... Observing with the major instruments at the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope (UKIRT) is already semi-automated by using ASCII files to configure the instruments and then sequence a series of exposures and telescope movements to acquire the data. ... Using an off-line preparation system to create these has significantly improved observing efficiency, as also has the automatic, on-line data reduction system in use by one of the main instruments. ... The Observation Sequencer. ...