AlpacaPi

Astronomy control software using Alpaca protocol on the Raspberry Pi

(C) 2019-2024 by Mark Sproul msproul@skychariot.com

AlpacaPi is an open-source project written in C/C++

This project was intended primarily for use on the Raspberry Pi but will work on most any Linux platform. I do my development and testing on desktop Ubuntu

Use of this source code for private or individual use is granted Use of this source code, in whole or in part for commercial purpose requires written agreement in advance.

You may use or modify this source code in any way you find useful, provided that you agree the above terms and that the author(s) have no warranty, obligations or liability. You must determine the suitability of this source code for your use.

Redistributions of this source code must retain this copyright notice.

More documentation can be found at https://msproul.github.io/AlpacaPi/

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Getting started:

If you haven't already downloaded the git repository,

connect to the directory you want the installation to be in
(you can move it later if desired)

>git clone https://github.com/msproul/AlpacaPi.git
cd AlpacaPi

There is a script setup.sh run that script >./setup.sh

It will check for various requirements and prompt you to download and install certain libraries.


install_rules.sh
	this installs the USB rules files in the appropriate directories.
	It needs to be run as root
>sudo ./install_rules.sh

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3rd Party Libraries:

In most cases AlpacaPi relies on libraries supplied by the vendors to talk to the devices. These libraries are required for the following devices:

ATIK cameras
ATIK Filter wheel
FLIR Cameras
QHY Cameras
QSI Cameras
SONY Cameras
ToupTek Cameras
ZWO ASI cameras
ZWO EFW Filter Wheel

External libraries are NOT required for

MoonLite Focusers
LX200 Telescope mount (not finished)
SkyWatcher Telescope mount (not finished)
Calibration control of Flat panel

There is a script for installing many of these libraries

./install_libraries.sh

It will bring up this screen The "Present" indicator means that the folder is there and can be installed. It does NOT mean it is installed. The script will ask you for each library that is present if you want to install it or not. As with everything, this script still has more work needed. For example, ToupTek script is only finished for 32-bit Arm as of 3/19/2021

	**********************************************
	*        AlpacaPi library installation       *
	*                                            *
	* It is OK to run this script multiple times *
	*                                            *
	* Not all of these libraries are required    *
	* For example, if you don't use QHY cameras  *
	* then the QHY library is not needed         *
	**********************************************

		ASI_lib                 	Present
		AtikCamerasSDK          	Present
		EFW_linux_mac_SDK       	Present
		FLIR-SDK                	Present
		QHY                     	Present
		toupcamsdk              	Present
	*********************************************
	Running on intel x64 : true
	Running on Arm 32 bit: false
	Running on Arm 64 bit: false
	Installing libraries into /usr/lib
	***************************************************************
	AtikCamerasSDK SDK folder found
	Would you like to install AtikCamerasSDK support [y/n]?

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Development:

AlpacaPi is written in C and C++ to run on Linux operating systems. It is built using a conventional Makefile. The make file has many defines in to enable various features.

Dependencies: openCV 3.3.1 or earlier OR openCV 4.5.1 (mouse wheel not supported after 4.5.1 cfitsio

Note: these are NOT required for everything, only those drivers that deal with cameras and any of the client applications

On the Raspberry Pi, some of the drivers require the wiringPi library. wiringPi is pre-installed on Raspbian.

There is a lot of documentation that needs to be written and I am working on it as fast as I can. If there is a particular part that you need help with or need better documentation, please let me know and I will try my best to get more done on that particular part.

There are many different driver modules included in this project, almost every one supported by Alpaca/ASCOM plus a couple extras I created for my own use.

AlpacaPi has been tested on the following platforms

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS x86_64

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x86_64

Raspberry Pi 3 (32 bit)

Raspberry Pi 4 (32 bit)

Raspberry Pi 4 (64 bit)

NVIDIA Jetson Nano (64 bit)

===================================================

Status:

For those familiar with ASCOM and ASCOM development, I use the CONFORM tool to verify the workings of my drivers. Here my current results (as of Feb 11, 2024)

Apr 1, 2020 CONFORM-filterwheel -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 2, 2020 CONFORM-focuser -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 2, 2020 CONFORM-rotator -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 2, 2020 CONFORM-switch -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 12, 2021 CONFORM-dome/ror -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 20, 2021 CONFORM-camera/zwo -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 1, 2021 CONFORM-observingconditions -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 6, 2021 CONFORM-covercalibrator -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 30, 2021 CONFORM-filterwheel/atik -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jun 24, 2021 CONFORM-switch -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 2, 2022 CONFORM-switch -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 27, 2022 CONFORMU-filterwheeldriver_usis -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 27, 2022 CONFORMU-focuserdriver_USIS -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 27, 2022 CONFORMU-observingconditions -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 28, 2022 CONFORMU-focuserdriver-Moonlite-HiRes -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 28, 2022 CONFORMU-focuserdriver-Moonlite-NiteCrawler -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 2, 2023 CONFORMU-rotatordriver_sim -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 3, 2023 CONFORMU-filterwheel/simulator -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 3, 2023 CONFORMU-switch/simulator -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 4, 2023 CONFORMU-covercalibration/simulator -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 4, 2023 CONFORMU-camera/simulator -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jun 9, 2023 CONFORM-covercalibrarion-Alnitak -> PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Documentation:

Documentation is available at https://msproul.github.io/AlpacaPi/

When you download AlpacaPi, you get the full documentation in the "docs" folder

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Contact:

msproul@skychariot.com

I program embedded systems for a living, I have been programming for over 40 years. AlpacaPi is open source, but if you find it useful and care to make a donation to my efforts. A PayPal donation to the above address would be appreciated.

I have developed this for the purpose of running my own observatory which I put a lot of money and time into. I expect to be running this observatory and keeping this software up to date for a long time.