Part 2: Voyager Advanced Overview

Voyager Advanced adds automated target scheduling to Voyager.  

With Advanced, your imaging workflow looks like this:

At any time:

  Add a target you want to the database

  Specifying how many and what type (filter, exposure, etc.) of shots you want to  accumulate

  Add constraints for when Voyager Advanced may shoot that target – minimum altitude, moon phase, moon distance, etc.

Image Acquisition Time:

  EITHER Run your DragScript that includes a call to RoboTarget to find and shoot targets 

  OR Click “RoboTarget Run” in the RobotTarget panel after connecting your gear

The “Run your DragScript” option lets you simply start Voyager with your DragScript as a parameter and everything will happen automatically.  Do a little configuration work with the Windows task scheduler and you can have a perpetually automated observatory that will open up and work on your target list every time your weather observation device indicates it is safe to do so.

The fact that you can add a target at any time is very powerful.  See something you like on Astrobin?  Start up RoboTarget Manager and add it to your list.  Reading Astronomy or Sky & Telescope and see a great image?  Add it with RoboTarget Manager and when the time is right, Voyager Advanced will shoot it!  No more scratching your head and trying to remember that cool nebula you saw a couple months ago – just add them to your RoboTarget database as soon as you see it.  No more forehead slaps when you realize that galaxy you wanted to shoot is already setting just after dusk.  If it’s in the database, RoboTarget will remember for you, and shoot it when the time is right. 

RoboTarget’s Basic Operation

When it is time to choose the next target to run, RoboTarget creates a set of eligible targets – targets that are visible and whose constraints are all met.

From that pool of eligible targets, RoboTarget uses a “Scheduler” algorithm to choose the one to run next.  At pre-beta, there is one Scheduler implemented – it chooses the eligible target that was added to the database first.  There will be more Schedulers to choose from in the future, as we gather feedback from beta testers on what they would like to use.

With Voyager Advanced, your role is to choose targets and process captured data.  Voyager’s role is to get the data you want and do it at the best time.  It’s like having an intelligent assistant who runs your observatory.  You tell them what you want, they do the rest.  And they don’t complain about the pay or the cold nights!