scheduler

Related Packages

• scheduler - This package. The core scheduling library, a.k.a. schedlib.
• scheduler-server - The Flask API for fetching schedules.
• scheduler-web - The web front end for the scheduler.

Installation

First clone this repository, and then install with pip:

git@github.com:simonsobs/scheduler.git
pip install .

Alternatively, pip install directly from GitHub:

pip install schedlib@git+https://github.com/simonsobs/scheduler.git

Basic design

The basic task of scheduler is to take sequences of planned observations, optimize them based on observational constraint set by observer and instrument, and convert them into a series of commands to operate the telescope. To achieve this goal, the scheduler divides this task into three steps:

1. initialize sequences of timed blocks (Block) which represent planned observations;
2. apply transformations (Rule) to the sequences of blocks to optimize the sequence based on given constraints. An example transformation could be sun-avoidance which removes blocks that are too close to the sun;
3. convert the sequence of blocks into a sequence of commands to operate the telescope.

A Policy defines how this three-step process is orchastrated. In other words, a policy defines how sequences of Blocks get transformed into commands. Step 1 is implemented with Policy.init_seq, step 2 is implemented with Policy.apply, and step 3 is implemented with Policy.seq2cmd. Different policies can be implemented to correspond to the needs of different instruments.

Usage

Confluence link for instructions on setting up and using scheduler