Instrument development for the current generation of large, ground-based observatories is continuing to open new parameter space for astronomical breakthroughs. We are now seeing the exciting scientific harvest from second-generation instruments on 8-10m class telescopes, with plans in place to keep growing the capabilities of these world-leading facilities. Equally, innovative instrumentation on smaller telescopes, including solar observatories and airborne platforms, is continuing to provide novel scientific opportunities, while often also serving as technology pathfinders for larger telescopes. 

Meanwhile, the past two years have witnessed an important milestone for ground-based astronomy, with three optical/infrared Extremely Large Telescopes moving into the construction phase. With primary apertures in excess of 20m, this next generation of observatories will provide an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and spatial resolution. Considerable effort is now underway in the design and prototyping of their first-generation instruments, so that we’re ready to exploit these fantastic facilities when they become operational in the 2020s. 

As the latest in the successful series of conferences on ground-based and airborne instrumentation, papers (oral and posters) are invited on the design, development and performance of optical/infrared instrumentation. In particular, we welcome contributions on the performance and lessons learned from completed projects, and discussion of future technical challenges. Areas of interest include:
Performance and results from recently commissioned instruments;
Design/prototyping of instrumentation for current observatories (incl. solar/airborne);
Instrumentation for Extremely Large Telescopes;
New technologies which may be transformative in future instrument design.
Given considerable oversubscription to previous conferences in this series, it will probably be necessary to limit the number of oral talks and maximize the use of poster presentations at the meeting, which are nonetheless both productive and enjoyable. Preference for oral talks will be given to complete (or near-complete) instruments, and mature designs. Larger groups submitting more than one paper on a major project should reserve most of their oral presentation time (if granted) for an overview. Papers on innovative designs for instrument sub-systems may be submitted, but please explain in your abstract the novel nature of the work. Given the large over-subscription, authors may wish to consider submitting sub-system papers to one of the parallel specialist conferences. 

Authors please note: Final placement in an oral or poster session is subject to the discretion of the program committee. Instructions for oral and poster presentations are available online. All oral and poster contributions are included in the proceedings, and both require presentation at the meeting and submission of a manuscript. All authors should plan to attend the poster sessions and poster authors should be in attendance at their poster during the reception times (to be determined).