Scheduling observations on the LCOGT network
Eric Hawkins, Nairn Baliber, Mark K. Bowman, Timothy M. Brown, Ben Burleson, S. Foale, Martyn J. Ford, Tim A. Lister, Martin Norbury, Eric S. Saunders, Zachary Walker · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2010
LCOGT is deploying a world-wide telescope network to enable near-continuous coverage of variable or transient sources. We desire the telescopes in this network to be scheduled for efficiency with respect to a coherent set of science goals. To achieve this, we are developing a software structure to carry observing programs from initial proposal through data acquisition and feedback to the schedule. Key elements in this structure are a database of observation requests, requirements, and status, a protocol to describe observations, and a set of planners that work by successive refinement of the schedule.