Cooking a glass chook

The old kitchen stove had a switch which may have been marked with an OFF position and a temperature scale; and thus the world was fed.
Now we have pre-programmed ovens where one enters the weight of a chook and selects how it is to be cooked, maybe with a choice of ‘Slightly scorched’, ‘Medium’ or ‘Cindered’.

With due deference to our litigious nature the Instructions may include something along the following lines;

CAUTION.

Be sure to read the technical definitions of ‘Slightly scorched’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Cindered’ before proceeding. We accept no responsibility whatsoever if the weight is incorrectly entered or the wrong button is pressed.     

Poor cooks use these facilities; good cooks know better.

So it is with kiln instrumentation.
Vast advances in instrument technology have been made in the past decade or so.
For the kilnformer, it has gone from the most basic of devices to where a handful of electronic components and a keypad can be programmed to do almost anything.
Unfortunately, much of this programming must be done by the technologist using what is called ‘firmware’. If the kilnformer is consulted at all, much of the result will depend on how the technologist interprets the kilnformers wishes. The result can be push button or automatic firing; sometimes called the ‘Let’s cook a chook’ approach to kilnforming. 

The wide range of glass on offer require minor but critical adaptation of the basic five stage firing pattern discussed  elsewhere.
Aiming for a ‘push button’ solution is to tread a complex path. In the doing, the controller may have numerous buttons to provide the nuances; along with a complex Operating Manual to explain their purpose and to interpret the codes which appear.
To successfully use a ‘push-button’ kiln requires no less understanding of the way glass behaves than does the less automated kiln. 

Thus is the complex interface between the kilnformer, the kiln builder, the instrument designer and the technical writer. All have a part to play in the outcome.

It helps if they all understand the glass firing process.