Autonomous Dome for Robotic Telescope

TL;DR

This paper describes the development of an autonomous dome control system for a robotic telescope, integrating Arduino-based electronics with RTS2 for remote operation at Mount Abu.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Arduino-based dome controller and details its integration with RTS2 for autonomous telescope operations.

Findings

Successful development of Arduino-based dome control electronics.

Integration of dome controller with RTS2 for remote automation.

Progress towards fully autonomous telescope operations.

Abstract

Physical Research Laboratory operates a 50cm robotic observatory at Mount Abu. This Automated Telescope for Variability Studies (ATVS) makes use of Remote Telescope System 2 (RTS2) for autonomous operations. The observatory uses a 3.5m dome from Sirius Observatories. We have developed electronics using Arduino electronic circuit boards with home grown logic and software to control the dome operations. We are in the process of completing the drivers to link our Arduino based dome controller with RTS2. This document is a short description of the various phases of the development and their integration to achieve the required objective.