The Mini-SiTian Array: Design and application of Master Control System
Abstract
The SiTian Project represents a groundbreaking initiative in astronomy, aiming to deploy a global network of telescopes, each with a 1-meter aperture, for comprehensive time-domain sky surveys. The network's innovative architecture features multiple observational nodes, each comprising three strategically aligned telescopes equipped with filters. This design enables three-color (g, r, i) channel imaging within each node, facilitating precise and coordinated observations. As a pathfinder to the full-scale project, the Mini-SiTian Project serves as the scientific and technological validation platform, utilizing three 30-centimeter aperture telescopes to validate the methodologies and technologies planned for the broader SiTian network. This paper focuses on the development and implementation of the Master Control System (MCS),and the central command hub for the Mini-SiTian array. The MCS is designed to facilitate seamless communication with the SiTian Brain, the project's central processing and decision-making unit, while ensuring accurate task allocation, real-time status monitoring, and optimized observational workflows. The system adopts a robust architecture that separates front-end and back-end functionalities.A key innovation of the MCS is its ability to dynamically adjust observation plans in response to transient source alerts, enabling rapid and coordinated scans of target sky regions...(abridged)
Cite
@article{arxiv.2504.01613,
title = {The Mini-SiTian Array: Design and application of Master Control System},
author = {Zheng Wang and Jin-hang Zou and Liang Ge and Min He and Jian Li and Yi Hu and Jianfeng Tian},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.01613},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
16 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in a special issue of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics on the Mini-SiTian Array