JP2004170695A - Astronomical telescope control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an astronomical telescope control system capable of automatically controlling an astronomical telescope adaptively to many observed heavenly bodies including planets. <P>SOLUTION: A control box 7 transmits position data on a telescope which are previously set inside to a server 1. The server 1 reads telescope setting information from a database 2 on the basis of the position data sent from the control box 7 and transmits it to the control box 7 through a network 4 and an access point 3. The control box 7 outputs the telescope setting information sent from the server 1 to a telescope controller which controls the elevation angle, rotational angle, and focal length of a telescope main body 1. Consequently, the angle and focal length of the telescope main body 11 are automatically adjusted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an astronomical telescope control system that automatically controls an elevation angle, a focal length, and the like of a telescope based on setting information supplied via the Internet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, astronomical telescopes have no special control mechanism except for large ones that schools and the like have, and users have moved their hands to observe astronomical objects. However, especially for beginners, it is very difficult to observe a target constellation or the like by manually moving an astronomical telescope, and it is difficult to easily capture a target constellation or a planet or the like in a telescope image.
On the other hand, in recent years, a astronomical telescope control device that automatically adjusts the orientation of an astronomical telescope to an observed astronomical object when a constellation to be observed is input has been developed (see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-4-106513
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, this conventional controller has a limitation that the number of constellations that can be controlled is limited, and in particular, control for observation of a moving planet cannot be performed.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an astronomical telescope control system capable of coping with a large number of observation celestial bodies including a planet.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is based on a telescope main body and an elevation angle, a horizontal rotation angle, and a focal length of the telescope main body based on telescope setting information. An astronomical telescope comprising a telescope control unit for controlling each of them, a control unit for outputting a signal to the telescope control unit, a server connected to the astronomical telescope via a network, and the telescope setting information connected to the server. The control unit is configured to transmit a telescope position data set in advance to the server, and to receive the telescope setting information from the server, and to control the telescope. Data output means for outputting the data to the database based on the position data transmitted from the control unit. Astronomical telescope control system, comprising: reading means for reading telescope setting information from a source, and transmitting means for transmitting the telescope setting information read by the reading means to the control unit via the network. It is.
[0006]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided a telescope main body, telescope control means for controlling an elevation angle, a horizontal rotation angle, and a focal length of the telescope main body based on the telescope setting information, and a signal to the telescope control means. And a server connected to the astronomical telescope via a network, and a database connected to the server, the telescope setting information and an observation image stored therein. A control unit that transmits to the server telescope position data set in advance therein; a data output unit that receives the telescope setting information from the server and outputs the telescope setting information to the telescope control unit; Display means for displaying the transmitted observation image, wherein the server transmits the position data transmitted from the control unit. Reading means for reading telescope setting information and observation images from the database based on the data, and transmitting means for transmitting the telescope setting information and observation images read by the reading means to the control unit via the network. An astronomical telescope control system characterized in that:
[0007]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical telescope control system according to the second aspect, the control unit stores the telescope setting information and the observation image in a storage unit and data in the storage unit. It is characterized by further comprising read control means for reading and outputting to the telescope control means and display means.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the astronomical telescope control system according to the embodiment. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a server that provides astronomical observation data, and 2 denotes a database that is read / written by the server 1. The database 2 previously stores a large number of images of observed objects by observation location, observation date and time, and weather conditions. Reference numeral 3 denotes an access point provided at the user's home of the astronomical telescope control system, and reference numeral 5 denotes an astronomical telescope provided at the user's home. The access point 3 is connected to the server 1 via a public telephone line and the Internet 4, and is connected to the control box 7 of the astronomical telescope 5 by short-range wireless communication.
[0009]
The astronomical telescope 5 includes a telescope main body 11, a cylindrical member 12 supporting the telescope main body 11, a support member 13 rotatably supporting a distal end of a protrusion 12 a formed on a side surface of the cylindrical member 12, The pedestal 14 includes a pedestal 14 that rotatably holds the support member 13 in a horizontal plane, a control box 7 attached to a side surface of the pedestal 14 via a support rod 7a, and a foot 15 of the pedestal 14. A focus moving mechanism for moving the focal point of the telescope body 11 based on a signal from the control box 7 is provided inside the tubular member 12, and a signal from the control box 7 is provided inside the pedestal 14. A motor and a driving mechanism for driving the protrusion 12a and the support member 13 to rotate based on the motor are provided.
[0010]
Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the control box 7. In this figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for controlling each unit, 22 denotes a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing a program of the CPU 21, 23 denotes a RAM for temporarily storing data (random access memory), and 24 denotes an operation. An operation unit including a key and a key interface. A communication device 25 performs short-distance data communication with the access point 3. Reference numeral 26 denotes a display device including a liquid crystal display and a display controller. An interface 27 converts control data output from the CPU 21 into a drive signal and a motor drive signal for the above-described focus moving mechanism, and outputs the signals to the pedestal 14 and the cylindrical member 12.
[0011]
Next, the operation of the astronomical telescope control system described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, the user of the astronomical telescope 5 inputs position data indicating the installation position (latitude and longitude) of the astronomical telescope 5 from the operation unit 24 (FIG. 2), then inputs weather information, and presses a key to instruct transmission. Perform the operation. The position data and weather information data input from the operation unit 24 are temporarily stored in the RAM 23. When transmission is instructed, the CPU 21 detects the transmission and outputs the position data and the weather information data in the RAM 21 to the communication device 25. The communication device 25 outputs the data to the access point 3, and the access point 3 transmits the data to the server 1 via the Internet 4 (Step S1).
[0012]
The server 1 receives the data, and searches the database 2 for an observation celestial object that can be easily seen at the time indicated by the weather information data at the location indicated by the position data. Then, the name of the observed object obtained by the search is transmitted as candidate information to the access point 3 via the Internet 4. The access point 3 transmits the candidate information to the control box 7 (Step S2). The transmitted candidate information is received by the communication device 25 of the control box 7 and output to the CPU 21. The CPU 21 outputs the candidate information to the display device 26 for display.
[0013]
Here, when the user looks at the display and selects one of the observation objects (step S3), the CPU 21 sends the name (or ID) of the selected observation object (hereinafter, observation object A) to the communication device 25. Output. The communication device 25 transmits the name of the observation object A to the server 1 via the access point 3 and the Internet 4 (Step S4). The server 1 receives the name, reads the observation image of the observation object A and the telescope setting information for viewing the observation object A from the database 2, and transmits them to the control box 7 (step S5).
[0014]
The communication device 25 of the control box 7 receives the information from the server 1 and outputs the information to the CPU 21. The CPU 21 temporarily stores the information in the RAM 23. Next, the CPU 21 outputs the observation image transmitted from the server 1 to the display device 26. Thereby, the observation image of the observation object A is displayed on the display device 26 (step S6). Next, the CPU 21 outputs the telescope setting information transmitted from the server to the interface 27. The interface 27 converts the telescope setting information into a signal for driving the focal point moving mechanism of the telescope main body 11 and a signal for driving a motor for controlling the angle of the telescope main body 11, and outputs the signal to the pedestal 14 and the cylindrical member 12. Thereby, the telescope main body 11 is directed toward the observation celestial object A (step S6), and the user can observe the observation astronomical object A.
[0015]
The CPU 21 displays the above-mentioned image of the observation object A on the display device 26 and, at the same time, displays “next” and “end” buttons at the corners of the display screen of the display device 26. When the user selects the “next” button after observing the observation celestial object A, the observation of the next celestial object is performed by the above-described steps S2 to S6. When the "end" button is pressed, the power of the control box 7 is turned off, and the observation ends (step S7).
[0016]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The block configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that telescope setting information and observation images of main observation celestial objects are stored in the ROM 22 of the control box 7 in advance.
[0017]
Hereinafter, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. When the user turns on the power of the control box 7, the CPU 21 is started. When activated, the CPU 21 displays three buttons “select constellation”, “connect to server”, and “end” on the display device 26 as shown in FIG. Here, when the user selects “constellation selection”, the CPU 21 receives the selection, reads a list of constellation names from the ROM 22, and displays it on the display device 26 (see FIG. 4B).
[0018]
When the user selects any observation object (referred to as observation object B) from the display, the CPU 21 receives the selection, reads an observation image of the observation object B from the ROM 22, and outputs the image to the display device 26. Thereby, the observation image of the observation celestial object B is displayed on the display device 26 as shown in FIG. Next, the CPU 21 reads out the telescope setting information of the observation object B from the ROM 22 and outputs the information to the interface 27. The interface 27 converts the telescope setting information into a signal for driving the focal point moving mechanism of the telescope main body 11 and a signal for driving a motor for controlling the angle of the telescope main body 11, and outputs the signal to the pedestal 14 and the cylindrical member 12. Thereby, the telescope main body 11 is directed toward the observation celestial object A, and the user can observe the observation celestial object A.
[0019]
When the user selects “connect to server” when the display of FIG. 4A is performed, the control of the astronomical telescope 5 is performed in the same process as in the first embodiment described above. .
[0020]
In the first and second embodiments, the telescope setting information is stored in the database 2 or the ROM 22 in advance. However, the telescope setting information may be obtained by calculation based on the longitude and latitude of the user's home. It may be. In addition, a notebook computer or a PDA (portable information processing device) may be used as the access point 3 in FIG.
In the above-described embodiment, the access point 3 and the control box 7 are connected wirelessly, but of course, may be connected by wire.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, even a beginner can easily perform observation with the astronomical telescope, and further, since the telescope setting information is sent from the server, the observation with the astronomical telescope for a large number of observation objects including the planets It can be performed. Further, on a rainy day, a state that can be seen when it is sunny can be seen on the display from the observation image.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an astronomical telescope system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control box 7 in the same system.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the system.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of a second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server, 2 ... Database, 3 ... Access point, 4 ... Internet, 5 ... Astronomical telescope, 7 ... Control box, 11 ... Telescope main body, 12 ... Cylindrical member, 13 ... Support member, 14 ... Pedestal, 21 ... CPU , 22 ROM, 23 RAM, 24 operation unit, 25 communication device, 26 display device, 27 interface.

Claims (3)

An astronomical telescope comprising: a telescope main body; telescope control means for controlling the elevation angle, horizontal rotation angle, and focal length of the telescope main body based on the telescope setting information; and a control unit for outputting a signal to the telescope control means. A server connected to the astronomical telescope via a network, and a database connected to the server and storing the telescope setting information,
The control unit includes:
Transmitting means for transmitting to the server telescope position data set in advance,
Data output means for receiving the telescope setting information from the server, and outputting the information to the telescope control means,
The server comprises:
Reading means for reading telescope setting information from the database based on the position data transmitted from the control unit,
Transmitting means for transmitting the telescope setting information read by the reading means to the control unit via the network;
An astronomical telescope control system, comprising: An astronomical telescope comprising: a telescope main body; telescope control means for controlling the elevation angle, horizontal rotation angle, and focal length of the telescope main body based on the telescope setting information; and a control unit for outputting a signal to the telescope control means. A server connected to the astronomical telescope via a network, and a database connected to the server and storing the telescope setting information and observation images,
The control unit includes:
Transmitting means for transmitting to the server telescope position data set in advance,
Data output means for receiving the telescope setting information from the server and outputting the information to the telescope control means;
Display means for displaying an observation image transmitted from the server,
The server comprises:
Reading means for reading telescope setting information and observation images from the database based on the position data transmitted from the control unit,
Transmission means for transmitting the telescope setting information and the observation image read by the reading means to the control unit via the network,
An astronomical telescope control system, comprising: The control unit further includes a storage unit in which the telescope setting information and the observation image are stored, and a readout control unit that reads data in the storage unit and outputs the data to the telescope control unit and the display unit. The astronomical telescope control system according to claim 2, wherein

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