Open AccessPortable robotic telescope for the teaching of solar astronomy
Author(s) -
J. M. González Pérez,
Santiago Arceo Díaz,
E. E. Bricio Barrios,
J. C. Ortega Valencia,
Jesús AlvaradoOrtega,
José Roda Peña
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1514/1/012005
Subject(s) - telescope , stepper , computer science , microcomputer , physics , frame (networking) , solar telescope , upload , optics , computer hardware , computer graphics (images) , telecommunications , chip , operating system
This work describes a prototype of a miniature robotic telescope, with the didactic purpose of the teaching of solar astronomy, Arduino programming and basic control theory. The telescope is made from low cost components: a 3D printed base that supports a commercial lens (typically used for bird watching and covered with a white-light solar filter). The system is guided by a program that uses the amount of light collected by a set of four light detecting resistors as an input signal to rotate a pair of small stepper motors, pointing the lens towards the Sun. A simple control scheme is implemented for ensuring that the image of the Sun is centered within the frame. The images and video captures of the Sun is collected by a small photographic camera and uploaded to a website.