DC-3 Dreams

ACP Expert Scheduler V8.1 - Introduction

Welcome to ACP Expert Scheduler! It consists of three programs: the Schedule Browser, the Scheduler itself, and the VOEvent Receiver. The heart of the package is the Expert Scheduler. It does all the work of sending observing requests to ACP Observatory Control Software. The browser is a general purpose editor for observing requests in the Scheduler's relational database. There are also several web accessible request submission forms, as well as a web-accessible Scheduler Browser. The VOEvent Receiver connects to the VOEvent network and listens for alerts on transient events. If one of interest (customizable) arrives, it can generate an observing request, interrupt the scheduler, and have the observations taken right then.

Combined with ACP Observatory Control Software, ACP Expert Scheduler makes up the most sophisticated observatory control system available commercially. Only a few one-of-a-kind custom systems developed for the largest observatories are comparable, and they cost hundreds of times as much to develop.

Discussions with the developers and other Scheduler users are on the DC-3 Dreams Communication Center. For detailed information on the theory of operation and other internals of ACP Scheduler see Dispatch Scheduling of Automated Telescopes. For information on the VOEvent Receiver and GRB followup, see Transient Astronomy With ACP Scheduler.

Now check out Getting Started.