Generic control of robotic telescopes

Abstract

Fully robotic observatories open a cheap, but nevertheless compelling window for scientific research. Though the telescopes are small and from the engineering point of view mostly simple, the challenging part lies in the software necessary for robotic action. If one carefully plans the development and tries to be as generic as possible, it is appropriate to create a basic software package that has the capabilities to be used on almost any robotic observatory. The aim of this article is to introduce the software used on the STELLA robotic telescope, operated by the Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam. Emphasis is put on issues addressing adaptation of the software to different robotic telescopes. The entire package is written in Sun's Java 1.3. It is expected to be released under the GNU public license later this year.