INDI Library - Recently Added Listings - Domes https://www.indilib.org/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 02:00:10 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 DragonLAIR Roof Controller https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/dragonlair-roof-controller.html Installation

DragonLAIR is included with libindi. To install it under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install indi-bin

Features

The DragonLAIR is a DC powered roll off roof controller, capable of moving full buildings 6,500lbs (3,000kg) and more. It has a built in web server, redundant networking, 4 safety sensors, and 2 limit switches.

Configuration

As a network device, you will need to connect the DragonLAIR to your network. Just connect the ethernet port to your router or switch and it will automatically get an IP address. Now you can use the "Discover" button in the INDI Control Panel to find the DragonLAIR.

If you wish to add WiFi connectivity, just type the IP address of the device into your web browser and use the built in web page to configure WiFi.

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rickbassham Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:54:32 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/dragonlair-roof-controller.html
Beaver Dome https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/beaver-dome.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 08:49:16 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/beaver-dome.html RollOff ino https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/rolloff-ino.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 06:50:29 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/rolloff-ino.html DomePro2 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/domepro2.html ]]> naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 15:26:44 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/domepro2.html Dome Scripting Gateway https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/dome-scripting-gateway.html ]]> naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 14:43:05 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/dome-scripting-gateway.html Lunatico NexDome Beaver INDI Driver https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/lunatico-nexdome-beaver-indi-driver.html

Installation

Nexdome Beaver driver is included with libindi >= 1.9.4 Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libindi1

This package provides the INDI driver for Lunatico NexDome Beaver controller.

NexDome is a classic observatory dome with more than 100 degrees of shutter opening, allowing you to point your telescope to the zenith while remaining shielded from stray light and wind. The 2.2 meter inside diameter provides plenty of space to operate up to a 14” Schmidt Cass or a refractor 1400mm long.

The driver is compatible with Beaver firmware version 1.1.1 or higher.

INDI NexDome Beaver driver is compatible with libindi >= v1.8.2

Notes:

  • Network connection has not been tested: use USB or let me know if it works for you.
  • The controller does not support setting the shutter timeout value.
  • Aborting while the shutter is in motion will stop the shutter, however the controller will issue hardware errors.
    • (This is compatible with ASCOM)
    • Simply close or open the shutter to continue.
  • Use the MSWindow's based [Beaver software utility](https://www.nexdome.com/resources) to:
    • Set IP address inside the controller if you want to use the network
    • Update the firmware
    • Reset rotator or shutter low level settings

Features:

NexDome is a fully automatic observatory dome control system. Link your dome to a computer for complete automation including telescope slaving and shutter control. It supports the following features:

  • Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  • Rotation-only and full shutter-and-rotation available
  • Dome and Shutter status
  • Rotator homing and park
  • Motor control (Mmx/min speeds, acceleration and timeouts)
  • Direct confirmation of shutter open/closed state
  • Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  • Failsafe feature for shutter on low battery, disconnection with controller or computer
  • Park-before-close option to avoid mechanical interferences
  • Manual override controls for shutter and rotation control
  • (Not implemented yet) Field-upgradable firmware (You will need to use the Window's Beaver configuration utility atm)

How to use:

You can use the driver in any INDI-compatible client (such as KStars or Xephem) - just select
Beaver from the Dome list

To run the driver from the command line:

$ indiserver indi_beaver # plus other needed drivers (telescope, camera, etc)

or using the indiwebserver.

You can then connect to the driver from any client, the default port is 7624.
If you're using KStars, the drivers will be automatically listed in KStars' Device Manager.

Before you start:

  • Shutter controls will not show unless the rotator unit is in communication with the shutter unit.
    • This can take up to 20 secs after turning on the shutter
  • Under the Slaving tab: you need to set the parameters for your dome:
    • (Reference the Slaving Tab below)
  • Set the Park and Home positions
    • (Reference the Site Management Tab below)
  • Initialize the rotator and shutter
    • (Reference both the Rotator and Shutter tabs)
  • Do monitor the shutter battery field (see Main tab)

Operations:

Connection Tab

ConnectionsTab

You can connect to the Beaver controller via Serial (USB) or Network

USB:

  • Look for Silicon_Labs_CP2102N_USB_to_UART_Bridge_Controller_d88d70e0fd44eb11ad70aa52b003b68c-if00-port0
  • idVendor=10c4, idProduct=ea60 (On linux run: lsusb)
  • BaudRate 115200

Network:

  • I am having a problem connecting to the controller, so this is not tested. Let me know if this works for you.
  • Currently you would have to use the Window's [Beaver software utility](https://www.nexdome.com/resources) tool to set the controlers IP address.
  • Port should be 10000
  • Connection type is UDP

The INDI driver version is listed under Driver Info (that's this software)

Beaver controller's firmware version is listed on the Beaver line.

Main Tab

MainTab

Shutter Open/Close will only show up if the Shutter controller is up and communicating with the Rotator controller.

Move Relative buttons are meant to start/stop motion. However, instead they move the dome by the amount set by the relative amount set in t he field above. As a result, you need to press the CW or CCW button twice (once to start, once to stop).

Absolute Position will move the dome AZ relative to what you set the Home Offset to, which if set according to the instruction in the Rotator Tab, this will be from true north.

Dome and Shutter Status fields will display any errors, idle, moving, etc.

The Shutter Volts field displays the current voltage of the shutter battery. In combination with the Safe Voltage on the Shutter tab, this can trigger the rotator controller to go into safety mode and call for the shutter to close.

  • Shutter Volts and Status fields will not show if the shutter controller is off or not in communication.

Options Tab

OptionsTab

You can enable or disable automatic shutter opening and closing when dome goes to into or out of the Park position. After changing these settings, click 'Save configuration' button to save the driver settings.

Mount Policy: Mount policy can be either set to Ignore Telescope (default) or Telescope Locks. When the policy is set to Ignore Telescope then the dome can park/unpark regardless of the mount parking state. When it is set Telescope locks, this disallows the dome from parking when telescope is unparked. This might be important if you telescope has to be parked so as not to interfere with the dome parking.

Site Management Tab

site management

Park position can be set anywhere. Usually this is set to where the shutter charger is located, so the shutter will be charging when parked.
There are four options for setting the park position:

  • Set the 'Park Position' field by entering the degrees, minutes and seconds of the offset from the home magnet to north
  • Move the dome to where you want and click 'Current'
  • 'Default' button sill set park to zero
  • 'Write Data' button will force a write to ~/.indi/ParkData.xml file which is read on startup

 

Note: clicking on 'Park' will move to the park position and also prevent any rotator movement/action, until UnPark is clicked.

Home is defined as where the rotator controller's index magnet is located. This can be anywhere convenient (like not by the door, over a bay, etc.). Setting the Home Position field will correctly index this from north.
There are three options to set the home position(Home ...ition).

  • Set the 'Home Position' field by entering the degrees, minutes and seconds of the offset from the home magnet to north
  • Move the dome to the home magnet sensor and click 'Current'
  • 'Default' button will set the offset to zero

Slaving Tab

SlavingTab

 

You can slave the dome to the mount by setting the required slaving parameters (by convention the units are in meters);

  • Radius is for the radius of the dome (typically 2.2 for a Nexdome)
  • Shutter width is the aperture of the shutter of the dome in meters (0.6m in current models)
  • N displacement is for north-south displacement of the intersection of the RA & DEC axis as measured from the center of the dome. Displacement to north is positive, and to south is negative.
  • E displacement is for east-west displacement. Similar as the above, displacement to east are positive, and to west are negative.
  • Up displacement is for displacement of the RA/DEC intersection in the vertical axis as measured from the origin of the dome (not the walls). Up is positive, down is negative.
  • OTA offset is for the distance of the optical axis to the RA/DEC intersection. In fork mount this is generally 0, but for German like mounts is the distance from mount axis cross to the center line of the telescope. West is positive, east is negative.

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions. You can also set the Autosync threshold which is the minimum distance autosync will move the dome. Any motion below this threshold will not be triggered. This is to prevent continuous dome moving during telescope tracking.

See this [Reference] (https://www.nexdome.com/_files/ugd/8a866a_9cd260bfa6de414aacdc7a9e26b0a607.pdf) for more infomation on these settings - scroll to the bottom

 

Rotator Tab

RotatorTab

 

  • Click on the 'Measure Home' button to initialize the rotator. This will
    find and measure the home sensor on the rotator and set all the parameters.
  • The 'Find Home' button will find the home sensor then calculate and set all the max/min/acceleration/timeout settings
  • Settings fields:
    • You should not change these unless you know what you are doing!
    • To reset the rotator parameters back to defaults, click the 'Measure Home' button
  • To Park or unPark the dome or goto Home, see the Main tab

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions.

Shutter Tab

ShutterTab1

 

  • NOTE: This tab will not show up unless the rotator controller is communicating with the shutter
    • When turning the shutter power on, it can take up to 20 seconds for communication to be established
  • The 'AutoCalibrate' button will exercise the shutter through it's full range from closed to open. It will then set all these fields appropriately.
  • If these values are zero, click on the 'AutoCalibrate' button to initialize them
  • Safe Voltage is the level at which the rotator will execute it's shutter safety proceedure and close the shutter.
  • Settings fields:
    • You really should not change these unless you know what you are doing!
  • To open or close the shutter, see the Main Tab.

To enable or disable automatic shutter opening and closing when dome goes to into or out of the Park position, see the Options Tab.

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions.

 

Presets Tab

PresetsTab

 Allows you to set 3 rotator positions for convenient locations of your dome.

  • Example, maybe you need a ladder to access the dome or shutter for maintenance. One preset could rotate the dome so that's it's more convenient.

]]>
naheedsa Mon, 31 Jan 2022 09:07:21 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/lunatico-nexdome-beaver-indi-driver.html
Digital Dome Works https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/digital-dome-works.html

Installation

DDW is included with libindi > v1.9.0. To install it under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install indi-full

Features

DDW is a fully automatic observatory dome control system. Link your dome to a computer for complete automation including telescope slaving and shutter control. It supports the following features:

  1. Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  2. Rotation-only and full shutter-and-rotation systems available.
  3. Direct confirmation of shutter open/closed state.
  4. Safety interlocks automatically close dome upon loss of data from PC.
  5. Park-before-close option to avoid mechanical interferences.
  6. Manual override controls for shutter and rotation control

The driver has been tested with DDW Model 4 with firmware version 5.1, but should work with any similar versions.

Operation

Once you are connected to the dome, you can move it in absolute or relative position. You can slave the dome to the mount by setting the required slaving parameters:

  1. Radius is for the radius of the dome in meters.
  2. Shutter width is the clearance of the shutter of the dome in meters
  3. N displacement is for North displacement. If telescope is not in its ideal central position this parameter allows to configure how much it is displaced from the center. Displacement to north are positive, and to south are negative.
  4. E displacement is for East displacement. Similar as the above, displacement to east are positive, and to west are negative.
  5. Up displacement is for displacement in the vertical axis. Up is positive, down is negative.
  6. OTA offset is for the distance of the optical axis to the crossing point of RA and DEC. In fork mount this is generally 0, but for German like mounts is the distance from mount axis cross to the center line of the telescope. West is positive, east is negative.

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions. You can also set the Autosync threshold which is the minimum distance autosync will move the dome. Any motion below this threshold will not be triggered. This is to prevent continuous dome moving during telescope tracking.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at Github.

]]>
jpaana Sat, 31 Jul 2021 18:12:59 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/digital-dome-works.html
DragonFly Observatory Controller https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/dragonfly-observatory-controller.html

Installation

Lunatico's Dragonfly is an observatory controller that can be used for remotely controlling your roll off roof and more with easy powerful features including event scripting. The driver provides a simple control for roll-ff roof observatories. The Dragonfly can be used for whatever your imagination can be for your observatory to remotely control equipment, roof and more.

INDI Dragonfly driver is released can be downloaded separately and installed. It is also included in the latest Stellarmate OS download.

Documentation contributed by Mr. David Collins of Blue Ridge Observatory. Mr. Collings graciously provided unlimited access to the Blue Ridge Observatory system in order to develop and test numerous INDI state of the art drivers. Thank you for being an outstanding member of the INDI community!

The driver comes part of the Lunatico 3rd party drivers. It is compatible with libindi >= v1.8.5

Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-armadillo-platypus

Features

The driver can completely control the Dragonfly’s relays and Sensors for customizing your observatory needs for remote control. The relays can be used for many things such as switching control voltages to open or close the roof, switching lights or equipment on and off, or monitor a Safe/Unsafe weather station condition from the AAG Cloudwatcher as an example.

The driver supports the Dragonfly Sensors so you could monitor mechanical or magnetic sensors for the status of the roof or perhaps laser beam switches for positions of the telescope. With 8 relays and 8 sensors in the Dragonfly, the INDI driver gives the user great flexibility for controlling and powering devices anywhere in your observatory. Script control is also available in Ekos if you wanted to run a particular personal script for powering up or powering down your observatory due to sessions starting or ending. The driver works with weather stations supported by INDI and can recognize when unsafe conditions are present instructing the Dragonfly to close the roof.

Requirements

In order to utilize the controller for your roof control, you need the following:

  • Motor: bi-directional Motor connected to a mechanism (gear, chain..etc) to open and close the roof.
  • Parked Limit Switch: Parked limit switch sensor. This is the sensor to inform the motor when the roof is fully closed and is therefore considered to be in Parked state.
  • Unparked Limit Switch: UnParked limit switch sensor. This is the sensor to inform the motor when the roof is fully opened and is therefore considered to be in UnParked state.

You assign two Relays for motor direction control. For example, you can use Relay #1 for motor Clock-Wise (CW) motion, whereas relay #2 can be assigned to the Counter-Clock-Wise (CCW) motion. Assuming the CW motion Opens the roof, then this relay is assigned as the open relay in the Relays tab, and vice versa. Similarly, the limit switch sensors must be connected to the controller and once they are high, the sensor is considered to be actuated (i.e. active).

Operation

connection

Connection

Before you establish connection with the controller, head to the connection tab and set the IP address and port of the DragonFly controller. Furthermore, in the Main Control Panel, select which port on the DragonFly the driver should utilize (Main, Exp, or Third).

Main Control panel

Once you are connected to the Dragonfly, you can control open or close motion and Park or Unpark features.

main control

The Open / Close commands are the same as Unpark / Park commands. Opening the roof fully results in an unparked roof. Closing the roof fully results in a parked roof. The roof parking state is unknown while it is opening or closing.

Options

In the options tab, you can select logging and debugging levels in case you need to troubleshoot an issue in the driver. The snoop devices property is used to listen to properties of interest in other drivers. Since the dome can be slaved to the telescope, it needs to learn the current telescope position and its target destination. Usually these devices are automatically by your client software. The weather device is used to close to the dome in case of advert weather conditions (e.g. rain).

options

Joystick support is available to rotate the dome and park/unpark it. You need a gamepad (e.g. Playstation controller) and need to add the joystick driver in your equipment profile before you can turn on this feature. A new tab named Joystick will appear where you can set what each button or axis can do.

Policies

  • Telescope Policy: Telescope policy can be either set to Ignore Telescope (default) or Telescope Locks. When the policy is set to Ignore Telescope then the dome can park/unpark regardless of the mount parking state. When it is set Telescope locks, this disallows the dome from parking when telescope is unparked, and can lead to damage to hardware if it rains.
  • Auto Park: When Auto park is enabled and If weather conditions are in the danger zone, the dome will be automatically parked. Only enable this option is parking the dome at any time will not cause damage to any equipment.

Relays

relays

All relays can be turned on and off individually. Here you can set which relays open and close the roof so Park / Unpark knows which relays to activate in the event of bad weather, session has ended, or when you manually click on Park or Unpark.

Sensors

sensor

All sensors can be monitored here including which sensors are used for roof fully open (Unparked) or roof fully closed (Parked). Other sensors could be used for mechanical or magnetic sensors as well as any other function you would like to monitor.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]>
knro Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:52:19 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/dragonfly-observatory-controller.html
Pulsar Dome https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/pulsar-dome.html

Installation

Pular Dome is included with libindi > v1.8.2. To install it under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install indi-bin

Pulsar Observatories domes utilize rigel controller for rotation and optionally shutter control. 

Features

The dome controller is powered via the supplied 240V/12V DC transformer or a 7AH lead-acid battery. Power to the unit is controlled via the main switch and a red LED indicates when power is turned on. Dome slewing at up to 400 x sidereal speed in either direction is manual (at the controller) or via remote operation using a laptop or similar. A microprocessor controls the automatic tracking by moving the dome in a stepwise fashion, each step being approximately 1.8". It is recommended that the unit is switched off when not in use.

Pulsar supports fully automatic observatory dome control system. It also has a variety of sensors and relays to control power to other devices. Link your dome to a computer for complete automation including telescope slaving and shutter control. It supports the following features:

  1. Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  2. Rotation-only and full shutter-and-rotation systems available.
  3. Direct confirmation of shutter open/closed state.

The driver can operate a dome with and without shutter control.

Operation

Connection

The driver communicates with the dome controller over USB serial connection. Make sure to select the correct port in the Connection tab. The driver would automatically scan all ports and attempt to connect to the dome controller if the initial handshake with the controller fails using the designated port.

connection

Main Control Panel

connection

In the main control panel, you can set the azimuth absolute position of the dome in degrees, or you can the relative position as well. If you click on Dome CW (Dome Clock-Wise) and Dome CCW (Counter clock-wise), it would move the dome in the selected direction for 5 degrees.

To set the dome controller to an arbitrary azimuth position, use the Sync property. Once synced, the current position will be updated to match the new synced position.

Two operations are supported by the driver:

  • Calibration: Once you start calibration, the dome would rotate at least twice until it hits the sensors.
  • Find Home: Go to home position.

Once started, they can be aborted at any time by click on the Abort button.

Custom Parking

site

You can set a custom parking position in the Site Management tab. You can either set the position directly and then clicking Set, or you can go to the desired parking position and then click Current under Park Options.

This only sets the parking position. To perform the actual parking, go to the Main Control tab and click Park.

Slaving

Once you are connected to the dome, you can move it in absolute or relative position. You can slave the dome to the mount by setting the required slaving parameters:

  1. Radius is for the radius of the dome in meters.
  2. Shutter width is the clearance of the shutter of the dome in meters
  3. N displacement is for North displacement. If telescope is not in its ideal central position this parameter allows to configure how much it is displaced from the center. Displacement to north are positive, and to south are negative.
  4. E displacement is for East displacement. Similar as the above, displacement to east are positive, and to west are negative.
  5. Up displacement is for displacement in the vertical axis. Up is positive, down is negative.
  6. OTA offset is for the distance of the optical axis to the crossing point of RA and DEC. In fork mount this is generally 0, but for German like mounts is the distance from mount axis cross to the center line of the telescope. West is positive, east is negative.

options

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions. You can also set the Autosync threshold which is the minimum distance autosync will move the dome. Any motion below this threshold will not be triggered. This is to prevent continuous dome motion during telescope tracking, unless the dome itself support sidereal tracking internally.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's issue tracking system at Github.

]]>
knro Sun, 08 Sep 2019 09:03:52 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/pulsar-dome.html
Talon6 Roll Off https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/talon6-roll-off.html

Installation

INDI Talon6 driver is released as a 3rd party driver in source and binary packages.
Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-talon6

Features

Talon6 is a roll off roof control system for observatories automation. It has been used by several observatiories like e.g. E-eye in Spain that hosts more than 55 observatories with Talon6 Roll Off Roof solutions.
INDI driver has been tested with Talon6 firmware version 3.07 only. Please report any issue with other firmware version.
 
Version 2.0 (03-05-2019):
  1. Better integration with Dome parent class. No additional features. 
Version 1.0 (21-04-2019):
  1. Enable / Disable Safety Conditions
  2. Sync absolute position (number of ticks)
  3. Roof Go To (open / close perc)
  4. Monitor Sensors and Conditions
Version 0.2 :
  1.  Added Firmware version
Version 0.1,  basic features only:
  1. Serial connection to the device
  2. Read Talon6 status data from device
  3. Park and UnPark the roof that corrisponds to Open and Close the roof.
  4. Stop roof motion
To Do:
  1. Roof control by snooped devices (mount / weather / scheduler)
  2. Internet down sensor
The Talon6 client application (currently available on Windows only) allows to set up the device e.g. manage timers and conditions for closing, motor setup, roof calibration etc.
This driver will not implement those features, you should use the client application for that.

Operation

There are four tabs to control your device:

Connection 

Talon6Connection

Talon6 connects through Serial port only. Also, use 9600 as connection speed.
In the image above, a persistent port mapping has been used even though standard tty link works fine.
Once you have entered the connection parameters, press Save under Options tab.

Main Control

 Talon6MainControl

You can open the roof by pressing UnPark and close the roof pressing Park. Note that Park behavior is affected by the Safety Conditions switch, see Options below.
Abort will stop the roof motion.
GoTo will open the roof to the percentage inserted. 0% corrisponds to a fully closed position (0 absolute ticks), and  100% to a fully open position.
A different behavior could be enforced setting the maximum ticks to a lower value. Before using GoTo, input the correct ticks value in  Roof Max Travel under Options tab. 
Read will force a read on the device status data otherwise they are regularly updated.
Device status data:
  1. Roof Status shows the actual roof status (OPEN, CLOSED, OPENING, CLOSING, ERROR).
  2. Last Action lists the last action performed by the roof (none, open by user, close by user, go to by user, calibrate by user, close due to cloud- rain condition, close due to power down, close due to communication lost, close due to internet lost, close due to timeout expired, close by management, close by automation, stop -- motor stalled, emergency stop, Order the mount to park).
  3. Current Position Ticks: is the absolute position in roof encoder ticks.
  4. Current position %: is the absolute position in percentage 0%-100%.
  5. Power supply is the tension supplied in Volts.
  6. Closing Timer. When the countdown reaches  zero value the controller will order to park the mount and close the roof (it has to be set on the client application).
  7. Power lost timer. If the power is not is restored before the time specified in the text window the controller will order to park the mount and close the roof. This feature works if you have a UPS system. Of course, the sensor has to be connected before the UPS
  8. Weather Condition Timer if a weather condition alert is triggered and remains active for the time specified, the controller will order to park the mount and close the roof. Waiting for the specified time can prevent a premature closing due to some momentary instability, as a group of loose clouds, etc..
  9. Firmware Version: the Talon6 firmware version read from the device. 

 Options

Talon6Options

In this tab you can find configuration features for your device.
Polling: time interval in ms to poll data from the device.
Max Roof Travel: allows to set the max travel of the roof as device encoder ticks. It is recommended that the first time you use this driver, you manually fully open the roof and read the ticks number corrisponding to that position and enter it here. This syncs the absolute encoder ticks to 100%. You can then use GoTo in Main Control to partially open the roof.
Only 100% is synced to a position. 0% always corrisponds to 0 ticks.
Safety Conditions: it is strongly recommended to always leave Safety Conditions enabled when using the observatory in automated or unattended mode! Also, test all conditions yourself before using.
Disabling Safety Conditions allows to control manually the roof. E.g. closing the roof without waiting for mount to park. This can obviously damage your equipment and you take full responsibility for using it.
Talon6 user manual describes how the Safety Condition affects the behavior of the roof motion, please refer to it for further information. 

 Sensor and Switches

Talon6Sensors

Sensors and Switches tab reports the status of sensors and switches from the device. 
As an example, in the image above, the mount is parked (MaP) and the roof is closed (RCL). 
Refer to the Talon6 user manual for a description of sensors, switches and conditions.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]>
knro Sat, 23 Feb 2019 12:30:43 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/talon6-roll-off.html
ScopeDome https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/scopedome.html

Installation

ScopeDome is included with libindi > v1.7.6. To install it under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install indi-full

ScopeDome controller can be used with a classic observatory dome and also roll-off roof, but the driver has only been tested with a dome so far.

Features

ScopeDome is a fully automatic observatory dome control system. It also has a variety of sensors and relays to control power to other devices. Link your dome to a computer for complete automation including telescope slaving and shutter control. It supports the following features:

  1. Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  2. Rotation-only and full shutter-and-rotation systems available.
  3. Direct confirmation of shutter open/closed state.
  4. Safety interlocks automatically close dome upon loss of data from PC.
  5. Park-before-close option to avoid mechanical interferences.
  6. Manual override controls for shutter and rotation control
  7. Field-upgradable firmware

The driver supports USB Card controller version 2.1 and since driver version 2.0 (included in INDI 1.9.1) also the new Arduino cards and has been tested with firmware versions 3.52 and 3.70 for USB Card and versions 5.4 and 5.7 for Arduino card. Currently the driver does have function to calibrate steps per revolution of the dome, but it is strongly recommended to generate an inertia table which has to be done with the Windows driver setup software and copy it to ~/.indi/ScopeDome_DomeInertia_Table.txt

Operation

Before connecting you should select the card type, either USB Card 2.1 or Arduino card. If connecting via USB the baud rate needs to be set to 115200 for USB Card and 9600 for Arduino card. Network connection is supported for Arduino card only. Once you are connected to the dome, you can move it in absolute or relative position. You can slave the dome to the mount by setting the required slaving parameters:

  1. Radius is for the radius of the dome in meters.
  2. Shutter width is the clearance of the shutter of the dome in meters
  3. N displacement is for North displacement. If telescope is not in its ideal central position this parameter allows to configure how much it is displaced from the center. Displacement to north are positive, and to south are negative.
  4. E displacement is for East displacement. Similar as the above, displacement to east are positive, and to west are negative.
  5. Up displacement is for displacement in the vertical axis. Up is positive, down is negative.
  6. OTA offset is for the distance of the optical axis to the crossing point of RA and DEC. In fork mount this is generally 0, but for German like mounts is the distance from mount axis cross to the center line of the telescope. West is positive, east is negative.

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions. You can also set the Autosync threshold which is the minimum distance autosync will move the dome. Any motion below this threshold will not be triggered. This is to prevent continuous dome moving during telescope tracking.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]>
jpaana Sun, 27 Jan 2019 14:33:54 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/scopedome.html
NexDome https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/nexdome.html

Installation

NexDome is a classic observatory dome with more than 100 degrees of shutter opening, allowing you to point your telescope to the zenith while remaining shielded from stray light and wind. The 2.2 meter inside diameter provides plenty of space to operate up to a 14” Schmidt Cass or a refractor 1400mm long.

The driver is only compatible with firmware version 3.1.0 or higher. Please update the firmware for the Azimuth & Shutter controllers before using this driver.

INDI NexDome driver is released as a 3rd party driver in source and binary packages. It is compatible with libindi >= v1.8.2

Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-nexdome

Features

NexDome is a fully automatic observatory dome control system. Link your dome to a computer for complete automation including telescope slaving and shutter control. It supports the following features:

  1. Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  2. Rotation-only and full shutter-and-rotation systems available
  3. Direct confirmation of shutter open/closed state
  4. Safety interlocks automatically close dome upon loss of data from PC
  5. Park-before-close option to avoid mechanical interferences
  6. Manual override controls for shutter and rotation control
  7. Field-upgradable firmware

Operation

connection

Connection

Connecting to the dome is done via the serial port. If you have multiple serial ports on your system, you might need to select which port to connect it. The driver also offer the ability to use a TCP/IP connection however this requires the use of a USB/serial to IP transport such as ser2net.

Main Control panel

Once you are connected to the dome, you can move it to any azimuth position and control the shutter (if connected).

main control

Clicking the dome CW (Clock-Wise) and CCW (Counter Clock-Wise) buttons would move the dome in the respective directions by 5 degrees. Use the Sync property to set the azimuth position to any arbitrary value. The current azimuth position is then set to whatever value is enter in the Sync property.

To find the home position, click Go next to the Home property. The dome will rotate until it finds the home index switch and then it will synchronize the azimuth position.

Options

In the options tab, you can select logging and debugging levels in case you need to troubleshoot an issue in the driver. The snoop devices property is used to listen to properties of interest in other drivers. Since the dome can be slaved to the telescope, it needs to obtain the current telescope position and its target destination. Usually these devices are automatically snooped by your client software. The weather device is used to close to the dome in case of adverse weather conditions (e.g. rain).

options

Joystick support is available to rotate the dome and park/unpark it. You need a gamepad (e.g. Playstation controller) and need to add the joystick driver in your equipment profile before you can turn on this feature. A new tab named Joystick will appear where you can set what each button or axis can do.

Policies

  • Telescope Policy: Telescope policy can be either set to Ignore Telescope (default) or Telescope Locks. When the policy is set to Ignore Telescope then the dome can park/unpark regardless of the mount parking state. When it is set Telescope locks, this disallows the dome from parking when telescope is unparked, and can lead to damage to hardware if it rains.
  • Auto Park: When Auto park is enabled and If weather conditions are in the danger zone, the dome will be automatically parked. Only enable this option is parking the dome at any time will not cause damage to any equipment.

Rotator Settings

rotator

In the rotator tab, you can set rotator settings:

  • Acceleration Ramp: The acceleration time in milliseconds.
  • Velocity: Set the velocity in units of steps per second.
  • Dead Zone: Update the dead zone range (default 300 steps). It the smallest allowed move.
  • Travel Range: Maximum allowable step size. Probably better no to change this setting at all.

After changing the settings, you can save them to firmware by clicking on Save. If you click Load, setting will be loaded from firmware (but not saved). Clicking Default will reset all settings to default factory settings.

Shutter

shutter

In the rotator tab, you can set rotator settings:

  • Acceleration Ramp: The acceleration time in milliseconds.
  • Velocity: Set the velocity in units of steps per second.

After changing the settings, you can save them to firmware by clicking on Save. If you click Load, setting will be loaded from firmware (but not saved). Clicking Default will reset all settings to default factory settings.

You can enable or disable automatic shutter opening and closing when dome goes to into or out of the Park position. After changing these settings, go to the Options tabs and click Save configuration to save the driver settings.

Note that in order for the Open On Unpark feature to work correctly the shutter must be configured to open sufficiently that it triggers the limit switch. This may require the number of shutter steps to be increased beyond the default setting of 46000.   

Site Management

site management

You can set a custom parking position in the Site Management tab. You can either set the position directly and then clicking Set, or you can go to the desired parking position and then click Current under Park Options.

This only sets the parking position. To perform the actual parking, go to the Main Control tab and click Park.

 Slaving

slaving

You can slave the dome to the mount by setting the required slaving parameters (by convention the units are in meters);

  1. Radius is for the radius of the dome (typically 1.05 for a Nexdome)
  2. Shutter width is the aperture of the shutter of the dome in meters (0.6m in current models)
  3. N displacement is for north-south displacement of the intersection of the RA & DEC axis as measured from the center of the dome. Displacement to north is positive, and to south is negative.
  4. E displacement is for east-west displacement. Similar as the above, displacement to east are positive, and to west are negative.
  5. Up displacement is for displacement of the RA/DEC intersection in the vertical axis as measured from the origin of the dome (not the walls). Up is positive, down is negative.
  6. OTA offset is for the distance of the optical axis to the RA/DEC intersection. In fork mount this is generally 0, but for German like mounts is the distance from mount axis cross to the center line of the telescope. West is positive, east is negative.

After settings the parameters above, go to Options tab and click Save in Configurations so that the parameters are used in future sessions. You can also set the Autosync threshold which is the minimum distance autosync will move the dome. Any motion below this threshold will not be triggered. This is to prevent continuous dome moving during telescope tracking.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]>
knro Thu, 14 Sep 2017 08:42:27 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/nexdome.html
Baader Dome https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/baader-dome.html

Installation

indi_baader_dome is included with INDI Library >= v1.0.0 Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libindi1

Features

The driver can control the dome's relative and absolute position and calibrate the dome until it reports a valid azimuth position. The user can setup home and park positions in addition to dome slaving parameters. Furthermore, the user can set up to three custom presets for GOTO operations. Joystick control is supported and the user may move the dome in CW or CCW fashion. The driver can control both the shutter and flaps.

Operation

Once you connect to the dome, it will check if the dome is already synchronized. If it is not synchronized, click the Start button in the Cablirate property and it will command the dome to rotate by roughly 180 degreees in order to hit the limit switch and becomes synchronized in absolute azimuth position.

To enable dome slaving, click Enable in the Slaving property and ensure that all parameters are filled correctly in the Measurements group. Make sure that the telescope name is set correctly in the Options group as the mount's RA/DEC coordinates can only be read if the telescope name is correct.

In dome slaving mode, once the telescope complete slewing, the dome new azimuth position will be based on the current telescope position and the dome will be commanded to move to the new calculated azimuth position.

To enable joystick control, simply click the Enable button in the Joystick property under the Options group and then you may configure the button on your joystick for CW or CCW motion. You have to run the Joystick driver along with the dome driver, i.e.

indiserver -v indi_baader_dome indi_joystick

If you're using Ekos, you can simply select Joystick from the auxiliary devices drop down combo

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]> knro Tue, 17 Feb 2015 05:59:15 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/baader-dome.html MaxDome II https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/maxdome-ii.html

Installation

indi_maxdomeii is released as a 3rd party driver in source and binary packages. It is compatible with libindi >= v0.7. Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-maxdomeii

Features

This device is a generic dome controller. Commercial "Sirius Domes" uses this device. MaxDome II is a fully automatic observatory dome control system. Link your dome to a computer for complete automation including telescope slaving and shutter control. MaxDome works with a wide variety of commercial and custom-built domes. It supports the following features:
  1. Support for Automadome
  2. Slave dome rotation to your telescope
  3. Rotation-only and full shutter-and-rotation systems available
  4. Single or dual shutter operation, with sequencing
  5. Wireless shutter control - no unreliable sliding contacts
  6. Direct confirmation of shutter open/closed state
  7. Safety interlocks automatically close dome upon loss of data from PC
  8. Park-before-close option to avoid mechanical interferences
  9. Manual override controls for shutter and rotation control
  10. Auxiliary auto-close inputs for Boltwood Cloud Sensor or other observatory protection hardware
  11. Easily adapted to custom or commercial observatory domes
  12. Directly compatible with Sirius Observatories
  13. Directly drives 12VDC motors up to 5A. Can operate other motor types through external relays.
  14. Field-upgradable firmware

Operation

Once you are connected to the dome, you can move it in absolute or relative position. You can slave the dome to the mount by setting the telescope name in the Options tab. You also need to fill in your slaving parameters which include the following:

  1. Radius is for the radius of the dome in meters.
  2. Shutter width is the clearance of the shutter of the dome. In a future version this will allow to calculate how much time the telescope can slew without been obstructed by the dome to minimize dome movements.
  3. N displacement is for North displacement. If telescope is not in his ideal position this parameter allows to configure how much it is displaced from the center. Displacement to north are positive, and to south are negative.
  4. E displacement is for East displacement. Similar as the above, displacement to east are positive, and to west are negative.
  5. Up displacement is for displacement in the vertical axis. Up is positive, down is negative.
  6. OTA offset is for the distance of the optical axis to the crossing point of AR and DEC. In fork mount this is generally 0, but for German like mounts is the distance from mount axis cross to the center line of the telescope.

You can also set the Autosync threshold which is the minimum distance autosync will move the dome. Any moving below this threshold will not be done. This is to prevent continuous dome moving during telescope tracking.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]> knro Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:19:35 +0100 https://www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/domes/maxdome-ii.html