iKarus StellarMate Plus - Page 213

The StellarMate Plus Manual
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first observation job is close (default lead time is 5 minutes before startup time).
Once the startup procedure is completed successfully, the scheduler picks the
observation job target and starts the sequence process. If a startup script is
specified, it shall be executed first.
Data Acquisition
Depending the on the user selection, the typical workflow proceeds as follows:
· Slew mount to target. If a FITS file was specified, it first solves the files and
slew to the file coordinates.
· Auto-focus target. The autofocus process automatically selects the best star
in the frame and runs the autofocus algorithm against it.
· Perform plate solving, sync mount, and slew to target coordinates.
· Perform post-alignment focusing since the frame might have moved during
the plate solving process.
· Perform calibration and start auto-guiding: The calibration process
automatically selects the best guide star, performs calibration, and starts the
autoguide process.
· Load the sequence file in the Capture Module and start the imaging process.
Shutdown
Once the observation job is completed successfully, the scheduler selects the
next target. If the next target scheduled time is not due yet, the mount is parked
until the target is ready. Furthermore, if the next scheduled target is not due for a
user-configurable time limit, the scheduler performs a preemptive shutdown to
preserve resources and performs the startup procedure again when the target is
due.
If an unrecoverable error occurs, the observatory initiates shutdown procedure. If
there is a shutdown script, it will be executed last.
The following video demonstrates an earlier version of the scheduler, but the
basic principles still apply today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8vIXD1kois
Weather Monitoring
Another critical feature of any remotely operated robotic observatory is weather
monitoring. For weather updates, Ekos relies on the selected INDI weather driver
to continuously monitor the weather conditions. For simplicity sake, the weather