ART Lesson 7: Robotic Operation

This lesson contains information on how to use the ART's automation software to make observing more robotic. This software has not been fully configured which means its full potential cannot be realised yet. It is, however, the best way to slave the dome. It also allows the observer to connect to all the instruments easily.

Starting Up with ACP

Have all the equipment in the dome powered up. To connect to the telescope, mount, camera, filter wheel, auto-guider and dome in one go, ACP must be used. Open ACP from its shortcut on the desktop. When all the equipment is ready, click the ''Browse...'' button in the ''Script'' section of ACP. Select the 'StartupObs.js' file and click ''Open''. Now click the ''Run'' button in the bottom right corner of the ACP window. The ''Console Output'' will explain what processes are being completed. ACP will call all the necessary software required to control the telescope and camera. It will then slave the dome to the telescope.

When all the equipment is connected and the startup process is completed the ''Dome Control'' button can be used. This allows the observer to issue commands to the dome such as 'home' and 'unhome' which slaves the dome.

The observing run can now continue as normal by selecting targeting in ''TheSky'' and imaging with ''MaxIm''. ACP should handle dome slaving in the background. The dome is programmed to close itself after 10 minutes of inactivity. This can be overridden by using the manual dome control switches. 'Inactivity' is any time when the dome has not received a slew command from the computer. The sidereal motion of most targets means that the dome updates its slaving more frequently than once on a 10 minute timescale.

Shutting Down with ACP

The process of starting up the ART can be totally reversed by using the 'ShutdownObs.js' script in the same way as the 'StartupObs.js' script was used. It should disconnect all the equipment and close their control programs. It will also safely park the telescope and stop its tracking drive motors. Of course, all the equipment must still be manual switched off.

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