The original Ultrascope uses Arduino Shield + Arduino to control stepper motors and use smartphone to take/transmit pictures to web browser running on PC... But the hardware (circuit) and software (source code) are not released yet. The latest information was updated at 2015 (3 years ago). So, I think the project is closed (not stopped) and the team members are no longer devoting on this project.
Without well designed motor controller and software app, Ultrascope can only be operated manually. It looks like I have to solve this problem by myself.
Basically, the controller controls two stepper motors. But I want it to do more:
- It should have built-in star/nebula/planet database so that the user can select e.g. Saturn to goto.
- It should be able to do polar axis alignment by using three bright stars in sky.
- It should be able to receive commands from ST4 guider.
- It should be able to communicate with smartphones through bluetooth. I want to control the telescope by APPs on my smartphone.
Well, this is not an easy task. I don't know if I can complete the task and get everything working well. So I decide to separate the controller from the Ultrascope Focus project. Yes, it will be an independent project and not open source.
Imaging Device
I have no plain to use smartphone to take images. This is because there are a lot of better imaging devices out there. We can design adaptors for those imaging devices. Btw, the image sensor built in smartphone is not suitable for take astronomical photos due to the IR-cut filter.
