled information from participants who will be attending our workshop and fax this information to Lori and Paul at the Teacher Institute.
- Meet with Rich and completed a safety walk through the SEC.
- Exhibit maintenance and repair. Purchase new materials for several exhibits.
- Scheduled an Open House for the SEC for March 7, 2009 from 1:00-4:00.
- Scheduled field trips and public tours.
- Worked on required paper work for upcoming workshop in SFO next week.
- Contacted districts of teachers participating in LIGO Teacher Institute workshop for information regarding substitute pay methods and costs.
- Spoke with Bonnie about procedures for payment to these districts and will provide her with the necessary documents.
(Amber Stuver)
SEC Work:
- Gave control room tours and presented the model mirror and suspensions to ~70 6th grade students.
- Redesigned the quantitative math activity using the Giant Slinky exhibit for a teacher workshop this coming weekend.
- Prepared documentation for the Exploratorium workshop Kathy and I are attending in San Francisco next week.
LIGO computing and network security
(Roddy)
Reported under General
Computing, see below
General computing and LDAS admin
(Giardina)
Reported under General
Computing, see below
Reported under LDAS System Administration, see below
Data analysis & computing
(Yakushin)
Storage/Condor/LDAS admin:
Reported under LDAS System Administration, see below
Data analysis:
Reported under Data
Analysis activities, see below
Mechanical and Optical Systems (Coyne)
See also Advanced
LIGO
Controls and Data Systems (Bork)
See Advanced
LIGO
40-Meter Interferometer (Adhikari)
Upgrade Work
- We are continuing to buy equipment for the upgrade and analyzing parameter values in the aux. optics.
- We have decided to deviate from the nominal AdvLIGO modulation frequencies of 9 & 45 MHz and to use 11 & 55 MHz instead - the larger frequencies will allow for shorter lengths greatly simplifying the optical layout.
Other
- Alberto took the first measurement of the PRC absolute length by injecting his laser from the dark port. He found a peak at the expected frequency but the shape is somewhat different from what was expected. He will take more measurements.
- The MOPA output power started to decrease about a week ago. We found that it was caused by a clogged pipe for the chiller water going to the base of the NPRO. We tweaked the needle valve, which seemed to be clogged, and the water started to flow again. Now the laser power is back to what was used to be.
- After the laser power was recovered, the ISS servo started to be unstable. It is oscillating around 3Hz. Kakeru and Yoichi measured the open loop transfer function to find that the phase margin at the low frequency UGF was too small. Kakeru and Peter is now modifying the servo filter to give more phase margin.
- Joe tried to get data from our new RGA through an ethernet-RC-232C converter. Unfortunately the baud rate of the RGA is fixed and this particular baud rate is not supported by our ethernet-RC-232C converter. We have to buy a new converter which support the necessary baud rate.
- Megatron (our AdvLIGO style front-end computer) started to make huge fan noise a few days ago. Turned out to be similar to a problem with the Sun 4600's that is seen at Hanford - Joe and Dave Barker talked it over and solved this by power cycling the machine.
Thermal Noise Interferometer (Black)
- This week Greg Ogin commissioned the vacuum pump for the photothermal experiment, which has hitherto been operated at atmospheric pressure. There appears to be a leak preventing the base pressure from going below 2 Torr, so he is working on finding and plugging that.
- Akira continues to make progress on the paper, and Innocenzo is working on finalizing the doped-optimized coating design for the next round of measurements.
LASTI (Mittleman)
BSC ISI
- Myron and Stephanie have been assembling the new coarse actuators for the ISI. We should begin the installation process next week.
Quad Prototype
- This week we found a problem with last weeks pendulum installation, a number of the ESD cables aren’t making contact with the ESD electrodes. We are removing the suspension from the chamber so that we can fix this.
CIT Science Group (Weinstein)
___________________
Antony Searle:
- Development work on Bayesian glitch rejection and clustering for Omega pipeline.
___________________
Kent Blackburn for the Grid Computing R&D Team:
GRID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
GENERAL:
- Attended LIGO-Pegasus, Coding, DASWG, OSG-VO-Group, ITB and High Mass telecons.
- Wrote agenda and led LIGO-Pegasus and OSG-VO-Group telecons.
- Open GOC tickets: Can't run ws-gram job at OCI-NSF, RSV wish list.
- Closed tickets: LONI, can't create voms proxy.
- Updated DASWG page: OSG-LIGO.
EINSTEIN AT HOME ON THE GRID ACTIVITIES
- Effort is underway to upgrade the job submission management software to support both WS-GRAM and pre-WS-GRAM. Current status:
- Deployment at AGLT2, RCAC, CIT_CMS_T2, SPRACE fail.
- AGLT2, fail: a perl module was not installed correctly,Re-Deploy.
- Robert cut new version GEO600-1.2.x (01/27).
- check deployment code on osg-itb-se
- deploy run code on osg-itb-se
- deployment attempt at Nebraska fails, contacted Robert
- continuing code development of for project management
- fixed the deployment project which prevented code to be build locally
- tested GT2/GT4 deployments on buran
- Maintain GT4 activity on 7 OSG sites with old code:
- Recent Average Credit (RAC): 74,192.77984.
- E@H rank based on RAC: 13.
- E@H rank based on accumulated Credits: 69.
- Having to do daily manual cleanup until Robert's code supports this.
- High failure rates seen at RCAC, CIT_CMS_T2, SPRACE.
- Red.unl.edu (Nebraska) GEO600-devel dir vanished, investigating.
BINARY INSPIRAL APPLICAITON ON THE GRID ACTIVITIES
- In preparation for the S6 science run, injection (only) work-flows using one weeks worth of data for the highmass search are run on several OSG sites. The aim is to determine suitable OSG sites to run the analysis on within the time frame of a week and without any failures. Current status:
- Checked out tagged Pegasus version after stage_in fail of previous runs.
- Test run at OSG_LIGO_MIT: fail due to issue at nemo-dataserver (fixed 01/22 ?), OSG_LIGO_MIT down (01/23 --> contacted Filippo) , open GOC (01/27) --> MIT declared as unavailable until further notice (01/28).
- Test run at LIGO_UWM_NEMO successful (~28 hrs).
- Test runs at all other sites fail at stage in of data, try:
- pegasus.transfer.*.impl = GUC (avoids using pegasus transfer)
- Stage_in jobs still fail
- Test PEGASUS rmps on spud: SPEW work-flow to cit, lsu cit good with dev1 binaries.
- All other submits from SPUD fail, contacted Duncan, Phil.
- fqdn needed, fixed on spud.
- Permission issues on .jar files break pegasus RPM, fix in place now, waiting for re-install of RPMs (01/28).
- In an attempt to avoid job failures due to inaccessibility of the work dirs, grid ftp server issues, authentication fails and other common problems, work has begun to develop a site verification tester. This python module will more than likely be incporporated into ldg_submit_dax, a program atop pegasus-plan that enables dag generation for ihope. Progress:
- Wrote xml parser to parse sites catalogue: (xml_parser.py <xml file> <site name>).
- xml_parser.py extracts: GK name, Jobmananger type, location of $DATA, $APP.
OPEN SCIENCE GRID INTEGRATION/VALIDATION TESTBED
STORAGE RESOURCES:
- Joined node local logical volumes into global GFS volume of 24TB in size.
- Mounted GFS Volume on osg-itb:/mnt/osg-storage.
- Installed VDT-1.10.1 on osg-itb.
- Installed VDT-Client-1.10.1 on remaining frontends.
- Received all grid certificates from Phil Ehrens.
- Installed grid certificates for osg-itb.
- Setup globus, monalisa user for daemons.
- Updated all packages on all resources.
MISC:
- Attended this week's OSG Integration Testbed Telecon.
GRID MANAGEMENT
- Organized an OSG All Hands Meeting program committee telecon to review status for the two days of workshops that are on the agenda. Plan to send out a flier on these to the OSG community once the leads for the workshops submit descriptions to me.
- Held a telconference with US ATLAS and US CMS Workshop organizers to discuss their plans for our joint meetings at the OSG All Hands Meeting. Both requested an additional session on the second day to be able to complete there planned agendas.
- Worked on OSG All Hands Meeting agenda schedule based on changes developed during the week. Began working on the room assignments for the meeting. Contacted Allen Sibley about getting a layout map to put in registration folders of the room locations.
- Contacted photographer in Baton Rouge about arranging group photo shoot of participants in the OSG All Hands Meeting. So far, this has resulted in phone tag.
- Resent letters of invitation to give talks to all speakers that have not as of yet responded. This significantly improved the number of responses but still have one outstanding.
- Worked to identify a coordinator for the poster sessions at the OSG All Hands meeting and added a webpage to the meeting website to capture the registered posters.
- Held a meeting with the OSG Executive Director and the OSG Council co-Chairs to discuss reorganization of the Council. Assess what the focus of this reorganization should be. Set up two Doodle polls to arrange meetings with a subcommittee of the OSG Council to meet prior to the OSG Council Face-to-Face meeting at LLO on March 5th. Intend to present a recommendation at that time on reorganization.
- Reviewed resumes for OSG Production Coordinator position that is open. Interviews are scheduled for next week.
- The OSG is interested in collaborating with PNNL and worked with Fermilab staff and LIGO staff to identify suitable contacts for the two groups to initiate communications. Handled an unusually large number of requests for DOE Grid Certificates and LDG accounts this week (roughly 4 or 5 times greater than typical).
- Delivered a recommendation to the Computer Committee regarding the granting of superuser privileges on inter-institutional LSC computing resources as a SCAT subcommittee assignment.
- Met with the Pegasus developers to discuss enhancements to their code base that would better support LIGO's binary inspiral workflows. Also discussed other enhancements to support monitoring and troubleshooting in the near future.
___________________
Kipp Cannon:
- Did a paper review for CQG.
- Did a paper review for LSC.
- S4 string cusp reviewee work.
- Stack-a-flare reviewer work.
- Telecons: inspiral, inspiral-code, flare review.
- Continuing work on low-latency, stream-based, inspiral data analysis techniques.
___________________
Amber L. Stuver:
- Further developed the LUMIN code (LOOC-UP logic software) to calculate local sidereal time at each telescope location and determine if a candidate gravitational wave source is observable. Together with the module I wrote last week, I can now determine if a scope is open (on) and, if it is, what it can see. This code still needs to be unified with a driver function, add compatibility for socket communications with the scopes, add ability to determine the percentage of an error area around the central source estimate a scope can see and add the ability to determine observing plans to propose to the scopes.
- Updated the BurstMDC page to include information on the S6Y2/VRS1 high frequency MDCs.
___________________
Cristina Valeria Torres:
- Work on the new ihope compatible version of write followup checklist report software with Romain Gouaty.
- Continue to write the follow up documentation that will be use to train additional follow up people.
- Work on integration of the follow up results into the ihope results page scripts with Sarah Caudill.
- Discuss comparison of AUTOTRACK glitch neighborhood with Myungkee Sung to test my automatically defined glitch neighborhood method against the traditional method of declaring/identifying data quality flags/events in S5.
___________________
Peter Kalmus:
- Stack-a-flare review work.
- Preparations for opening the A5 SGR box with Flare pipeline.
___________________
Chad Hanna:
___________________
Gregory Mendell:
- The S5 Year 2 C03 Tukey-windowed SFTs, for a corrected segment list, and with fmin = 38 Hz, are now published.
- These SFTs have the types, 1_H1_1800SFT_C03hoftCorrectSegsFmin38Hz, 1_H2_1800SFT_
C03hoftCorrectSegsFmin38Hz, 1_L1_1800SFT_C03hoftCorrectSegsFmin38Hz, and are available from LDR for S5 for these times: H1: gpsStart >= 846375384, H2: gpsStart >= 846376386, and L1: gpsStart = 846387978.
___________________
Joseph Betzwieser:
- Worked on pipeline scripts for a CW targeted searches of known pulsars, with extended frequency and spin-down parameter spaces.
___________________
Diego Fazi:
- Testing and fixing the chi-square veto for PTF.
___________________
Ajith Parameswaran:
- Working on producing IMR phenomenological waveforms for BH binaries with aligned spins.
- Finalising and submitting a paper on parameter estimation of BBHs.
- Started work on fixing the bugs in the LAL phenomenological-wave injection code.
Laboratory Computing (Anderson)
LDAS Software Systems (Maros)
- Profiling of the frameCPP library revealed two areas of slowness when read and writing CDS second trend frames. The code has been modified for a 100x speed improvement and submitted to CDS for verification.
- In the continuing effort to support the up coming version 8 frame specification, compression of 8 byte words has been added. Compression of complex data will happen shortly.
- Several files were either renamed or removed to broaden the portability of LDAS to platforms that support case preserving file systems such as OS X.
- System testing of LDAS was done with version 1.11.98 of the code base. Four of the regression tests failed. These failures are currently under investigation.
LDAS System Administration (Anderson)
Caltech
(Dan Kozak)
- Worked with Sun to get bad T10KB drive replaced. Still waiting on attempted tape resuscitation (CD0554).
- Continued work on rearchiving data to T10KB format tapes.
- Working with Sun to get CAM working at LLO (ongoing).
- Worked with Keith Thorne & Igor to plan for the new /fb0_frame filesystem at LLO.
- Confirmed Sun's receipt of the T10KA drives.
- Worked on recreating metadata in LHO's SAM tape catalog lost during the move of their L700 robot, with middling success.
- Added SAM tape catalog backup to the nightly metadata dump scripts at LHO/LLO.
- Compiled list of tapes for LHO tape eject.
- Dealt with fallout from crash of opterondata-cit due to migration script gone wrong filling up /tmp.
(Phil Ehrens)
- Numerous user support tasks.
- Debugged Pegasus rpm installation on Spud for Britta Daudert and the Pegasus development team.
- Repaired Sendmail configuration on ldas-cit network. Documented the sendmail issues in the sysadmin wiki page "Sendmail".
- Supported Robert Engel with remote login issues on the osg cluster.
- Worked with Campus Facilities to expedite repair of chilled water control on Liebert 2.
- Wrote new static Travel Application front page.
- Discussed Visitor Application issues with Cindy Akutagawa and proposed changes to the application form and associated webpages to the Directorate.
MIT
(Fred Donovan)
- A bit more work on ldr startup scripts and LFN:PFN inquiries.
Livingston
(Doug Lormand)
- Node 73 was down on 1-26. It was a power supply failure, so I took the PS from node 27, which has a corrupt hard disk and no network connection. Node 73 is back up as of 3 PM CST on 1-26.
Hanford
(Greg Mendell)
- We have been boxing tapes, and moving cabinets that store LIGO data at LHO this week.
- I am continuing to assess tape storage needs for upcoming mini and engineering runs, and for S6.
- Routine tasks were performed, including recovery from a server crash on Tuesday, helping users find data, and track down and fixing problems.
(Dan Moraru)
- Helped move tapes and cabinets. 2 of the 3 cabinets have been moved and reloaded with tapes. The third has been emptied and will be moved and reloaded tomorrow.
- Installed CentOS 5 on a couple of previously offline nodes to test the kickstart script.
General Computing (Wallace)
MIT
(Fred)
- Set up rest of Steph's computer (solidworks machine), using Kens' nvidia card.
- Some more config for Sam's comuter.
- Some more work on ilog (sqlite).
- rsync backup status now put in sqlite database -web accessible.
- Some misc purchasing.
- Laptop ram upgrade
- Archived Ken's (old?) files.
- Inventoried gov.tags/mit tags of equipment to get rid of.
- Spec'd out zemax machine(bundle).
Livingston
(Dwayne)
- Continued development of parts management UI and testing.
- Working with the clean/bake/assembly crews that are onsite to make sure parts are managed in the new system.
- Had a productive meeting with Janeen, Betsy, and Amanda regarding the SUS UK parts and how they will be entered into the system in the future.
- Ran PCA on a couple Solaris machines and rebooted.
- Patched a couple linux machines and rebooted.
- Updated a couple Windows machines and rebooted.
- Trying to resolve an issue with GC nightly/weekly backups.
- Working to migrate GC user /home/{user} directories to a new raid using "per user" ZFS file systems.
- Tracked down some info on Dell laptops that are certified by Solidworks.
- Assisted Antonio with a couple PCs used in the HPLF.
- Worked a couple procurement items.
- Numerous usual/unusual user support requests.
- Cleared spam trap daily.
Hanford
(Jonathan)
- CDS orientation with Dave Barker.
- Continued computer MAC address inventory.
- Disabled auto-run on windows computers.
- Calcium calender email problems fixed.
- Final setup and testing x4500 as a new home directory server.
- Migrated home directories to the new file server.
- Computer setup and support for a new adv-ligo user.
- Building updated software packages to upgrade mail server (in process).
- User support Kyle Ryan (new windows image), Hugh Radcliff (network sharing), Operators (wireless access problems).
Caltech
(Veronica)
- Set up a website for the LIGO/NSF Open Data Policy review.
- Ongoing work on the LV March meeting website. The website is ready to go live as soon as cost issues are settled. Set up/troubleshoot the credit card payment gateway. The app is in live mode. Added an API/search of area restaurants /businesses.
- Testing of the SVN setup at UWM, other WebComm issues.
- User support (Sydney/EVO, Stuart/html). Various web updates.
(Mike)
- Worked with Calum going over pdmworks vault admin tasks.
- Upgraded all CIT SolidWorks 2009 users to the latest Service Pack 2.0.
- Searching for a SolidWorks workstation to handle large assemblies at a reasonable cost. We ordered one workstation from Dell to test out.
- Going over the logistics on upcoming LSC conference regarding the network with Larry & company.
- Worked on a X4600 troubleshooting a memory issue. Sun's tech support had me clear out the /SP logs, reset /SP, reseated memory, and ran a diagnostics on this server, which came up clean. Sent this info out to Sun now waiting to hear back from them.
- Ran an update on the ADVLIGO server here at CIT, this was for the PRISMPM software.
- Fix some dhcp issues on the server.
- Worked on a few printer issues.
- Other misc. onsite/phone user support, and sysadmin tasks.
(Christian)
- Ajith Parameswaran - Installed and configured new Macbook Pro.
- Bill Tyler - Installed MS Visio 2003.
- Configured new Macbook Pro with parallels WIndows XP. This system will be added in the travel conference box.
- Tested the deployed the latest Microsoft security patches.
- Replace printer fuser kit in the basement of E/bridge.
- Other misc.: Continued onsite software/phone support.
(Melody)
- Finished some remaining enhancement requests for the LSC DCC release.
- Released DCC 2.0.0 to the LSC.
(Larry)
- More procurement assistance activity for different groups besides GC. Purchased more support items for different computer systems and A/V systems. Still need to purchase a few more items to support the LSC-V meeting coming up in March. Getting quotes for the new core network switch. Getting quotes in configurations for new engineering workstations. A test box should arrive soon and that will help in which way we are going to go with the h/w configuration. Working on a couple of s/w purchases and notebook upgrades.
- Spent time working out logistics for the LSC-V meeting. Networking and a few other items are up in the air until the hotel comes back with some more information. We should be testing out the phone systems and a few related items at the hotel in the next 10 days. They will let us know which days are open for us.
- Resolved a couple of license issues for end users.
- In the process of getting more SSL certs.
- Multiple modifications for mail aliases; updating and setting up new ones for different people.
- Setup a new account and fixed a couple of other accounts that had been setup over the past month.
- Minor work on a couple of printers. End user configuration changes and paper jams were the major culprits.
- More than the usual amount of end user support with their equipment and some minor work on home account fixes.
Advanced LIGO and Supporting R&D (Shoemaker)
Advanced LIGO Management
From Carol Wilkinson
Project Controls (includes progress since December 12, 2008 Two Advanced LIGO Change Requests (ACRs) were approved in January:
- ACR-090001 to consolidate the clean and bake activities in the assembly staging activity in Facility Mods. and Prep was approved and is circulating for signatures from impacted subsystem leaders. Labor and materials costs in the individual subsystems were collected from various subsystems and moved to FM. A draw of $553K from contingency was needed to cover additional clean, bake, and inventory staff determined to be necessary by a reassessment of the tasks after the decision to do clean and bake in-house.
- ACR -090002 changed the budget profile for the CIT support people to match the most likely start dates of the personnel as part of the re-planning effort to improve the quality of variance reporting. There is no impact on budget or schedule milestones.
Several ACRs are in progress:
- The ACR for delay in PSL delivery schedule of 200 W lasers by 6 months will be processed and implemented in February. Uses schedule float and does not impact project schedule for installed units. Spares will be delivered after the install date.
- An ACR to decrease the number of HAM internal seismic isolation (ISI) units by one and to return approximately $600K to contingency. This move is based on the successful deployment of the AdL prototypes units in Enhanced LIGO. These units will be used in Advanced LIGO, with some minor modifications. A first article build will go to LASTI for testing.
- An ACR anticipating contributions from the Australians grant to build tip-tilt mirrors, Hartman sensors for the thermal, and some read-out controls/electronics is being crafted, with ~$1M being returned to contingency for in kind contributions.
- An ACR increasing the number of support personnel needed to speed up the procurement process and to track procurements is being drafted. These are individuals in the technical areas as well as in project controls and procurements. It includes designer/drafters to prepare drawings for build to print procurements, technical assistants to help prepare specs, procedures, and other documents, and procurement admins. The draw on contingency is estimated at approximately $1.4M.
Staffing
- MIT has added a fourth designer/drafter to assist in preparation of procurement packages for seismic isolation (SEI). These four are temporary contractor workers.
- Ads are also out for one optical technician at CIT and two software engineers at the sites. Both contract and term CIT employee options are being explored.
- Negotiations are in progress to hire a contract optical scientist to replace a departing contractor.
Procurements
For Bert:
- Working on procurement tracking system.
For Ed:
- Attended initial meeting of Core Optics Polishing Evaluation Committee. Reviewed and edited draft of Evaluation Committee Report.
- Reviewed and approved Invitation for Bid package for the warehouse improvements for LHO. The package was released yesterday.
- Participated in negotiations on the GS-13 seismometers, specifically the issue of warranty coverage on GeoTech's modified standard product. The contractor agreed to provide normal warranty coverage on the modified product.
For Gina:
- Prepared the contract for the GS-13 seismometers, the first procurement for the HAM internal seismic isolation (ISI) system. The award is ready to be sent to the vendor for signatures.
For Rudy:
- Preparing draft contract for the COC polishing and memorandum of negotiation to go to NSF for approval of this procurement after the Evaluation Committee selected the winning bids from those received from the vendors.
For Jackie:
- The contract for the HEPI small machined parts with Limerick, Inc. has been sent to the vendor for signature/execution.
For Steve:
- The Invitation to Bid (ITB) for FM-106, entitled “LHO Warehouse Modifications” was submitted on January 29, 2009. The job walk is scheduled for February 10, 2009 and bid opening on February 23, 2009.
NSF Acquisition Approvals
- NSF has approved the Limerick contract for HEPI small machined parts.
- Project and procurement personnel are discussing the best methods for submitting labor subcontracts with Ann Miller in the NSF Grants and Awards Office. We anticipate approximately 20 individuals will join the project as contractors at various times during the project lifetime, so finding the most efficient method of submission is important in order to minimize duplicated or unnecessary work.
Progress Updates
- Time verification reports for the current pay period are due by Friday, January 29.
- Progress reports for January were due on Wednesday January 28.
- The Annual Report for the Advanced LIGO project is being prepared, with a first draft for internal review ready on January 30.
Meetings & Reviews
- The next Monthly Progress Reporting Meeting will be on Thursday, February 12 at 8:30 AM PT. Subsystem leaders or their delegates need to attend.
Advanced LIGO
Systems
Dennis Coyne <coyne@ligo.caltech.edu>, Peter Fritschel <pf@ligo.mit.edu>, Calum Torrie<ctorrie@ligo.caltech.edu>, Matt Evans <mevans@ligo.mit.edu>
AdL Project-Funded Activities
General:
- Dennis visited MIT/LASTI to monitor the assembly of the reaction mass and test mass into the quad suspension and systems work.
- Dennis visited LLO to monitor the start of the "assembly training quad" exercise and discuss overall coordination.
Design Reviews: For a list of reviews, see the main AdL wiki page
- David Shoemaker drafted the basic conclusions for the SUS Triple review, is getting consensus from the committee and preparing the draft report.
Procurement Reviews:
- Provided further technical comments/review of the aqueous washer RFQ.
- Completed review of the COC polishing bids.
- Confirmed a drawing error on the quad test stand; SEI group working to resolve
Technical Review Board (TRB): see the TRB log
Vacuum Review Board (VRB): see the VRB log
- Dennis is evaluating the possible effects of the planned mineral exploration around LLO on the beam tube structures in response to Rai's concerns.
- Dennis provided some observations on the UHV compatibility of quad hardware (L0900009).
Configuration Control & Documentation:
- PDMWorks - clean up: Mike Pedraza and Calum continue the clean up of the vault. In particular we have been cutting down the number of folders and sub-folders as well as cleaning up the trash and creating (and populating) new VE and SYS folders.
- Life-cycle and revision scheme - Opto-mechanical Engineers: After last weeks PDMWorks training session at Caltech we have decided to change our life-cycle status slightly. Mike Meyer and Calum are working on the changes and will update the wiki to reflect this. It will also be the main topic at next weeks opto-mechanical meeting.
Design:
- Layout:
- Eduardo and Calum have been working through ideas for creating the overall 3D layouts for advanced LIGO in SolidWorks. We got a number of ideas from last weeks SolidWorks training session.
- Planning a two-day meting at UFL in late Feb to resolve remaining layout issues, especially related to H2 IO layout
- 2 layer coating FEA: Liam Cunningham and Calum have been working again on the 2 layer coating FEA -- a summary is on document T0810009
- Improved Test Mass Modes for parametric instability analysis update: Calum has been talking to Bill Kells and Hans Bantilan about the recent modal FEA on the test mass and forwarded to them the format of the output files and will now make a sample set of data available for them to test.
- SUS Prisms (US and UK): Calum is working with SUS UK and USA (Russell, Janeen and Norna) on the design and drawings of the 2 prism approach adopted from recent work by Weiss et al.
Interfaces:
- See the RODA status page and the Interface Control page.
- Mass properties of each optics table: Submitted two enhancement requests to SolidWorks to allow: - 1) Ability to specify Moments of Inertia and Coordinate System for a part or assembly 2) Ability to display and update mass properties parametrically in a separate Excel spreadsheet (similar to Design Table and Feature Parameters) We are also looking at a new feature in SW 2009 called Speed Pak to help with this task.
Modeling and Simulation
From: Hiroaki Yamamoto hiro@ligo.caltech.edu
Static IFO Simulation (Hiro, Melody)
- Designing SIS infrastructure and developing SIS codes for the next stage, full advLIGO simulation with telescopes to a small detector via focusing lens, using a better user interface which allows detailed analysis of a complex configuration.
Safety
From: David Nolting dnolting@ligo-la.caltech.edu
- Met with Doug Cook this week to discuss the safety measures that have been implemented to handle high-power CO2 TCS systems. As indicated in the TCS Hazard Analysis (E080501) and the Summary of Actions Taken document, Doug designed and installed a Protective ZnSe Window at the Vacuum Viewport. Included are sensors that monitor temperature increases.
- Assisted in the quad assembly activities at LLO. Monitoring lift activities of the Upper “Stiff” Structure from assembly area to Quad Test Stand and the placement of the Clean Rooms. In addition to other routine safety concerns regarding trip hazards and lifting equipment.
- On-going efforts to research the satellite phone options that are viable for the use at both LLO and LHO. A meeting is scheduled with CIT personnel to ascertain the phone system that is currently utilized. One concern would be to ensure that the satellite phone service be compatible between LLO, LHO and CIT LIGO Directorate Office.
- The LIGO Electrical Safety Requirements document is currently under review by AdL Safety, Bill Tyler and Rich Abbott.
- Currently involved in discussion with quad team members regarding the Ergo Arm apparatus. The Hazard Analysis (T080231 - dated September 15, 2008), may need to be updated.
Quality Assurance
From: William Tyler <tyler_w@ligo.caltech.edu>
Tyler reporting for Mick Flanigan.
QA Status Report AdL
- Provided QA engineering support for on-going AdL procurements.
- Continued to work with procurement personnel to identify (list) the appropriate QA requirements which best match the type of contract.
Facilities Modifications and Preparations
From: John Worden <worden_j@ligo-wa.caltech.edu>
FMP
LLO:
- The warehouse is roughly 70% complete - The suspended ceiling is in, two AC units have been commissioned, lighting underway.
- Bids are in for the large pallet jack which will move the assembled ISIs around. No surprise here. LHO found a used machine but LLO will have to live with a brand new one!
LHO:
- The Staging building contractor has invoiced for 75% of the work and continues to make good progress.
- The bid package for our warehouse is ready to go out this week.
- The bid package for aqueous washers should also go out this week or early next.
Seismic Isolation
From: Ken Mason kmason@ligo.mit.edu
HAM ISI Design HAM SEI:
- Finishing design changes for Advanced LIGO ISI procurement. Cleaning up related files in SolidWorks vault . ~Andy
BSC Controls and Testing at LASTI:
- We continue to prepare the next set of modal analysis testing on the Quad-ISI. The hardware (mounting fixtures, sensors, impact hammers, electronics...) has been adjusted to the size of the ISI (much more massive than the Quad previously studied). The use of a bigger impact hammer, soft tips and more aggressive low-pass filters prevent from saturating on the high modes (above 200Hz). It allows to put more force on the low modes and get a much better signal over noise ratio. We now prepare the details of the test by defining an experimental meshing (which points of which parts must be used to extract the modal shapes).
- We have started to design of a tester to measure the frequency response of the ISI actuators (Force/Voltage Drive). ~Fabrice
HEPI Electronics:
- Finalizing the redesigns of the STS-2 Interface Chassis, 8-Channel Valve Driver, and the Pier Interface Satellite Box. All now have single-sided supply fault protection and the STS-2 Interface and Pier Interface both have lower low-frequency noise line drivers and instrumentation amplifiers. They should go out for production quite soon.
- We have begun looking at the changeover of the LLO HEPI computer controls from VME to the new "Blue Box" system. At first look, it seems that the addition of several interface chassis in the digital rack would be the most efficient, and least obtrusive, way to integrate the old system into the new controls. ~Ben
HEPI Mechanics:
- Pump Station -- I've signed off the first manifold and it is on the way to the electro polisher. Have received a number of the resistor washer sets and will preassemble/protect them now.
- Actuator -- KineOptics expects all parts to complete the first assembly end of February.
- No substantive updates on the other major fabrication awards. Limerick will likely ship first batch of Crossbeam Feet this week.
- The miscellaneous machined parts order has been received by the machine shop. They are anticipating a 3/15/2009 delivery.
- The Kaman Sensor procurement terms and conditions have been resolved by Ed Jasnow, The purchase order has been placed.
- The custom servo valve nozzles have been sent to an electroplolisher and will be returned early next week.
- Discussions with AStein suggests we don't need installation fixtures for every assembly while in storage. ~Hugh
SEI Activities and Progress at LLO:
- Our push to finish the HAM-ISI work last week was not as successful as we had hoped. We were fooled by the fact that the coil driver had not been reset after an earlier incident and was therefore only able to push the table around at about 1% of the normal force. We have now wired up the binary Input/Output switches and we can now see the status via MEDM. We plan to have the coil driver status trigger the watchdog so that we don't get fooled again. HAM-ISI work at LLO is now on hold but may be picked back up again in March/April. ~Brian O.
SEI Activities and Progress at LHO:
- Working on implementing new "build"-side (model and c-code), "user interface"-side (medms), & scripting-side upgrades running up here at LHO (Jeff helped me tons with getting them going). ~Corey
BSC ISI Design:
- The new large BSC ISI Actuators (with increased magnet to coil gap size) are pre-assembled and installation at LASTI for final testing will begin tomorrow. ~Stephany
Suspensions
From Janeen Romie and Norna Robertson
(romie_j@ligo-la.caltech.edu, nroberts@ligo.caltech.edu)
Operations Work
- Last week at LASTI, the installation of the quad into the chamber was completed. See the LASTI ilog for more details. Electronic wiring work is ongoing. SUS would like to thank everyone who traveled to MIT from the UK and the USA and the local team for their great support.
- Starting to gather information for the OMC FDR.
Project-Funded Activities
- At the end of last week, the LHO crew who came down to support preparations for the training exercise, had accomplished a lot and worked through many issues. We thank them for traveling on such short notice.
- A team of people have assembled at LLO to carry-out the quad training exercise. Joe O'Dell and Amanda Brummitt from RAL are leading the training. Hanford's Doug Cook and Gerardo Moreno are participating along with Mark Barton and Norna Robertson from Caltech. Locally, we have Gary Traylor, Danny Sellers, Mike Meyer, Derek Bridges, Bobby Moore & Janeen Romie participating. The test stand is assembled and aligned. The solid stack has been craned on top of the test stand. The ergo arm was received from LASTI and uncrated. The two portable clean rooms are in place, along with an optical table. Assembly work has begun. Experiences with shipment of parts from the UK have provided valuable information.
Prestabilized
Laser
From: Peter King <pking@ligo.caltech.edu>
Operations
- The optical layout of components on the table continues. A minor problem has arisen because the Sun workstation that the VME crate used to boot from is now kaput. A copy of the boot kernels was tracked down - thanks Alex.
Project
- The dark current for all quadrants of a number of quadrant photodiodes has been measured. All show a distinctive pattern where the dark current rises rapidly with applied bias up to 1V. For bias voltages greater than 1V the slope changes and the increase is not as rapid. The dark current can vary by as much as a factor of 2 for diodes from the same manufacturing batch. The variation from quadrant to quadrant is better than 0.1nA.
Input Optics
From: David tanner@phys.ufl.edu
eLIGO Commissioning
- We have measured the WFS coupling to DARM at LHO. Also, we have helped with high power (20W) operations at LHO. (Kate)
- At LLO, we are converting the ASC controls to the new stable/unstable dof basis in preparation for high power locking. (Kate)
AdvLIGO Design
- Work has also been done on the AdvLIGO IO (Pre-)Auto Alignment document. (Volker)
- Work has been done to clean/organize the PDMWorks vault (IO/AOS). (Luke)
AdvLIGO Procurement
- We received 2 quotes for polishing the first batch of IO optics. Now we are reviewing the pre-certification documentation received from the bidders in order to make an award. (Rodica)
AdvLIGO R&D
- We are manufacturing a prototype for the thermal astigmatism corrector (ordered heating element ribbon, figuring out how to cut ceramic rods) (IO). (Luke)
- Work on determining the feasibility of adaptive ring heater for astigmatic correction is ongoing. We completed our analysis for the fused silica element. We tested a four-segment fused silica ring heater for thermal lensing, thermal steering, and astigmatic correction. The thermal lensing range available is sufficient. Thermal steering is negligible in vacuum. We were able to get a lens of about -25 m (at 5 mm radius beam size) in both the x and y directions. We can produce a lens in either direction (as cylinders) as well as in both directions (sphere). (Muzammil)
- We worked on the AdvLIGO parallel modulation MZ experiment, characterizing the modulation depth and DC phase control. (Volker, Hsin-Jun)
Other R&D
- We started assembling RTP prisms for the fine steering experiment. This experiment is intended for determining the feasibility of using RTP prisms for correcting beam jitter. (Muzammil, Guido, others)
- We also worked on electronics design for a discrete quadrant detector. (Volker)
- We finished the VI and worked on aligning and calibrating the photodiodes for power monitoring in the coating damage testing experiment. We are monitoring the incident, reflected, and transmitted beam powers and the pressure in the vacuum chamber. We connected laser interlock to the data acquisition board and tested for various thresholds imposed on laser pick-off beams placed at strategic points in the setup. We have been running ~70W optical power on a CVI dummy test mirror for about 48 hrs, and so far no damage was observed. The beam is focused to ~70 um spot diameter on the mirror, determining a optical intensity of ~1.8 MW/cm^2. (Rodica, David Feldbaum)
Other Activities
- Luke Williams attended SolidWorks/PDMworks training at CIT.
- We updated the IO Schedule Progress through January. (Rodica)
Core Optics
From: GariLynn Billingsley <Billingsley_G@ligo.caltech.edu>
Development
Project
- Upon evaluation of the proposals submitted in response to the Advanced LIGO Polishing Request for Proposal RA-132, the evaluation committee unanimously recommends an award. The recommendation will have been presented to the source selection official by the time this weekly report is published. A draft contract is being prepared and sent to the general counsel for review. This procurement will also be sent to the NSF for review.
Auxiliary Optics
From: Michael Smith <smith@ligo.caltech.edu>
Work Under Operations Budget
ETM TELESCOPE SUS:
- Transfer function measurements of the ETM eddy current dampened suspension are underway by Virginio and Ken.
OPTICAL LEVER:
- The AOS group reviewed the design requirements document for the Optical Lever subsystem, and the document will be revised shortly.
FARADAY ISOLATOR:
- Based on suggestions by the ISC group, the design for the suspension frame of the enhanced LIGO OMC will be adapted for the Faraday Isolator suspension frame. We will investigate whether using the OMC double pendula suspension mechanism is appropriate for the Faraday Isolator.
- Mike derived analytical design equations for a circular arc blade spring that predicts a sinusoidal variation of the blade width. He and Riccardo fabricated and tested a prototype spring, and the preliminary results agree with the design values within a few percent.
- Calum cautioned about using thin wires of the VIRGO double head design < 2 mm because of early failures noted by SUS.
OPTICAL LAYOUT MEETING:
- Dennis discussed the scheduling of an optical layout meeting at U FL during the week of 2/23/09.
TCS:
- Phil reported that Aidan is working on a mask approach to produce a more uniform annulus heating pattern. They will be looking into thermal management of the heat on the CO2 laser table.
35 W BEAM DUMP FOR ENHANCED LIGO:
- Mike and Ken have a design concept for the out-of-vacuum beam dump. It consists of a Brewster's angle polished Si substrate to catch the first bounce of the 1064 nm beam. The Si substrate is flush with the surface of the v-shaped oxidized SS baffle. The reflection from the Si will ricochet numerous times between the SS baffle surfaces and be trapped. The Si substrate will be mounted independently from the V-baffle and thermally insulated from the mounting table, and heat sinked to fins on the back surface for convection cooling.
MEZZANINE LAB:
- Ken is continuing the preparations and setup of the SUS Mezzanine Lab .
Control and Data Systems
From: Vern Sandberg <sandberg@ligo-wa.caltech.edu>
Observatories
LHO & LLO:
- Commissioning activities continue on the 4km IFOs.
- Now broadcasting frames to the DMT machines from the new DAQ system at both sites.
AdvLIGO Systems
SEI:
- Finalizing the redesigns of the STS-2 Interface Chassis, 8-Channel [HEPI] Valve Driver, and the Pier Interface Satellite Box. Electronics modules now have single-sided supply fault protection and the STS-2 Interface and Pier Interface both have lower low-frequency noise line drivers and instrumentation amplifiers. They should go out for production soon.
- Started looking at the changeover of the LLO HEPI computer controls from VME to the new "Blue Box" system. At first look, it seems that the addition of several interface chassis in the digital rack would be the most efficient, and least obtrusive, way to integrate the old system into the new controls.
SUS:
- Finished the review report for UIM pre-production design prototype. In anticipation of receiving shipments, we will begin setting up a board QA inspection operation.
DAQ:
- Working on timing software for the DAQ back-end computing systems.
- Working on ADC/DAC noise performance and timing tests, hoping to have a report by next week.
Timing:
- Timing system FDR documentation posted and reviewers notified. We hope to close this out by Feb. 19.
ISC:
- Full SPICE simulation of RFPD designs compared well with measured responses.
For additional
information about this report, contact Albert Lazzarini
