Dome Wiring

Our wiring is out of control! We can't make anything permanent yet because we still have to install major things like the telescope pier. Not to mention we still have some repairs/updates that need to be done to the dome motor system.

In any case, I've cleaned things up a bit and zip-tied some of the longer cables. In the future it would be good to have some shelving or mounting for some of the boxes as well as more tubing or clamps to hold wiring against the wall. On another note, there are some interesting creatures living in the cabling - maybe I'll post a few photos in the future.

Problems of 7/14/2010

In an effort to try to keep on top of issues I have decided to post them. As we solve each problem will write a follow up post explaining how and why we solved it.

Here is a current list the developers (Matt and I) are working on.

Software

• BigNG sensor has analog sensor dumps but libtban does not return a temperature when calling analog sensor individually. - fixed
  
• Apogee Alta CCD camera driver is currently not working. Problem lies in setting binning other than 1x1 will cause camera to hang on next exposure.
• RTS2 UPS integration has not been started yet. - fixed
  
• Convert RTS2 driver to use general SerialConn versus Vermes template. - fixed
• Meade LX200 driver not talking correctly to LX200GPS - fixed
  
• Filter driver - done just needs ported to RTS2 interface
  
• AstroHaven Enterprises dome driver not working correctly - fixed
• Add udev rules for all the USB devices
  

Hardware

• Still waiting on AstroHaven Enterprises dome motor replacement.
• Webswitch III died last weekend. Waiting for support to call use back. Maybe defect/warranty case.
• Still need to spec out computer capable of extreme temperatures. Computer still needs to have PCI slots and serial ports. Don't want to use USB<->Serial
• Draw a plan for UPS during extreme temps
• Add lens heater on LX200GPS to reduce night dew.
  

We certainly have plenty of things to do and to fix. There are also some problems we don't have solutions for quite yet. Any ideas welcome!

Basic Overview

The autonomous telescope we are constructing at Missouri State University (I'll call it "roboscope" for short) has a couple important goals. These include:

• User friendliness. Students should be able to schedule an observation as a part of classwork.
• Dependability/Autonomy. If you schedule something and the weather is good, you should have results as soon as you wake up the next day with no user intervention required.
• Modularity. Components should be easy to switch out. This is good for the long term operation as parts will inevitably wear out or become obsolete.
• Economics. Most telescope systems of this scale are out of reach for many schools because of cost. We aim to develop a system that other institutions can afford for themselves.

The hardest part about a project of this magnitude is stepping back and looking at all the components as a whole. This post is a sneak peek of some of the components making up our robotic observatory.

Prototype diagram

Our telescope system is composed of many parts. At the heart of it all is a computer running RTS2 software (among other things). This computer gathers information from a weather and temperature sensors and sends commands to hardware inside the dome. This includes dome motors, a telescope/mount, filterwheel, focuser, and ventilation. Not pictured in this diagram is surveillance and the security system protecting the equipment. Further posts will talk about each of these components in greater detail.