ASCOM (standard)

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ASCOM (an abbreviation for AStronomy Common Object Model) is an open initiative to provide a standard interface to a range of astronomy equipment including mounts, focussers and imaging devices in a Microsoft Windows environment.

1 History
2 What is it?
3 Licensing
4 End user
5 Developer
6 References

[edit] History

ASCOM was originally proposed by Bob Denny. Since then it has expanded, with numerous developers contributing free ASCOM drivers for a large range of astronomy equipment.

[edit] What is it?

An ASCOM driver acts as an abstraction layer between the client and hardware thus removing any hardware dependency in the client, and making the client automatically compatible with all devices that supports the minimum required properties and methods. For example, this abstraction allows an ASCOM client to use an imaging device without needing to know whether the device is attached via a serial or network connection.

ASCOM defines a collection of required Properties and Methods that ASCOM compliant software can use to communicate with an ASCOM compliant device. ASCOM also defines a range of optional Properties and Methods to take advantage of common features that may not be available for every manufacturer's device. By testing various properties an ASCOM client application can determine what features are available for use.

Properties and Methods are accessible via scripting interfaces, allowing control of devices by standard scripting applications such as VBScript and Javascript. In fact any language that supports access to Microsoft COM objects can interface with ASCOM.

An ASCOM Platform software package is available for download which installs some common libraries and documentation as well as a collection of ASCOM drivers for a broad range of equipment. Additional ASCOM drivers for devices not included in the ASCOM Platform package can be downloaded and installed separately.

Although ASCOM is predominantly used by the amateur community, because the standard is freely available it is also used in some professional installations.

[edit] Licensing

There are no particular licensing requirements other than that the ASCOM logo may only be used if the client application is ASCOM compatible, and an ASCOM driver must implement all the required properties and methods (but need not implement any of the optional properties and methods).

[edit] End user

From an astronomers point of view it is a simple matter of installing the ASCOM platform and suitable client software with no programming required.

ASCOM drivers allow computer based control of devices such as using planetarium software to direct a telescope to point at a selected object. Using a combination of mount, focuser and imaging device ASCOM drivers, it is possible to build a fully automated environment for deep sky imaging.