One of the more interesting aspects of working on this experiment is the emphasis on remote operations. For both of my previous experiments (I started on CMS in 2000), this meant that you used your office or home computer (with modem) to connect and opened a terminal window to a specific computer connected to the data acquisition system of the experiment (my old 386 even made the text green and the background black – just like at work). It was pretty primitive, but I remember checking and helping with problems and not having to go into the experiment, which for my first experiment meant a 90 minute drive from home.
For this experiment, it is much more sophisticated. We have a Remote Operations Center (ROC) at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), all the way across the ocean near Chicago. We also have a control room located at the main CERN site, and one upstairs from where we currently sit, which isn’t quite ready for prime time (it’s lacking vital things, like computers, and a coffee machine). These do/will have fast internet connections, computers, printers, and the like.
But, when we are downstairs, such as during this past week, we were trying to keep things going with some colleagues by phone, which proved difficult. I was playing secretary and answering the fixed phone, and things were only slowly moving forward. People were becoming frustrated. At this point in the commissioning of the experiment, it really helps to be in the same room with the experts involved. The communication channels are always open since they are just a shout away. (Unless one expert is on the phone remotely with someone else, which is unavoidable, since we _almost_ all have mobile phones.) Things are still a bit unstable and unpredictable as we commission the system. Soon it will get better, but it is still a lot of “two steps forward, one step back”.
Here were are – all experts underground:
And I’ve been down here too much this week, and I’m getting bleary-eyed and I am ready to spend some time above ground this weekend – I think my vitamin D stores are low…
A la prochain…
postscript to the previous post: Evie had a little improvement, and we brought her home for a couple of days, but again she deteriorated. We made the tough decision to put her to sleep on Monday, Feb. 4, she was 7. We miss her, of course, but couldn’t watch her suffer anymore. She was a loving, affectionate, fun cat, and we are glad to have been on her staff: “Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” – Unknown
Tags: CMS, remote operations
