Introduction

My idea is to build an electronic stargazing/Binocular chair that can hold a person sitting on it, with the motors to control the two rotational axes and realize the GOTO system (which means the computer can use the celestial body coordination database to point the telescope/binocular automatically)

1. A historical survey of StarChair

The Sky Rover StarChair was a short-lived commercial product marketed as a motorized reclining “stargazing chair.” Released in the early 2000s under the Sky Rover brand, it was designed to let users comfortably track the night sky by tilting and rotating while lying in a zero-gravity style seat.

Although the idea attracted attention in astronomy and hobbyist communities, the chair was discontinued after a relatively brief market presence. Reports suggest that high manufacturing costs, limited demand, and mechanical complexity contributed to its withdrawal. Today, the StarChair survives mostly in references on enthusiast forums and product archives, with no active production or direct successor models.

In 2004, when it came out, it was labeled as $ 3950, made in Australia; now it even needs around $ 7000 to buy it since it stopped manufacturing and selling. The structure of it is not so complex, and computer technology has developed a lot over the past 20 years. It shouldn’t be very hard to make a DIY one nowadays

2. Lots of amateur Astronomers tried this idea with the manual version:

1. Custom Binocular Chair with bike wheels and zero-gravity chairs

Binocular chair stargazing, with comfort and stability

2. Another similar version with a zero-gravity chair and an alpenstock to rotate:

   DIY Astro Binocular Chair - YouTube

But I doubt the zero-gravity chair can be very useful for my GOTO system, since the rotation of that for pitch angle might not be linear. But the rotatable base plate design is useful for reference.

3. Gary’s Motorized Big Bino Chair

   Also, with a zero-gravity chair but it can rotate the base plate with an electric drill?!

   By the way, the design with some elastic rope to balance the angle of pitch can be a good idea?

4. A book systemically introduced about the homemade Binocular chair:

link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-46789-4.pdf

5. A Post with discussion about the body weight problem, portable design and even the vibration from heart beating: Motorised Binochair design for 100mm binoculars - Discussions - Binoculars - Stargazers Lounge