Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - 40
APPLICATION
BRIEFS
Exploring Dark Matter with the Help of Robotic Fiber Positioners
New Scale Technologies
Victor, NY
www.newscaletech.com
E
xploring the final frontier has
been a decades-long mission for
many. Yet, the nature of space, such
as limits of galaxy formation and
galaxies' gas cycles, is still unknown.
Exploring dark matter in the
universe has been difficult in the
past because it eludes direct detection.
While much of the research
dollars and public attention has
been directed to space telescopes
in recent years, the Via Project utilizes
ground-based MMT and Magellan
telescopes
to
create
a
high-resolution
map to understand
the motion of the stars and
gas in the Milky Way, beyond the
precision and scope of current astronomical
instrumentation.
Via Project engineers, project managers and scientists from
Carnegie Observations, Harvard & Smithsonian, and Stanford
University are collaborating to build advanced spectrographs
for use at the MMT Observatory in Arizona and Magellan/Clay
telescope in Chile, which will be used in a five-year survey targeting
stellar streams and dwarf galaxy candidates, as well as
mapping large contiguous areas of the sky.
The ViaSpec is the all-star instrument for this mission. Collecting
light from up to 600 individual targets, the instrument
uses optical fibers to direct light into its spectrograph. In doing
this, it will deliver 100 M/S radial velocity resolution for millions
of stars. The ViaSpec instrument consists of fiber positioners,
attached to a primary mirror cell, a 25-m run of optical fibers
from the positioners to the spectrograph. In collaboration
with the Via Project Team, New Scale Technologies is manufacturing
next generation " Viper " robotic fiber positioners to enable
simpler yet faster survey operations.
The focal plane system hosts 600 Viper positioners, each
moving an optical fiber. These robots and fibers are vertically
oriented in the focal plane, allowing simultaneous positioning
of all fibers to match unique star fields with a high fault
tolerance. The optical fibers guide individual starlight to the
ViaSpec spectrograph on a controlled-radius cable carrier's
neutral axis.
ViaSpec Integration of 600 Viper positioners in the telescope
focal plane. (Image: Via Project)
New Scale is assisting with this
effort through providing Viper fiber
positioners. Viper positioners
provide improved accuracy, simplified
integration, faster star-to-fiber
alignment, and accelerated data
collection to speed the research.
Viper robots improve accuracy
through a two-axis (Theta-Phi) rotation
of each fiber that provides
full fiber coverage of a patrol radius
of 15.3-mm Closed-loop positioning
thru the Viper patrol radius is
made possible using: (1) absolute
angle sensors on each axis; (2) direct-drive
piezoelectric SQUIGGLE
motors, providing high torque with
zero backlash, zero-power hold,
and no gears; and (3) co-located
drive electronics below each Viper
robot with embedded closed-loop
digital control and calibration.
The Viper fiber positioning module builds upon its predecessor,
the Cobra fiber positioner that is used in the Prime Focus
Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru Telescope. Cobra has a
patrol radius of 4.75 mm. The larger patrol radius of the Via
system allows embedded absolute angle sensing, control, and
calibration. Each Viper robot is factory-calibrated with its embedded
electronics to create a modular subsystem. The electronics
are located below the Viper robot and fit inside the area
of the patrol radius. Each Viper system is individually installed
and removed from the focal plane.
Compared to Cobra, fiber-to-star alignment is faster, with fewer
iterations, and requires less frequent use of the global fiducial
camera. Local closed-loop positioning results in less time
used for set-up and more time available for light collection.
The survey is expected to begin in early 2027, running for
five years, 150 nights per year, and encompassing 3 million
spectra. The Via project is planning for its data to build on the
enabling data released by Gaia DR4 and LSST.
" This new Viper positioner reflects the best capabilities of
our mechatronic technologies and team, " said David Henderson,
Founder and CEO at New Scale. " We are combining our
newest generation of motors, sensors, electronics, and software
to achieve the most demanding science objectives of the
Via Project. "
" The absolute positioning accuracy provided by the Viper
The bench spectrograph is a 260-mm beam spectrograph that
accommodates 600 fibers located in a gravity-invariant, thermally
stable enclosure. With a uniformly high efficiency of 90 percent,
the instrument employs a binary grating, spanning the
spectral region between the Mgb triplet and the NaD doublet. A
high-quality image on a single large-frame CCD can also be produced
through the camera, which has six optical elements.
40
robots will enable much simpler and faster survey operations,
which is an exciting possibility for us, " said Charlie
Conroy, Via Project Co-PI and Professor of Astronomy at
Harvard University.
This article was contributed by New Scale Technologies
(Victor, NY). For more information, visit www.newscaletech.com.
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Tech Briefs, September 2024
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - Intro
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