- StarTel

What is the RoboDIMM?

The RoboDIMM is a fully autonomous seeing monitor. It's a device which samples the differential motion of a single bright star between two separate optical paths through the atmosphere.

The RoboDIMM is in fact a combination of astronomical hardware (telescope, optical wedges, dome), computer hardware (industrial computer and adapters) and software.

How do I contact StarTel?

If you want to contact us, please feel free to send email to info@startel.nl . Or click on 'contact' for other addresses.

What does RoboDIMM measure?

How is RoboDIMM different from other DIMM's?

A fully autonomous DIMM has to be reliable in every way. The software is the most complex and important entity within the DIMM. To ensure the DIMM's stablity, efficiency and accuracy, much time must be spent on research and on the design of the software.

StarTel has highly skilled software engineers with passion for astronomy, high need for achievement and commitment to the job. That has resulted in a perfect balance and harmony between astronomy and software engineering.

RoboDIMM is designed in very flexible way, allowing all kinds of hardware peripherals to be used. Furthermore, an "Applications Programming Interface" (API) allows programmers to access all functionalities of the RoboDIMM software and hardware.

Can I see your RoboDIMM running?

Yes, you can, soon. We are building a new prototype which will be installed near our observatory (J.C. Kapteyn Observatory, Roden, the Netherlands) on a permanent basis.

Feel free to come over and have a look at our DIMM as it is running.

What is the quality of RoboDIMM's measurements?

<p>The seeing measurements of RoboDIMM have been compared (and
calibrated) to other DIMM's over a longer stretch of time, and are in
good agreement.</p>

Does the software run on Windows?

Currently the software is only designed for Linux, because of its stability (or rather the lack of stability of the Windows operating system). Furthermore, many observatories use unix based systems for historical reasons.

However, the RoboDIMM graphical user interface is X11-based and can be accessed under other operating systems like Windows. The RoboDIMM server is also fully accessible via a simple telnet of ssh shell.

How can I access the measurements?

RoboDIMM's measurements are stored in a database and can retrieved by using the standardized SQL interface (also remote accessible via TCP/IP).

Real-time seeing plots are also available via a webserver.

What models are available?

The RoboDIMM software alone, without any hardware
low-cost "inside-DIMM", semi-autonomous (operator needed to keep track of the weather conditions and to switch the device on/off)
Full autonomous "outside-DIMM", complete with all hardware, dome and software.