High Efficiency Direct-drive Mount for Space Surveillance and NEO Applications

High Efficiency Direct-drive Mount for Space Surveillance and NEO Applications

The design, manufacturing and field tests of a new astronomical telescope mount are the main topics of this paper. The new robotic mount dedicated for 0.5 m class telescopes is the first mount developed, developed and produced as fully Polish concept by engineers and researchers representing the aut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Vol. 132; no. 1015; pp. 1 - 16
Main Authors: Krysiak, B., Pazderski, D., Koz owski, S. K., Koz owski, K. R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Philadelphia The Astronomical Society of the Pacific 01-09-2020
IOP Publishing Limited
IOP Publishing
Subjects:
Algorithms
Astronomical Instrumentation, Telescopes, Observatories, and Site Characterization
Astronomy
Automated telescopes
Control algorithms
Control theory
Design
Field tests
Satellite tracking
Satellites
Space surveillance
Stellar tracking devices
Technology
Telescopes
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Summary:The design, manufacturing and field tests of a new astronomical telescope mount are the main topics of this paper. The new robotic mount dedicated for 0.5 m class telescopes is the first mount developed, developed and produced as fully Polish concept by engineers and researchers representing the automation and robotics discipline (Pozna University of Technology) and astronomy (Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences). The mount is an alt-azimuth fork-type design which allows tracking of typical astronomical targets (sidereal tracking) but also man made objects (satellite tracking). Thanks to a unique mechanical design based on direct drive motors and high precision encoders coupled with custom electronics and on-board software implementing modern control theory achievements it was possible to obtain very good trajectory tracking precision throughout the entire dynamic range defined by the user scenarios. Additionally, the used control algorithms are robust to some class of disturbances such as friction which in turn allows for very high precision tracking in a wide range of angular velocities-from quasi-static movements to high-velocity satellite tracking. The test-bed infrastructure of the system is located in a dedicated astronomical research laboratory at the Pozna University of Technology campus. Local, remote as well as automatic observations can be carried out in the facility.
Bibliography:PASP-100998.R1
ISSN:0004-6280
1538-3873
DOI:10.1088/1538-3873/ab9cc5