Ensuring earthquake resilience is paramount for the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Instruments positioned on the ELT’s Nasmyth platform are anticipated to endure substantial seismic accelerations, peaking at 3.6 g in specific scenarios. These instruments have to be designed not only to survive such events but also to only require minimal repairs for sustained optimal functionality. This paper presents our approach to mitigate the dynamic forces impacting the rotary platform. This platform hosts various critical components, including cryogenic control units and mosaic detector control systems, essential for the operation of MICADO in its mechanical de-rotating motion.
Furthermore, this paper tackles the challenge of minimizing instrument-induced vibrations affecting the telescope’s structure. Given that the ELT’s optical system, composed of 798 segments, operates very similar to an interferometer, maintaining an extremely stable wavefront is crucial - a key insight learned from the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Our focus is on identifying potential sources of vibration within specific frequency ranges where the telescope demonstrates increased sensitivity. We will explore strategies for mitigating these vibrations to maintain a wavefront error below 50 nm.
A major issue for project management, besides handling schedules and deadlines, is the process of finding and extracting the most relevant information from a variety of different software solutions used by the different stakeholders. This often leads to enormously large Excel sheets that try to identify the most up-to-date versions of the documents needed, which are extremely time-consuming to maintain, inefficient for finding information, and prone to errors. The contemporary methodology we introduce represents a paradigm shift in project management, eschewing the traditional model of isolated databases for documents, such as requirements, CAD data, and Gantt chart schedules. Instead, we propose an integrated database architecture that consolidates all project management needs into a single, user-friendly repository. This, coupled with a web-based interface, facilitates the retrieval of relevant information in a straightforward and dependable manner. Illustrated through the case study of ELT-MICADO, we present the implementation of this strategy using Siemens Teamcenter, an industry standard software solution that is adapted to our specific needs. This exposition is not intended as an endorsement of the product but rather as an exemplification of one potential solution. It is acknowledged that alternative software solutions may offer comparable functionality and performance.
MICADO is a first light instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), set to start operating later this decade. It will provide diffraction limited imaging, astrometry, high contrast imaging, and long slit spectroscopy at near-infrared wavelengths. During the initial phase operations, adaptive optics (AO) correction will be provided by its own natural guide star wavefront sensor. In its final configuration, that AO system will be retained and complemented by the laser guide star multi-conjugate adaptive optics module MORFEO (formerly known as MAORY). Among many other things, MICADO will study exoplanets, distant galaxies and stars, and investigate black holes, such as Sagittarius A* at the centre of the Milky Way. After their final design phase, most components of MICADO have moved on to the manufacturing and assembly phase. Here we summarize the final design of the instrument and provide an overview about its current manufacturing status and the timeline. Some lessons learned from the final design review process will be presented in order to help future instrumentation projects to cope with the challenges arising from the substantial differences between projects for 8-10m class telescopes (e.g. ESO’s VLT) and the next generation Extremely Large Telescopes (e.g. ESO’s ELT). Finally, MICADO's expected performance will be discussed in the context of the current landscape of astronomical observatories and instruments. For instance, MICADO will have similar sensitivity as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but with six times the spatial resolution.
MICADO is one of the first-light imaging instruments of the ELT and will provide superb imaging capabilities through two AO systems to the community. Being designed to work with the MCAO system MAORY, its additional ability to operate in a stand-alone mode without MAORY includes an additional SCAO wavefront sensing system. Therefore, the instrument support structure has to fulfil two purposes, the positioning of the camera in its stand-alone mode and when it will be mounted downstream of the MCAO facility MAORY. The main instrument structure is addressed here in its basic functions such as passive positioning of the instrument in the two observing modes and linking all its subsystems together. FEA results will be given as well as other performance assessments and design trade-offs. The secondary subsystem, the rotating platform is presented in its two main functions; this platform carries six cabinets containing the instrument’s electric supply, electronic control and data links as well as the supply with coolant liquids and with LN2. It drives additionally the surrounding cable wrap that contains all the supply lines to compensate the instrument’s rotation in a gravity-invariant orientation. Finally, a permanent two-story scaffold provides convenient access to the MICADO instrument in both observing modes, in stand-alone SCAO mode (full 360° access) and in MCAO mode slightly reduced including access to MAORY’s down folding M12 mirror.
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