MosBot

Mosbot is a python program that tries to adjust our observing scripts to adapt to changing conditions through the night.

Run it by logging in to the *mzls@mayall-idl* machine and then running:

cd ~/obsbot
python mosbot.py <pass1.json> <pass2.json> <pass3.json>

you will need to keep that window open, because you want mosbot to keep running all night. "pass[123].json" are the 'plan' or 'JSON' files that Arjun should have given you; they contain lists of exposures we want to take depending on what the conditions are doing. It is probably most convenient to run mosbot from a Terminal window on the mayall-2 display. You don't need to read any of the output it produces, but you should check periodically that it is still running; the code is under development and some bugs remain.

Mosbot does two things:

1. On startup, it reads the *pass[123].json* files, drops exposures

that should happen before the current time, for each exposure writes two little shell scripts, and also writes a top-level script */mosaic3/exec/mosbot/tonight.sh*

2. It then starts waiting for new images to appear in the $MOS3_DATA

directory. Whenever an image appears, it analyzes it and, based on the measured conditions (seeing, sky brightness, transparency), it decides which pass we should be running, and what our exposure times should be, and it overwrites the next few scripts.