The MROI fast tip-tilt correction and target acquisition system

John Young; David Buscher; Martin Fisher; Christopher Haniff; Alexander Rea; Eugene B. Seneta; Xiaowei Sun; Donald Wilson; Allen Farris; Andres Olivares; Robert Selina

doi:10.1117/12.926316

12 September 2012 The MROI fast tip-tilt correction and target acquisition system

John Young, David Buscher, Martin Fisher, Christopher Haniff, Alexander Rea, Eugene B. Seneta, Xiaowei Sun, Donald Wilson, Allen Farris, Andres Olivares, Robert Selina

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8445, Optical and Infrared Interferometry III; 84451V (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926316
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The fast tip-tilt correction system for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) is being designed and fabricated by the University of Cambridge. The design of the system is currently at an advanced stage and the performance of its critical subsystems has been verified in the laboratory. The system has been designed to meet a demanding set of specifications including satisfying all performance requirements in ambient temperatures down to -5 °C, maintaining the stability of the tip-tilt fiducial over a 5 °C temperature change without recourse to an optical reference, and a target acquisition mode with a 60” field-of-view. We describe the important technical features of the system, which uses an Andor electron-multiplying CCD camera protected by a thermal enclosure, a transmissive optical system with mounts incorporating passive thermal compensation, and custom control software running under Xenomai real-time Linux. We also report results from laboratory tests that demonstrate (a) the high stability of the custom optic mounts and (b) the low readout and compute latencies that will allow us to achieve a 40 Hz closed-loop bandwidth on bright targets.

Citation Download Citation

John Young, David Buscher, Martin Fisher, Christopher Haniff, Alexander Rea, Eugene B. Seneta, Xiaowei Sun, Donald Wilson, Allen Farris, Andres Olivares, and Robert Selina "The MROI fast tip-tilt correction and target acquisition system", Proc. SPIE 8445, Optical and Infrared Interferometry III, 84451V (12 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926316

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