Alibaba's Qwen Office helps build telescope simulation system in just 3 days for under 1,000 yuan

Alibaba announced that its Qwen Office product helped a research team at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences build a digital simulation system for large-aperture research-grade telescopes. The system was set up in just 3 days for under 1,000 yuan, compared to the traditional approach of hiring software vendors, which takes about three months and costs tens of thousands of yuan, lowering the barrier by two orders of magnitude.

The system integrates telescope components, sensor status, and observation environment data into standard MCP interfaces for AI agents to monitor and control, enabling plug-and-play device management. The agent can autonomously complete a closed loop of status sensing, task planning, solution generation, and process verification by considering scientific priority, real-time telescope status, and observable windows.

The agent framework has been connected to the "Sitian" pathfinder and "Sitian" prototype. So far, it has flagged 8 early supernova candidates, with 2 triggering follow-up observations when weather permitted.