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Paper: Automatic Sequencing for Experimental Protocols
Volume: 101, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems V
Page: 400
Authors: Hsieh, Paul F.; Stern, Ivan
Abstract: We present a paradigm and implementation of a system for the specification of the experimental protocols to be used for the calibration of AXAF mirrors. For the mirror calibration, several thousand individual measurements need to be defined. For each measurement, over one hundred parameters need to be tabulated for the facility test conductor and several hundred instrument parameters need to be set. We provide a high level protocol language which allows for a tractable representation of the measurement protocol. We present a procedure dispatcher which automatically sequences a protocol more accurately and more rapidly than is possible by an unassisted human operator. We also present back-end tools to generate printed procedure manuals and database tables required for review by the AXAF program. This paradigm has been tested and refined in the calibration of detectors to be used in mirror calibration.
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