RoboticRobotic AutonomousAutonomous

ObservatoriesObservatories: : AnAn

historicalhistorical perspectiveperspective

Alberto J. CastroAlberto J. Castro--Tirado Tirado (IAA(IAA--CSIC Granada)CSIC Granada)

WorkshopWorkshop

in in RoboticRobotic

AutonomousAutonomous

ObservatoriesObservatories Torremolinos (MTorremolinos (Máálaga), 18 May 2009laga), 18 May 2009

OutlineOutlineRoboticRobotic

astronomicalastronomical

observatoriesobservatories

DefinitionsDefinitions

A A briefbrief

historyhistory

RoboticRobotic

observatoriesobservatories

worldwideworldwide

ScienceScience

& & TechnologyTechnology

withwith

RoboticRobotic

ObservatoriesObservatories

RoboticRobotic

observatoriesobservatories

in in SpainSpain

ConclusionsConclusions

RoboticRobotic

AstronomicalAstronomical

ObservatoriesObservatories

(I)(I)

RobotA mechanical

system

which

executes

repetitive

tasks

with

good

accuracy

with

human assistance. Example: Industrial robotic arm.

Teleoperated

RobotA mechanical

system

which

executes

a given

task

with

good

accuracy

and

that

can be modified

with

human assistance. Example: Submarine

research

robots.

Intelligent

Robot

A mechanical

system

which

executes

a task

with

good

accuracy and

is

able

to

adapt

itself

to

changes

during

the

task

execution

without

any

kind

of

human assistance. Example: Rovers devoted

to

planetary

research.

(RAOs

from

now

on). Some

definitions…

RoboticRobotic

AstronomicalAstronomical

ObservatoriesObservatories

(II)(II)

Automated

scheduled

telescope

(Robot)

A mechanical system which executes repetitive predefined tasks with good accuracy with human assistance. Telescope which performs observation without the astronomer actually moving the mount by hand.

Remotely

operated

(remote) telescope

RobotA

mechanical system which executes a given task with good

accuracy and that can be modified with human assistance.

Autonomous

Robot (observatory) A mechanical system which executes a task with good accuracy and is able to adapt itself to changes during the task execution

without any kind of human assistance. Weather control. Must not kill a human !.

…applied

to

Astronomy

[as agreed on the Málaga Workshop]

RAOs: A brief

history

(I)First

attempts

to

robotize

telescopes

were

first

developed

by astronomers

after electromechanical

interfaces to

computers

became

common

at

observatories. Computer

control is

the

most

powerful

technique

for

research

today. But computer

systems

are inheriently

low

voltage

and

are very

suspectable

to electrical

noise. Thus

putting

electromechanical

devices

under

computer control can be particularly

challenging.

Early

examples

were

expensive, had

limited capabilities, and

included

a large

number

of

unique

subsystems, both

in hardware and software. This

contributed

to

a lack

of

progress

in the

development

of

robotic telescopes

early

in their

history.

RAOs: A brief

history

(II)

The 1985 book, Microcomputer Control of Telescopes, by Russ M. Genet and Mark Trueblood,

was a landmark engineering study in the field.

RAOs: A brief

history

(III)

One of this book's achievements was One of this book's achievements was pointing out many reasons, some quite pointing out many reasons, some quite subtle, why telescopes could not be reliably subtle, why telescopes could not be reliably pointed using only basic astronomical pointed using only basic astronomical calculations. The concepts explored in this calculations. The concepts explored in this book share a common heritage with the book share a common heritage with the telescope mount error telescope mount error modelingmodeling

software software

called called TpointTpoint, which emerged from the first , which emerged from the first generation of large automated telescopes in generation of large automated telescopes in the 1970s, notably the the 1970s, notably the 3.9m Anglo3.9m Anglo--

Australian TelescopeAustralian Telescope..

RAOs: A brief

history

(IV)

TheThe

firstfirst

automatedautomated

telescopestelescopes

werewere

ableable

toto

startstart

onon

a a prepre--programmedprogrammed sequencesequence

ofof

photometricphotometric

measurementsmeasurements

ifif

thethe

skysky

waswas

clearclear. . ThisThis

waswas

thethe

case case ofof

thethe

AutomatedAutomated

TelescopeTelescope

PhotoelectricPhotoelectric

(APT)(APT)

serviceservice, a , a computercomputer drivendriven

systemsystem

in in MtMt. . HopkinsHopkins

(AZ, USA) (AZ, USA) whichwhich

knewknew

whenwhen

thethe

Sun Sun setset

andand

checkedchecked

forfor

rainrain, , snowsnow, etc. , etc.

In In anan

ideal ideal worldworld, , thethe computercomputer

willwill

reportreport

thethe

astronomerastronomer

onon

thethe

nextnext morningmorning

how how beatifulbeatiful

thethe

night night waswas. . ButBut

wewe

know know thatthat usus

do do notnot

leaveleave

a a telescopetelescope

unattendedunattended

forfor

thethe

wholewhole night night ……

RAOs: A brief

history

(V)

TheThe

FairbornFairborn

T2 0.25m APT T2 0.25m APT beganbegan

operationsoperations

in in earlyearly

1986 1986 atat

thethe

FredFred

Lawrence Lawrence WhippleWhipple

ObservatoryObservatory

(FLWO) (FLWO) onon

MtMt. . HopkinsHopkins

in in southernsouthern Arizona, Arizona, whichwhich

isis

operatedoperated

jointlyjointly

by by thethe

HavardHavard--

SmithsonianSmithsonian

CenterCenter

forfor

AstrophysicsAstrophysics

andand

thethe UniversityUniversity

ofof

Arizona. Arizona. ItIt

waswas

relocatedrelocated

in 1996 in 1996 toto

FairbornFairborn

Observatory'sObservatory's

newnew

sitesite

atat

5500 5500 ftft

in in thethe PatagoniaPatagonia

mountainsmountains

nearnear

Washington Washington CampCamp, ,

Arizona. Arizona. OperationOperation

ofof

thethe

FairbornFairborn

0.25m APT 0.25m APT waswas

supportedsupported

by FLWO (by FLWO (duringduring

itsits

tenuretenure

onon

MtMt. .

HopkinsHopkins), ), FairbornFairborn

ObservatoryObservatory, , andand

TennesseeTennessee StateState

UniversityUniversity. . UntilUntil

2001 (16 2001 (16 yearsyears), ), thethe

telescopetelescope

waswas

dedicateddedicated

primarilyprimarily

toto

longlong--termterm photometricphotometric

monitoringmonitoring

ofof

semisemi--regular regular pulsatingpulsating

variable variable starsstars..

DecomissionedDecomissioned

in 2007. in 2007. NowadaysNowadays thethe

TSU TSU groupgroup

has has builtbuilt

13 13 instrumentsinstruments

((inclincl. a 2m). a 2m)

RAOs: A brief

history

(VI)

TheThe

BerkeleyBerkeley

AutomatedAutomated

ImagingImaging

TelescopesTelescopes

(0.5m (0.5m andand

0.76m 0.76m diameterdiameter telescopestelescopes) ) werewere

usedused

atat

thethe

astronomyastronomy

department'sdepartment's

LeuschnerLeuschner

ObservatoryObservatory

in 1992in 1992--1994 1994 forfor

detaileddetailed

monitoringmonitoring

ofof

transienttransient

objectsobjects andand

forfor

conductingconducting

thethe

LeuschnerLeuschner

ObservatoryObservatory

Supernova Supernova SearchSearch

(LOSS).(LOSS).

The

0.76m Katzman

Automated

Imaging

Telescope

in Lick Observatory

had

first

light

in 1998 is

still

working

nowadays

(mainly

devoted

to

SNe

and

other

transient

events).

RAOs: A brief

history

(VII)

The

Bradford Robotic

Telescope

(UK) was

operating

in the

web

since 1993. It's

located

in England, where

the

weather

isn't

optimal, but

it

accepts

requests

from

anyone

(Baruch’s

talk).

The

Perugia

University

Automated Imaging

Telescope

(0.4m) in Italy

and

the

University

of

Iowa Robotic Telescope

Facility

(0.37m diameter

Rigel telescope

at

Winer

Observatory in AZ) joined

later

(1994). The

former

was

devoted

to

Blazar

and

CV monitoring. The

second

one

was

devoted

to

education, is

operated primarily

by undergraduates, many

of

whom

are involved

in independent research

projects

RAOs: A brief

history

(VIII)By By thethe

endend

ofof

thethe

9090’’s s thethe

numbernumber

ofof

automatedautomated

telescopestelescopes

increasedincreased

withwith

manymany

ofof

thethe

devoteddevoted

toto

gammagamma--rayray

burstburst

(GRB) (GRB) followfollow--up: up:

GROSCE (1993): GROSCE (1993): widewide--fieldfield

lens lens systemsystem

(USA)(USA)

LOTIS (1997): LOTIS (1997): widewide--fieldfield

lens lens systemsystem

(USA)(USA)

ROTSE (1998): ROTSE (1998): widewide--fieldfield

lens lens systemsystem

(USA) (USA)

BOOTES (1998) , 0.2m BOOTES (1998) , 0.2m telescopetelescope

+ + widewide--fieldfield

systemsystem

((SpainSpain) )

BART (2000) , 0.2m BART (2000) , 0.2m telescopetelescope

+ + widewide--fieldfield

systemsystem

((SpainSpain))

TAROT (TAROT (FranceFrance), RAPTOR (USA), REM (), RAPTOR (USA), REM (ItalyItaly) ) joinedjoined

in in earlyearly

20002000’’s.s.

AllAll

thesethese

achievementsachievements

impliedimplied

a a changechange

in in thethe

technologytechnology

((SeeSee

thethe bookbook

Unusual

telescopes, by Peter

L. Manly). For

instance, for

wide-field

system, fast

mount

and

dew

control is

most

essential. For

telescopes, openpen

tubetube

designdesign

isis

desirabledesirable: : lighterlighter

andand

betterbetter

stabilizationstabilization

ofof

thethe

temperaturetemperature

((butbut

thisthis

requiresrequires

a a largelarge

central central bafflebaffle

toto

preventprevent), etc.), etc.

And

we

should

not

forget

all

development

by amateur astronomers

since

1998.

RAOs: A brief

history

(IX)

The

first

robotic

astronomical

observatories

are those

ones

which

are able

to integrate

and

coordinate

the

different

automatic

subsystems

at

the

observatory

(telescope, dome, weather

stations). But

they

require

human assistance

(teleoperation) for

the

taking

of

decissions

regarding

a given

task

and/or

its

supervision.

The

intelligent

robotic

astronomical

observatories

are the

following

step, where

human assistance

in the

taking

of

decissions

is

replaced

by an

artificial

intelligent

system. This

is

being

developed

nowadays.

TheThe

firstfirst

robotsrobots

werewere

thethe

telescopestelescopes

withwith

anan

absoluteabsolute

positioningpositioning

control control andand

guidingguiding

systemssystems, , andand

thethe

automaticautomatic

weatherweather

stationsstations, , introducedintroduced

in in

astronomicalastronomical

observatoriesobservatories. .

RAOs

worldwide

(1)

Around

100 so far

RAOs

worldwide

(2)

Around

35 in Europe

RAOs

worldwide

(3)

Some

examples: RAPTOR (LANL, USA)

An

array

of

telescopes

that

continuously

monitor about

1500 square

degrees

of

the sky

for

transients

down

to

about

12th magnitude

in 60 seconds

and

a central fovea

telescope

that

can reach

16th magnitude

in 60 seconds. Search

for

optical

transients.

RAOs

worldwide

(4)

Some

examples: PAIRITEL (SAO, USA)

1.3m telescope devoted

to

nIR

transients

(JHK sim.)

RAOs

worldwide

(5)

Some

examples: Robonet

(10 UK Universities)

(LT: UK National

Facility; FNT & FST: LCO GTN )

Aims: To

detect

cool extra-solar planets

by

optimised

robotic monitoring

of

Galactic

microlens

events. In particular, to

explore the

use of

this

technique

to search

for

other

Earth-like

planets. Another

goal

is

to determine the

origin

and

nature

of

GRBs.

Sci & Tech with RAOs (1)

Scientific

Use (aprox. statistical

based

on

provided

info

by F. Hessman)

Sci & Tech with RAOs (2)

Range

of

apertures

(included

expected

instruments

by 2010)

Sci & Tech with RAOs (3)

Telescope

Control Operating

Systems

Commercial automatization

systems:

TCS by Optical

Mechanics (OMI) Ø

= 0.4 –

1 m.

(Open

or

Closed

source)

SpecificSpecific

control control systemssystems: : GTC/La Palma GTC/La Palma ØØ

==10.4 m.10.4 m.

Sci & Tech with RAOs (4)Observatory

Managers

AUDELA: Developed by A. Klotz et al. (Toulouse), starting in 1995. Open source code. Linux/Windows.

ASCOM: Dessigned

in 1998, by B. Denny (USA), as an interface standard for astronomical equipment, based on MS's Component Object Model, which he called the Astronomy Common Object Model.

Mostly

used

by amateur astronomers, has

been

also

used

by professionals. Windows. Widely

used

in SN, MP searches.

RTS2: The Robotic Telescope System version 2, is being developed

by P. Kubánek, (Ondrejov/Granada) starting in 2000. Open source code. Linux/Windows (command line and graphical interface foreseen). Widely used in GRB searches.

INDI: The Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface (INDI) was started in 2003. In comparison to the Microsoft Windows centric ASCOM standard, INDI

is a

platform independent protocol developed by E. C. Downey (USA). Open source code. Not so widely spread as the upper layer interface was not done.

Sci & Tech with RAOs (5)Observatory

Managers: Open

or

close

loop

systems

In an open loop

system, a robotic telescope system points itself and collects its data without inspecting the results of its operations to ensure it is operating properly. An open loop telescope is sometimes said to be operating on faith, in that if

something goes wrong, there is no way for the control system to detect it and compensate.

A closed loop

system has the capability to evaluate its operations through redundant inputs to detect errors. A common such input would be position encoders on the telescope's axes of motion, or the capability of evaluating the system's images to ensure it was pointed at the correct field of

view when they were exposed.

RAOs

in Spain

(1)

Circulo Meridiano Carlsberg

(initiated

by KUO, IoA

and

ROA, with only

ROA nowadays): automated

telescope, La Palma, since

1983

A 2k by 2k detector allows

to observe between

100,000 and

200,000 stars

a night, down

to r'=17

. This

will

give

accurate

positions

of

stars, allowing

a reliable

link to

be made between

the

bright

stars

measured

by Hipparcos

and

the

fainter

stars

seen

on

photographic

plates

(as measured

by the

APM and

similar

measuring

machines). The current

area

of

the

survey

is

between

-30°

and

+50°

in declination

and

is

completed.

RAOsRAOs in in SpainSpain

(2)(2)

BOOTESBOOTES--1 1 (INTA/CSIC/AUS/CVUT), (INTA/CSIC/AUS/CVUT), roboticrobotic

0.3m 0.3m ØØ

and and 0.2m 0.2m ØØ

telescopestelescopes

andand

widewide--fieldfield

systemsystem, Huelva, , Huelva, sincesince

1998. 1998.

BOOTESBOOTES--2 2 (INTA/CSIC/AUS/CVUT)(INTA/CSIC/AUS/CVUT), , roboticrobotic

0.3m 0.3m ØØ telescopetelescope

andand

widewide--fieldfield

systemsystem, M, Máálaga, 2001.laga, 2001.

RAOsRAOs in in SpainSpain

(3)(3)

BOOTESBOOTES--IR/T60 OSN IR/T60 OSN (CSIC), (CSIC), roboticrobotic

0.6m 0.6m ØØ

telescopetelescope, , Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada, sincesince

2004 (2004 (optopt), ), sincesince

2007 (2007 (nIRnIR))

Simultaneous optical/nIR foreseen for late 2009

RAOsRAOs in in SpainSpain

(4)(4)

TROBAR TROBAR (UV), 0.6m (UV), 0.6m ØØ

roboticrobotic

telescope, telescope, ArasAras

del del OlmoOlmo, since 2004., since 2004.

RAOsRAOs in in SpainSpain

(5)(5)

0.8m 0.8m atat

OBS. ASTRON. MONTSEC OBS. ASTRON. MONTSEC (UB, UPC, CSIC, (UB, UPC, CSIC, ConsorciConsorci

del del MontsecMontsec, , FundaciFundacióó

Joan OrJoan Oróó))

, , roboticrobotic

0.8m 0.8m ØØ

telescopetelescope, , MontsecMontsec, , sincesince

2005. TALON 2005. TALON swsw

control control systemsystem..

Instrumentation: a 2048 x 2048 pix

CCD (12’4 FOV), UBVRI filters

RAOsRAOs in in SpainSpain

(6)(6)

CAB/INTA/CSIC CAB/INTA/CSIC RoboticRobotic

TelescopeTelescope

NetworkNetwork,,

0.4m 0.4m ØØ telescopetelescope

in Torrejin Torrejóón de n de ArdozArdoz

(Madrid), 0.5m (Madrid), 0.5m ØØ

telescope telescope

in in CalatayudCalatayud

and 0.5m and 0.5m ØØ

robotic telescope in robotic telescope in CalarCalar

Alto.Alto.

RAOsRAOs in in SpainSpain

(7)(7)AutomatedAutomated systemssystems::

CarlsbergCarlsberg

telescopetelescope

((sincesince

1983) 1983) IAA IAA TetrascopeTetrascope

(4 x 0.35m)(4 x 0.35m)

atat

OSNOSN

(2001(2001--05) 05) andand

La La SagraSagra

((sincesince

2006) 2006)

0.45m 0.45m AstrographAstrograph

atat

La La SagraSagra

((sincesince

2007) 2007) DIMMA (IAC), DIMMA (IAC), automatedautomated

seeingseeing

monitor (monitor (sincesince

2007 ?) 2007 ?)

RoboticRobotic systemssystems::

0.2m 0.2m andand

0.3m BOOTES0.3m BOOTES--1 (1 (sincesince

1998)1998)0.3m BOOTES0.3m BOOTES--2 (2 (sincesince

2001) 2001)

0.6m BOOTES0.6m BOOTES--IR (IR (sincesince

2004)2004)0.6m TROBAR (0.6m TROBAR (sincesince

2004)2004)

0.8m MONTSEC (0.8m MONTSEC (sincesince

2005)2005)0.4m, 0.5m 0.4m, 0.5m andand

0.5m CAB 0.5m CAB RoboticRobotic

TelescopeTelescope

NetworkNetwork

0.6m (in 2010?)0.6m (in 2010?) 3 x 0.6m0.6m (in Nov 2007) 0.6m (in Nov 2007) RT

network

ConclusionsConclusions

Robotic Telescopes are opening a new field in Astrophysics in termsof optimizing the observing time, with some of them being able toprovide pre-reduced data. The big advantange is that they can be placed in remote locations where human life conditions will be hostile(Antartica now, the Moon in the near future).

Technological development is involved and some of the roboticastronomical observatories are moving towards intelligent roboticastronomical observatories.

The future? RT on the far side of the moon, where stray light andelectromagnetic interference are at minimum. Then new drivesoperating at 1 revolution per month under 1/6th gravity will need tobe designed. Telescope-drive engineers and scientists will go on…

Corrections

& Addenda welcome

!

ajct@iaa.es