High resolution actuators in astronomy applications are especially critical for large telescopes with segmented mirrors. All mirror segments need to be aligned to within nanometer tolerances to avoid distortion. PI provides a number of different drive concepts, including servo and stepper motor driven precision screw actuators, piezo motor actuators, and high-end hybrid actuator designs. Hybrid actuators combine low dynamic, long range and high dynamics, ultra-high precision components into one integrated actuator using one common nanometer-precision position feedback sensor.
The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope
- The light from 4000 celestial objects will be led into a number of spectrographs simultaneously
- MA: 24 plane segments
- MB : 37 spherical segments
- PI supplied 200 Custom Stepper Actuators for Primary Mirror Segment Alignment
MB
- Stroke: 4mm
- Push/pull force: 400N
- Resolution: 4.45nm
- Min. step size: 15nm
- Max. velocity: 9μm/s
MA
- Stroke: 25mm
- Push/pull force: 300N
- Resolution: 11nm
- Min. step size: 30nm
- Max. velocity: 17μm/s
