Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) has built the Network of
Robotic Echelle Spectrographs (NRES), consisting of four identical, high-resolution
optical spectrographs, each fiber-fed simultaneously by up to two 1-meter telescopes
and a calibration source. Two units have been installed and are currently executing
scientific observations. A third unit has been installed and is presently in commissioning.
A fourth unit has been shipped to site and will be installed in mid 2018. Operating
on four separate continents in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, these instruments
comprise a globally-distributed, autonomous spectrograph facility for stellar classification
and high-precision radial velocity of bright stars. Simulations suggest we will achieve
long-term radial velocity precision of 3 m/s in less than an hour for stars with V
< 12. Radial velocity precision of 75 m/s has already been demonstrated with our automatic
data-processing pipeline across multiple sites. Work is ongoing to improve several
NRES system components including telescope control (robotic source acquisition in
particular) and the data-processing pipeline. In this document we briefly overview
the NRES design, its purpose and goals, results achieved to date in the field, and
the ongoing development effort to improve instrument performance.
