Paper
22 July 2016 Development and final design of FAME active array
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
FAME (Freeform Active Mirror Experiment - part of the FP7 OPTICON/FP7 development programme) intends to demonstrate the huge potential of active mirrors and freeform optical surfaces. Freeform active surfaces can help to address the new challenges of next generation astronomical instruments, which are bigger, more complex and have tighter specifications than their predecessors.

The FAME design consists of a pre-formed, deformable thin mirror sheet with an active support system. The thin face sheet provides a close to final surface shape with very high surface quality. The active array provides the support, and through actuation, the control to achieve final surface shape accuracy.

In this paper the development path, trade-offs and demonstrator design of the FAME active array is presented. The key step in the development process of the active array is the design of the mechanical structure and especially the optimization of the actuation node positions, where the actuator force is transmitted to the thin mirror sheet. This is crucial for the final performance of the mirror where the aim is to achieve an accurate surface shape, with low residual (high order) errors using the minimum number of actuators. These activities are based on the coupling of optical and mechanical engineering, using analytical and numerical methods, which results in an active array with optimized node positions and surface shape.
© (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Szigfrid Farkas, Tibor Agócs, Gabby Aitink-Kroes, Felix Bettonvil, Martin Black, Emmanuel Hugot, Attila Jaskó, Chris Miller, Hermine Schnetler, Farian van Duffelen, and Lars Venema "Development and final design of FAME active array", Proc. SPIE 9912, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation II, 991209 (22 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232679
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KEYWORDS
Actuators

Mirrors

Spherical lenses

Manufacturing

Active optics

Disk lasers

Adhesives

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