Design of the New Pi of the Sky Robotic Telescope Controlled via Internet

Abstract

The article describes a final design of the new 2 dof robotic telescope on the parallactic mount, controlled via internet. The robot will be applied in the “Pi of the Sky” camera positioning system with capability to use four cameras with 20 cm objectives and total load of up to 150 kg. The system will be employed in astrophysical observations to discover the strong electromagnetic radiation originating from violent cosmological phenomena and presumably associated with sources of gravitational waves. Therefore, direct observations performed with high time resolution by dedicated robotic telescope play a key role. Short time of reaction combined with very high accuracy and smooth tracking generates rigorous challenges for the design solutions. Selected types of harmonic drive and stepper motor, with use of feedback from an ultrahigh resolution optical encoder fixed directly to the output axes, enable any celestial object to be located and tracked for hours with arc second accuracy. To increase the observation capability, two modes (DEEP and WIDE) changing cameras field of view required a special mechanism. Moreover, to improve the maintenance of the telescope, two precision calibration mechanisms for the right ascension and declination angles were designed.