Your Personal Robotic Observatory

The road to building a truly robotic observatory can be a long difficult task.  I have been developing a system over the last 10 years that is as simple as possible and yet enables sophisticated telescope and observatory functions.  If you are indeed interested in your own robotic observatory, whether its for you or an institution, I can probably help you with your system development, even if its just advice. The ROBOT software is available for purchase as are custom built electronics and control systems.  

Important Design Considerations

Software control program

The software program which controls all of the observatory functions should be as simple as possible and control everything itself. Everything. If you try to get multiple computer programs from multiple vendors to communicate with each other, you are in for a lot of headaches...unless maybe you have the resources of NASA.  I remember one of the first launch attempts of the Columbia. It just sat there on the launch pad because the 3 control computers could not work out their synchronization. The control software should be able to control the telescope, CCD camera, motor focus, weather station, telescope sensors and power/lid control relays. Keeping it simple results in better reliability, especially when operating a system over the Internet.

Sky Synchronization

You should be aware of the difference between a robotic telescope and a robotic observatory.  A robotic telescope is usually located where there are operators close at hand to do things like check the weather, open a dome, start and align the telescope, etc. A robotic observatory is more like the Hubble Space Telescope where all functions can be controlled remotely.  This essentially means that no matter what happens to mess things up, the system can recover and do astronomy without a visit from a person.  Most of the telescope mounts now on the market used for robotic telescopes have a 'Park' mode to enable synchronization to the sky coordinates after the telescope has been powered down and then back up.  Usually this works fine and if you are close to the telescope's physical location, you can visit your system to fix the problems which will occur.  Or you can take my approach and design a system that can always synchronize itself no matter what may happen (except for catastrophic equipment failures).  Since I design and help maintain systems more than a thousand miles from my home is it imperative to have this functionality.  

Weather Station

An integrated Weather Station is another necessity as high winds can cause damage if the lid/dome  is opened at the wrong time.  I use  PEET weather stations.  They are inexpensive and reliable.

Telescope 

Many telescopes can be used for robotic observatories.  The Meade LX200 series is about the best bang for the buck.  The LX200s definitely have some problems but can be very functional when you are on a small budget.  Also they are a good starting point as upgrades are possible as you find more funds.  The LX 200 series includes both the mount and the telescope.

The Celestron C-14 is my favorite telescope for robotic observatories. 

Telescope Mount

The mount is the most critical component of the system.  If it does not work well, your observatory will be useless.  Get a good one.  LX200, Astrophysics GTO 900/1200, Paramount are good choices.

CCD Cameras

I use and support only SBIG cameras.  They are good cameras, especially the ST-9.

Control Electronics and sensors

I design and build it all myself.  The design is stable and functions well.  You can build the electronics if you have had some electronics training.  The DAS (Data Aquisition Subsystem) is a very important part of the observatory.  I use a commercial DAS adapter and interface my custom built electronics to it.

Focus Control

This is the most difficult task associated with robotic observatories.  I like the Optec TCF-S Temperature Compensated Focuser.  This focuser plus some good control software is a good way to achieve a consistent focus vs. temperature.

Computer

Only one is required.  I use Pentium I motherboard, 128 MB RAM and the Windows 98 operating system.  The processor does not need to be very fast.  200 MHz works fine.  A large hard disk is highly recommended.

Video Camera Finder Scope

A video security camera is used as a finder scope.  A digitizer board is used to image large objects.  The camera has a 75mm lens.