Bear Lake Observatory

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  • Objective

The purpose of this project was to design and implement an improved system to open and close the USU Bear Lake Observatory (BLO) dome and provide alerts to the user on the status of the dome as well as the weather conditions at the dome. The previous system that was used was functional, but did not have exceptional functionality. The following problems arose during use of the previous observatory dome system:

  • The previous system ran through a mac mini that was connected to a PLC. This means that when the Wi-Fi was down, the dome was inaccessible unless the dome user partially disassembled the dome. 

  • Previously, the dome did not contain any sensors to detect rain or other weather conditions that could damage the telescope. The only way of knowing if it was raining at the dome was by checking the weather conditions and looking at the cameras at the dome.

  • When the bump guard was triggered, power was cut from the dome and could only be reestablished when the bump guard was reset. However, if an object became stuck when closing the dome (e.g. the telescope), the only way of restoring power to the dome was by prying the object out of the closed dome. This was difficult to do when power was cut from the dome.

The following solutions were implemented to solve the above-mentioned problems:

  • This project seeks to simplify the system by bypassing the mac mini and connecting the whole dome operation system to the PLC. The PLC will be placed outside the dome so that the dome can still be operated outside the dome in the case of Wi-Fi being down.

  • The PLC controlling the dome will contain functionality to be able to connect to a cellular device. An app on the cellular device will allow the user to access the PLC controls off-site.

  • A rain sensor will be connected to the PLC such that in the event of rain (single drop or continuous rain), the dome user will be notified via the phone application and through text message.

  • When the bump guard is triggered, rather than cutting power to the dome, the dome will be reopened so that the obstruction can be removed before closing the dome again.

Baseline Document

PDF copy of final code


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