Overall performance of AESOP: the 4MOST fibre positioner

Jurek Brzeski; David Adams; Gabriella Baker; Sufyan Baker; Rebecca Brown; Scott Case; Timothy Chin; Jack Coyne; Tony Farrell; Peter Gillingham; Ellen Houston; Urs Klauser; Yevgen Kripak; Nirmala Kunwar; Jon Lawrence; Slavko Mali; Wojtek Maslak; Helen McGregor; Rolf Muller; Vijay Nichani; Naveen Pai; Ellie O'brien; Will Saunders; Scott Smedley; Sudharshan Venkatesan; Lew Waller; Jahanzeb Zahoor; Jessica Zheng

doi:10.1117/12.2627900

29 August 2022 Overall performance of AESOP: the 4MOST fibre positioner

Jurek Brzeski, David Adams, Gabriella Baker, Sufyan Baker, Rebecca Brown, Scott Case, Timothy Chin, Jack Coyne, Tony Farrell, Peter Gillingham, Ellen Houston, Urs Klauser, Yevgen Kripak, Nirmala Kunwar, Jon Lawrence, Slavko Mali, Wojtek Maslak, Helen McGregor, Rolf Muller, Vijay Nichani, Naveen Pai, Ellie O'brien, Will Saunders, Scott Smedley, Sudharshan Venkatesan, Lew Waller, Jahanzeb Zahoor, Jessica Zheng

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12184, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX; 121846M (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627900
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Conference Poster

Abstract

The Australian Astronomical Observatory’s (AAO’s) AESOP project is part of the Multi-Object Spectrograph Telescope (4MOST) system for the VISTA telescope. It includes the 2436-fibre positioner, space frame and electronics enclosures. The AESOP concept and the role of the AAO in the 4MOST project have been described in previous SPIE proceedings. The project final assembly stage has recently been completed. In this paper, key results in accurate manufacturing and assembly of critical AESOP components are discussed. The major performance requirement for AESOP is that all 2436 science fibre cores and 12 guide fibre bundles are to be re-positioned to an accuracy of 10 micron within 1 minute. With a fast prime-focus focal-ratio, a close tolerance of +/-70 microns on the axial position of the fibre tips must be held so efficiency does not suffer from de-focus losses. Positioning accuracy is controlled with the metrology cameras installed on the telescope, which measures the positions of the fibre tips to an accuracy of a few micrometers and allows iterative positioning until all fibre tips are within tolerance on the ultimate position. Maintaining co-planarity of the fibre tips requires accurate control in the assembly of several components that contribute to such errors. Overall, the AESOP design fully complies with all its requirements and in most cases achieves its goals. A thorough consideration of all the relevant interfaces during the design and assembly phases, has resulted in comprehensive set of ICDs for the mechanical, electrical and software aspects of AESOP.

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Jurek Brzeski, David Adams, Gabriella Baker, Sufyan Baker, Rebecca Brown, Scott Case, Timothy Chin, Jack Coyne, Tony Farrell, Peter Gillingham, Ellen Houston, Urs Klauser, Yevgen Kripak, Nirmala Kunwar, Jon Lawrence, Slavko Mali, Wojtek Maslak, Helen McGregor, Rolf Muller, Vijay Nichani, Naveen Pai, Ellie O'brien, Will Saunders, Scott Smedley, Sudharshan Venkatesan, Lew Waller, Jahanzeb Zahoor, and Jessica Zheng "Overall performance of AESOP: the 4MOST fibre positioner", Proc. SPIE 12184, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX, 121846M (29 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627900

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