PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | September 17, 2012
Proc. SPIE. 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV
KEYWORDS: Actuators, Telescopes, Metrology, Space telescopes, Radio telescopes, Laser metrology, Electromagnetic coupling, Optical instrument design, Device simulation, Laser systems engineering
An upgrade program is proposed for the Delingha 13.7-m radio telescope to implement active surface for multi-beam
observation at 3 mm wavelength. The upgrade involves three critical development aspects. One is the displacement
actuator, which must fit the existing position, space and connections of the panels and backup structure, meanwhile, must be as compact and lightweighted as possible. The second is that a new sub-reflector is necessitated by the multi-beam observation, where a new hyperbolic surface figure is optimized. The third, more crucial and difficult, is to realize active control of the actuators and real-time closed-loop of the full active surface. This paper is to present the progress of the development work, test and experiments associated with the three areas. With one of the spare panels of the telescope, an experiment system is carried out with six sets of actuator and control electronics. Another experiment system of a novel laser-based closed-loop measurement concept is also conducted with four smaller dummy panels. Both experiment setups have output expected results and further experiments are going on with them. In this paper, based on the two experiments, we will describe the special design and test of the actuator, including the design of its special mounting and connecting mechanisms. The design and manufacture and measurement of the new hyperbolic sub-reflector will be detailed as well as the principle, simulation and realization of the laser-based measurement system. Besides, the control strategy of the large scale use of the hundreds of actuators and EMI suppression are also covered.
