JPH08292376A - Automatic astronomical introducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a high-versatility automatic astronomical introducing device with which control can be easily performed without changing any hardware configuration or software corresponding to the specification or accuracy of an existent astronomical telescope. CONSTITUTION: Concerning the device which is driven by a right ascension motor 3 and a declination motor 4 permitting rotation speed control and rotation angle control and automatically catches a target astronomical object in the view of an astronomical telescope 6 by controlling the movement of an equatorial 5 for outputting a pulse signal corresponding to its driving conditions, this automatic astronomical introducing device holds the data of relation between the counting conditions of pulse signals and the rotating directions a polar axis 1 and a declination axis 2, the number of pulses outputted for one rotation of each axis or basic rotation characteristic data at the transient time of each motor as auxiliary data or holds the direction deviation of the astronomical telescope 6 from directed coordinates caused by the perpendicular error or fitting error of the equatorial 5 as correction data and uses those held data for calculation when leading out driving data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic astronomical device for automatically capturing a target celestial object in the visual field of an astronomical telescope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Driving an equatorial mount in an astronomical telescope is performed by an electronically controlled motor such as a stepping motor. As an indispensable configuration for driving the motor under constant control, it is necessary to supply a driver for supplying a predetermined drive signal to the motor and a command signal for determining the rotation speed and rotation direction of the motor to the driver. There is a controller. By giving a forward rotation command, a reverse rotation command, and a speed setting command to this controller for an appropriate time, the motor is controlled and the equatorial mount of the astronomical telescope is driven appropriately.

[0003]

However, since the equatorial mount that supports the astronomical telescope is generally equipped with a reduction gear, the rotation direction of the shaft relative to the rotation direction of the motor is also different from that of the equatorial mount. The number of pulses output by the rotary encoder during one rotation of the polar axis and declination axis is different in addition to the difference depending on the gear configuration interposed between the rotation axes. Further, when a telescope is rotationally driven at a high speed, an extremely large inertial axial moment is applied. Therefore, the acceleration characteristic and the deceleration characteristic when the equatorial mount is driven at a high speed differ depending on each telescope.

Therefore, most of the astronomical automatic introduction devices are dedicated devices developed for specific astronomical telescopes, and it is extremely common to use one device for various astronomical telescopes without changing hardware or software. It was difficult. Moreover, the work of introducing the celestial body into the field of view of the astronomical telescope is extremely delicate, and the installation accuracy of the equatorial mount is poor (with installation error), no matter how good the control device is. If there was a deviation (right angle error), there was a problem that the target celestial body could not be introduced into the field of view even at low magnification.

In view of the above situation, the present invention is versatile in that it can be easily adjusted so that control can be performed according to the specifications and accuracy of an existing astronomical telescope without changing the hardware configuration or software of the apparatus body. It was made with the purpose of providing an automatic celestial body automatic introduction device.

[0006]

The celestial body automatic introduction apparatus according to the present invention made to solve the above problems is driven by a motor whose polar axis and declination axis are controllable in rotational speed and rotational angle, respectively. Axis and declination counter, a right and left declination counter that counts the pulse signals in order to automatically capture the target celestial object in the field of view of the astronomical telescope supported by the equatorial mount that outputs a pulse signal according to the rotation status of the axis and declination axis. , The celestial body storage unit that holds the name of the celestial body together with the year 2000 point coordinates, the target coordinate forming means for converting the year 2000 point coordinates to the current point coordinates, and correcting based on the atmospheric difference, and the orientation of the astronomical telescope A directional coordinate storage unit that holds the directional coordinates, a directional coordinate updating unit that updates the directional coordinates over time,
In an astronomical automatic introduction device provided with drive data forming means for deriving drive data for driving each motor to match the directional coordinate with the target coordinate, based on the numerical values of the right ascension counter and the declination counter. Auxiliary data for deriving drive data from connection data including data related to the increase / decrease status of the declination counter and the rotation directions of the polar axis and declination axis, and the number of pulses output by the polar axis and declination axis in one rotation. And a rotation characteristic storage section that holds basic rotation characteristic data from start to stop of each motor as auxiliary data when deriving drive data. And a correction data storage unit capable of holding, as correction data, the deviation of the orientation of the astronomical telescope with respect to the pointing coordinates due to the right angle error and the installation error of the equatorial mount. In which characterized in that a data correction means for correcting the driving data based on the correction data.

[0007]

[Operation] Drive data including connection information including relational data between the increase / decrease status of the RA and declination counters and the rotation directions of the polar axis and declination axis, and the number of pulses output by the polar axis and declination axis in one rotation. By providing a connection information storage unit for holding as auxiliary data when deriving, even if the equatorial mount has a different gear configuration or the number of pulses output for one rotation of the polar axis or declination axis is different. By rewriting the connection information, it is possible to switch between normal rotation and reverse rotation and adjust the rotation angle.

Further, by providing a rotation characteristic storage section for holding basic rotation characteristic data from start-up to stop of each motor as auxiliary data when deriving drive data, the rotation characteristic of the equatorial mount is provided. It is possible to perform control suitable for the characteristics.

Further, a correction data storage section capable of holding, as correction data, a deviation of the orientation of the astronomical telescope with respect to the directional coordinates due to the right angle error and the installation error of the equatorial mount, and a data correction means for correcting the drive data based on the correction data. By providing the, the adaptability to the equatorial mount having an error that is difficult to repair is also enhanced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of an automatic celestial body introducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the motor drive device (driver, controller) 19 of the RAW motor 3 for rotating the polar axis 1 and the declination motor 4 for rotating the declination axis 2 by performing a simple operation that is easily recognized by the user. , A forward rotation command, a reverse rotation command, and a speed setting command are output to automatically output the target celestial body to the astronomical telescope 6.
The CPU, memory,
A so-called computer system including a control circuit 20 including various peripheral LSIs is configured, and a display device 21 that displays a menu, registration data, and the like, and an operation device 22 that includes a numeric keypad, a cursor movement key, a registration key, and the like.
Is attached.

The control circuit 20 includes an celestial body storage unit 9, a pointing coordinate storage unit 11, a connection information storage unit 14, a rotation characteristic storage unit 16, a correction data storage unit 17, and a right ascension counter 7.
The declination counter 8, the target coordinate forming means 10, the pointing coordinate updating means 12, the drive data forming means 13, and the data correcting means 18 are configured. The details of each component will be described below. The equatorial mount 5 controlled in the present embodiment uses a stepping motor for the right ascending motor 3 and the declination motor 4 as its driving device, and uses a pulse signal in accordance with the rotating condition of the polar axis 1 and the declination axis 2. An appropriate rotary encoder (for example, detection capability: 60 arc seconds to 180 arc seconds) 23 is attached to each of the axes 1 and 2 so as to output.

The celestial body storage unit 9, the directional coordinate storage unit 11, the connection information storage unit 14, the rotation characteristic storage unit 16, and the correction data storage unit 17 are each secured in a predetermined area in the memory, and various kinds are secured. Reading or writing is performed in response to activation of the means.

The celestial body storage unit 9 comprises a ready-made library in which the names of celestial bodies that are frequently observed are registered together with their equator coordinates at the 2000 year equinoxes, and a personal library created by the user. In this case, a memory area is secured which can store a plurality of celestial bodies that should be personally registered and equatorial coordinates in correspondence with each other, and the registration and deletion of the celestial body names and equatorial coordinates are all performed by the display device 21. And an interactive process through the operation device 22.

The directional coordinate storage unit 11 stores the directional coordinates indicating the orientation of the astronomical telescope 6 in equatorial coordinates, and also stores the count values of the right ascension counter 7 and the declination counter 8 when the telescope 6 is facing the zenith. 0 (hereinafter, this spindle 1
And the state of the declination axis 2 is regarded as the origin of those rotations) This is a memory area for storing the count value at the present time in association with the pointing coordinates. The contents of this area are appropriately updated by the pointing coordinate updating means 12.

The connection information storage unit 14 includes the RA counter 7
And related data formed by associating the increase / decrease of the value counted by the declination counter 8 with the rotation directions of the polar axis 1 and declination axis 2 and the number of pulses output by the polar axis 1 or declination axis 2 per revolution. Is a memory area for storing connection information consisting of auxiliary data. To obtain this connection information, while displaying the reference coordinates on the display device 21, a trial drive in which high-speed driving is continuously performed for 5 seconds (time A in FIG. 2) on each of the RA motor 3 and the declination motor 4 A signal is supplied so that input can be performed by interactive processing including the processing of FIG. The number of pulses output by the polar axis 1 or the declination axis 2 per revolution can be registered in the same manner by interactive processing.

The rotation characteristic storage unit 16 is a memory area for holding, as rotation characteristic data, the transient characteristics from the time when the test signal is interrupted to the star time for each of the RA (right longitude) motor 3 and the declination motor 4. The rotation characteristic data of this embodiment is 5 from the interruption of the test signal at the time of transition.
The number of pulses output from the rotary encoder 23 per second (time B in FIG. 2) was set to a value counted by the RA / R counter 7 and the declination counter 8. This generally means that acceleration and deceleration of various equatorial mounts 5 will be completed within 5 seconds, and
The degree of acceleration and deceleration are almost equal and constant,
For example, even if compared with the control based on relatively strict data such as acquiring time series data of rotation speed during acceleration or deceleration, the accuracy of the astronomical telescope 6 at the level of using a universal astronomical automatic introduction device It is based on the empirical rule that the introduction result is almost comparable in terms of practical use.

The correction data storage unit 17 is a memory area for holding, as correction data, the deviation of the orientation of the astronomical telescope 6 with respect to the directional coordinates due to the right angle error and the installation error of the equatorial mount 5. Corrected data due to right angle error and installation error are
It is registered by the user at the time of observation, and is 200
The difference between the target coordinate derived from the 0-year point coordinate and the pointing coordinate at which the target celestial body is actually introduced is converted into the number of pulses, and a plus sign or a minus sign corresponding to the correction direction is added. The correction data due to the right angle error and the installation error are set for each small air space 25 which is formed by dividing the visible air space 24 into a plurality of parts. Then, eight small air spaces 25 are set.

The pointing coordinate updating means 12 uses a built-in clock (not shown) of the control circuit 20 to calculate the temporal displacement of the RA, for example, from the time when the power is turned off to the time when the power is turned on again and the star time. By calculating and converting the temporal displacement into a displacement of RA and a displacement of the number of pulses, the directional coordinates, the RA counter 7 and the declination counter 8 stored in the directional coordinate storage unit 11 are calculated.
The count value of is appropriately updated. At that time, it is necessary to retain the contents of the directional coordinate storage unit 11 when the power is turned off, but for example, a non-volatile memory that does not lose data even when the power is turned off is used as a target memory. You can do so. The built-in clock is driven by a backup power source such as a lithium battery even when the power source is cut off, so that an accurate date and time can always be obtained when necessary.

On the other hand, when the direction of the astronomical telescope 6 is manually changed when the astronomical telescope 6 is not controlled, such as when the power is turned off, the contents of the directional coordinate storage unit 11 correspond to the manually changed direction of the telescope 6. Since the directional coordinates and the count value do not match, the directional coordinate and the count value need to be reset. Therefore, in this embodiment, the polar axis 1 and the declination axis 2
The rotary encoder 23 attached to the one that can detect the origin and outputs a pulse signal at the time of detection is used, and by providing origin correction means for clearing the right ascension counter 7 and the declination counter 8 with the pulse signal,
Even if the directional coordinates are not reset, the correct count value can be obtained by passing the origin once for each of the axes 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a rough control flow for automatic introduction of the target celestial body in this embodiment. First, the target celestial body is specified by the input data from the operation device 22. The target coordinate forming means 10 acquires the year 2000 point coordinates of the target celestial body from the ready-made library or the personal library, performs a predetermined operation on the year 2000 point coordinates, and derives the current point coordinates, and further Is converted to horizon coordinates. In calculation, the target celestial body should be able to be introduced by aligning the direction of the lens barrel with the coordinates of the equinox point. Since there are cases where it does not exist, the altitude, atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, etc. are substituted into the variables of the equation relating to the atmospheric difference, and the correction value is calculated and included in the coordinates of the equinox point. The target coordinates are formed by the above processing.

Next, it is determined whether or not the target coordinate is the visible airspace 24. If it exists in the visible airspace 24, the visible airspace 24 is divided into eight, for example, as shown in FIG. It is determined which of the small airspaces 25 the area is divided into. The small air space 25 in which the target coordinates are located is referred to when correcting the target coordinates regarding the right angle error or the installation error of the astronomical telescope 6 and its equatorial mount 5, and also serves as an area unit when registering the correction data.

The introduction of the target celestial body is achieved by supplying a drive signal to the motor drive unit 19 of the right ascension motor 3 and the declination motor 4 in order to align the orientation of the astronomical telescope 6 with the target coordinates derived as described above. It The drive data forming means 13 rotates the difference between the RA and the declination of the target coordinate and the directional coordinate based on the resolution of the rotary encoder 23 as the polar axis 1 and the declination axis 2 rotate until the target celestial body is introduced. The number of drive pulses converted into the number of pulses that the encoders 23, 23 will output is calculated. The drive data as used herein is a general term for the drive pulse number and the drive signal group including the forward rotation command, the reverse rotation command, and the speed setting command described above.

The rotation directions of the motors 3 and 4 are specified by the magnitude relationship between the right coordinate and the declination of the target coordinates and the directional coordinates. There are a plurality of introduction modes depending on the structure of the equatorial mount 5, but the existence of a plurality of options is not always useful for automatic control, and the lens barrel may collide with the equatorial mount depending on the drive mode. It is convenient to set restrictions on the movable area and maximum rotation angle. Since these restrictions are provided in the present embodiment, the rotation directions of the motors 3 and 4 and the number of drive pulses are calculated in consideration of these restrictions. Then, it is determined whether or not the target coordinates are in the introducible area, and if the target coordinates are included in the introducible area, a process of notifying the fact is performed, while in order to prevent equipment damage due to an unexpected malfunction, Sensors for detecting that the astronomical telescope 6 has reached the limit of its movable range are provided such as the longitudinal limit switch 26, the declination limit switch 27, and the lens barrel horizontal limit switch 28.

Subsequently, the data correction means 18 operates, and the correction data resulting from the right angle error or the installation error of the equatorial mount is taken out from the correction data storage part 17 and is included in the number of drive pulses guided by the drive data forming means 13. In the present embodiment, the final drive pulse number that serves as a reference for automatic introduction is derived. The correction data occupies the largest position of the introduction error of the telescope at the level of using a general-purpose device such as the automatic astronomical introduction device according to the present invention, and in the astronomical telescope 6 with poor accuracy, this error Unless it is modified, automatic introduction is difficult.

When the rotation directions of the RA motor 3 and the declination motor 4 and the number of drive pulses are determined, the drive data forming means 13
Distributes the number of drive pulses for each motor with respect to the drive speed. The motor and the motor drive device 19 used in this example have three driving speeds: high speed (200 times or more for star) and medium speed (about 20 times for star), low speed (about double speed for star). Although it is possible to switch between stages, only high speed and medium speed were used for automatic introduction.

When calculating the number of high-speed drive pulses (the number of pulses output from the rotary encoder while the shaft is rotating at high speed), the rotation characteristic data in the rotation characteristic storage unit 16 is compared with the number of drive pulses. If the number of drive pulses is more than twice the rotation characteristic data, the high-speed drive pulse number is set to a value obtained by subtracting the rotation characteristic data from the number of drive pulses, and if the number of driving pulses is less than twice the rotation characteristic data, Set the number of high-speed drive pulses to half the number of drive pulses. In this embodiment,
Right RA motor 3 only while counting the number of high-speed drive pulses
A high-speed drive signal is output to the declination motor 4 and the motor accelerates during that time to a constant speed (high speed), but the motor decelerates with the interruption of the high-speed drive signal to reach a star.

When the high speed drive of the equatorial mount 5 is completed and the movement of the polar axis 1 reaches a stellar time, the directional coordinates of the astronomical telescope 6 and the corrected target coordinates of the target celestial body are almost coincident, but the equatorial mount 5 is Since the celestial body is moving during stellar time even during high-speed driving, the target celestial body may not have been introduced if it was driven at high speed for a relatively long time. Therefore, the amount of movement of the celestial body due to stellar time with respect to the time of high speed driving is converted into the number of pulses of the rotary encoder, and the polar axis 1 is driven only for the period until the pulse output from the rotary encoder reaches the number of pulses. A medium speed drive signal is output to the motor drive device 19 of the right ascension motor 7.

This completes the automatic introduction of celestial bodies. Up to now, the example in which the correction data is registered has been explained, but the small air space 25 regarding the right angle error and the installation error of the equatorial mount 5
If another correction data is not registered in the correction data storage unit 17, it may not be introduced. In that case, it is possible to correct the orientation of the telescope 6 only for a fixed time (for example, 3 minutes) after the introduction, while waiting for the low speed driving of the equatorial mount 5 by the user's button operation, and the difference in the changed coordinates is set as the pulse number. The process of converting and registering as correction data is continuing. An example of the processing is shown in FIG.

Prior to the registration of the correction data, it is determined whether the correction data can be registered. This is because when the celestial body selected from the personal library is targeted, the coordinates are not necessarily the year 2000 point coordinates at the time of registration. That is, if the correction data is registered in the correction data storage unit 17 for each of the small airspaces 25 for the ones other than the year 2000 point coordinates registered, the correction is performed when the celestial object selected from the existing library in which the year 2000 point coordinates are registered is automatically introduced. This is because the inclusion of data may result in a larger error. Therefore, the registration of modified data is limited to the celestial bodies registered in the existing library.

The present invention is configured as described above, and when the target celestial body is selected, the equatorial mount 5 is automatically driven to introduce the target celestial body into the visual field of the astronomical telescope 6. The above processing is performed by the celestial body storage unit 9, the directional coordinate storage unit 11, the connection information storage unit 14, the rotation characteristic storage unit 16, the correction data storage unit 17, the right ascension counter 7, the declination counter 8, and the target coordinate forming means. 1
0, pointing coordinate updating means 12, drive data forming means 13,
This is an example of the control provided with the data correction means 18, and the structure of each component and the flow of control can be appropriately changed.

[0031]

As described above, when the astronomical automatic introduction device according to the present invention is used, it is possible to obtain an equatorial mount having a different gear configuration or an equatorial mount having a different number of pulses output for one rotation of the polar axis and the declination axis. Also, by rewriting the registration data including connection information, it is possible to switch between forward rotation and reverse rotation and adjust the rotation angle, and it is possible to perform control suitable for the rotation characteristics unique to the equatorial mount used. Furthermore, the adaptability to the right angle error and the installation error of the equatorial mount is enhanced, and it becomes possible to automatically introduce the celestial body with high versatility.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an astronomical object automatic introduction device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a time chart of a rotation speed showing an example of a trial operation state of a motor when registering auxiliary data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of registering connection information.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of division of a visible sky region.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for registering correction data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of main processing in the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Polar Axis 2 Declination Axis 5 Equatorial Mount 6 Astronomical Telescope 7 Ascension Counter 8 Declination Counter 9 Astronomical Storage Unit 10 Target Coordinate Forming Means 11 Directional Coordinate Storage Unit 12 Directional Coordinate Updating Means 13 Drive Data Forming Means 14 Connection Information Storage Unit 16 Rotation Characteristic Storage Section 17 Auxiliary Data Storage Section 18 Data Correction Means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) are driven by motors capable of controlling the rotation speed and the rotation angle, respectively, and the polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) are adapted to the rotating condition. In order to automatically capture the target celestial object in the field of view of the astronomical telescope (6) supported by the equatorial mount (5) which outputs the pulse signal, the RA (7) and declination counter (8) for counting the pulse signal. ), The celestial body storage unit (9) for holding the name of the celestial body together with the year 2000 point coordinates, and a target coordinate forming means (10) for converting the year 2000 point coordinates to the current point coordinates and correcting them based on the atmospheric difference. And a directional coordinate storage unit (11) for holding the directional coordinates indicating the orientation of the astronomical telescope (6), a directional coordinate updating means (12) for updating the directional coordinates over time, and the directional coordinates matching the target coordinates. To drive each motor to In an automatic celestial object introduction device provided with drive data forming means (13) for deriving drive data based on the numerical values of the right ascension counter (7) and the declination counter (8), the ascension counter (7) and declination counter Connection including the relational data between the increase / decrease status of (8) and the rotation directions of the polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) and the number of pulses output by the polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) in one rotation. A connection information storage unit (1) that holds information as auxiliary data when deriving drive data.
4) An automatic celestial body introduction device characterized by being provided. 2. The polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) are driven by motors capable of controlling the rotation speed and the rotation angle, respectively, and the polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) are adapted to the rotating condition. In order to automatically capture the target celestial object in the field of view of the astronomical telescope (6) supported by the equatorial mount (5) which outputs the pulse signal, the RA (7) and declination counter (8) for counting the pulse signal. ), The celestial body storage unit (9) for holding the name of the celestial body together with the year 2000 point coordinates, and a target coordinate forming means (10) for converting the year 2000 point coordinates to the current point coordinates and correcting them based on the atmospheric difference. And a directional coordinate storage unit (11) for holding the directional coordinates indicating the orientation of the astronomical telescope (6), a directional coordinate updating means (12) for updating the directional coordinates over time, and the directional coordinates matching the target coordinates. To drive each motor to In an astronomical automatic introduction device provided with drive data forming means (13) for deriving drive data based on the numerical values of the RA (right) counter (7) and the declination counter (8), from the start to the stop of each motor. An automatic celestial object introduction device characterized in that a rotation characteristic storage unit (16) for holding basic rotation characteristic data as auxiliary data when deriving drive data is provided. 3. The polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) are driven by motors capable of controlling the rotation speed and the rotation angle, respectively, and the polar axis (1) and the declination axis (2) are adapted to the rotating condition. In order to automatically capture the target celestial object in the field of view of the astronomical telescope (6) supported by the equatorial mount (5) which outputs the pulse signal, the RA (7) and declination counter (8) for counting the pulse signal. ), The celestial body storage unit (9) for holding the name of the celestial body together with the year 2000 point coordinates, and a target coordinate forming means (10) for converting the year 2000 point coordinates to the current point coordinates and correcting them based on the atmospheric difference. And a directional coordinate storage unit (11) for holding the directional coordinates indicating the orientation of the astronomical telescope (6), a directional coordinate updating means (12) for updating the directional coordinates over time, and the directional coordinates matching the target coordinates. To drive each motor to In an automatic celestial body introduction device provided with drive data forming means (13) for deriving drive data based on the numerical values of the right ascension counter (7) and declination counter (8), the right angle error of the equatorial mount (5) and installation A correction data storage section (17) capable of holding, as correction data, a deviation of the orientation of the astronomical telescope (6) with respect to the directional coordinates due to the error;
An astronomical automatic introduction device, characterized in that data correction means (18) for correcting drive data based on the correction data is provided.