This is the only documentation of the astroguider program so far.
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Changelog:
Sep 2004: simple support for MTS-3SLP telescope drive
Aug 2004: new main window layout (technical + 3 'life' pictures)
Sep 2003: stacking of recorded pictures (shifted to the center of the
star) introduced, main reason: fun (i.e. mars'03).
Aug 2003: camera support and gtk output works. The program is able to
track a star and display its path graphically.
Jun 2003: first steps
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Astroguider analyzes the picture taken by a Webcam (or any other
camera), and follows an object (e.g. a star). It sends correction
signals to stepper motors located at the telescope mounting. This
technique, called 'autoguiding', is used in astrophotography.
Any webcam that is supported by linux can be used. In order to capture
a picture, a shell command must be specified in the source code (I
know, this is slow and ugly, but it works well for now and this is a
very flexible approach).
At the moment, the only supported is the PowerFlex MTS-3SLP and 3SDI
Telescope Drives by Boxdörfer Elektronik. However, it should be very
easy to get this thing working with other drives as well, since the
commands are well encapsulated. I like to add support for other drives
in future. Let me know which one you use.
Pleas note that this software is in an early stage. If you download
this software, don't expect to much yet. Suggestions for improvemets
and bug reports are welcome.
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Things planned:
- More testing is required.
- To enhance the algorithm used to calculate the correction signals,
as for now, only fixed length pulses (e.g. 10ms up) can be sent.
- To use the linux video drivers directly.
- To decouple the graphics parts (gtk+) from the image algorithm.
The idea is that it should be possible to run the program without
graphical output at all, e.g. on an embedded system.
- To add support for other telescope drives (e.g. LX200 commands)
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How to compile astroguider:
tar xzf guider.tar.gz
cd guider
(edit main.cpp)*
make
./guider
* In the file main.cpp there is a constant defined that says which
command to use in order to capture the images. At the moment, it is:
gqcam -v /dev/video0 -b 100 -d guide.png -t PNG &> /dev/null
You can use any shell command you like. The captured image must be in
guide.png after the command has run.
Short description of the files:
main.cpp - the main program, does all the gtk+ stuff
main.h - header file
drive.cpp - in here are the functions to control the stepper
motors of the mounting. However, at the moment,
just the Powerflex MTS is supported (adaptation
to other brands should be very simple, since all
the commands requiren are encapsulated in functions)
drive.h - header file
Makefile - make file
guide1.png - test image used to test the program during the day
guide2.png
guide3.png
guide.png - the image returned by the webcam
guider.tar.gz - everything in one file
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