Speakers
Description
Dome Automation of ARIES Schmidt Telescope
Shobhit Yadava 1, TS Kumar 1
1 Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Manora Peak, Nainital-263001, India
Corresponding Author(s): shobhit@aries.res.in, kumar@aries.res.in
Abstract: Schmidt telescope dome comprises of rotating steel structure with shutter and presently operating in manual mode. We describe here the electrical aspects of the proposed Schmidt telescope dome automation which is installed at ARIES, Nainital. Our system will enable the user to control the dome’s azimuth rotation, and shutter operation for its opening and closing. The system is developed using dsPIC microcontroller with a suitable firmware for controlling the observatory dome and provide telemetry for PC based control. The controller interfaces with optically isolated relay modules and limit switches for end to end operation of the shutter motor via power contactors. The power contactors will be later replaced with VFDs for increasing the life of the mechanism and motors. Dome rotation is feedback controlled via absolute multi-turn encoder and a variable frequency drive which powers the three phase dome motors. Currently, a sequences that open and close the shutter, rotate the dome in azimuth at set velocity and park the dome to the users preferred orientation have been implemented. In addition, CAN interface and wireless Zigbee communication have been implemented for both distributed networking of the controllers and direct access of the individual controllers respectively. The VFD can be separately configured for controlling the acceleration and deceleration rates, which allows longevity to the motors. Currently, we are testing the dome for positioning accuracy, repeatability and slippages and in the process of determining the optimal control parameters.
| Presentation type | Oral |
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