The Anglo-Australian Observatory (jointly funded by the UK and <br />
Australian governments) has an ongoing technology development and <br />
instrumentation program that has yielded forefront astronomical <br />
instruments used around the world (e.g. OzPoz on the VLT, 2dF on the AAT). <br />
An overview of the current instrumentation projects underway will be <br />
presented. This will cover the recently commissioned AAOmega <br />
spectrograph (a bench mounted, dual beam spectrograph fed by the fibers <br />
from the 2dF positioner), Echidna (a new technology fiber positioner for <br />
the FMOS instrument on Subaru), and WFMOS (a very wide-field MOS system <br />
for Subaru that was recently explored in a Feasibility Study for Gemini). <br />
The Instrument Science group at the AAO is actively involved in <br />
exploring and exploiting new technologies applicable to astronomical <br />
instrumentation. Studies including development of autonomous pickup <br />
relays for multi-object instruments (Starbugs), development of OH <br />
suppression in fiber optics, and continued evaluation of other ermging <br />
fiber optic technologies are presently underway. An overview of those <br />
activities will be given.<br />