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Student Projects
Contact Information
University: University of Utah
Team Member(s): ByungjuYoo, James Nolin, Chris Brammer
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Don Bloswick
Email Address: cdbrammer@gmail.com
Project Information
Title: Voice Controlled Automated Amateur Observatory
Description:
The SKOPE is a miniature observatory which allows students and friends to learn more about astronomy through interaction. The LabVIEW program provides its user with the ability to verbally give a command such as “Find Polaris” or “Find Mars”, and the program will automatically use the motorized telescope mount to point the telescope at the celestial object, while also displaying a view of what the user can expect to see through the telescope.
Products:
NI USB-6008, LabVIEW 2009
The Challenge:
Our team’s challenge was to build an automated telescope mount which can find and follow celestial objects in the sky. Calculating the exact angles at an accuracy that will find a celestial object in the night sky was a substantial mathematical challenge. However, building a telescope mount that can maintain the necessary accuracy to point at a specific celestial object, and using motors to control the angle of the telescope with such accuracy, proved to be an enormous challenge. Accomplishing this within a tight budget was also a constraining factor. Fortunately, these challenges were met without too much difficulty thanks to the robust tools found in LabVIEW.
The Solution:
Location of Celestial Objects
Mechanical System andControls
Voice Recognition
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LabVIEW and NI tools
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