On-sky performance of the robotic Focal Plane Systems (FPS) for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V

We describe the on-sky performance of the robotic Focal Plane System (FPS) units that replace the fiber plug-plate systems at the Sloan and duPont telescopes for the SDSS-V survey. The first FPS was arrived at Apache Point in December 2021, and the second unit will be delivered to Las Campanas in spring 2022. Each FPS carries 500 zonal fiber positioners carrying three fibers: two science fibers for the BOSS and APOGEE spectrographs and a back-illuminated metrology fiber. The FPS enables the SDSS-V Milky Way and Black Hole Mapper surveys that will begin survey operations in 2022.