GMT primary mirror control under actuator influence function uncertainties

• Grant number: 18/20743-1
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Effective date (Start): February 15, 2019
• Effective date (End): February 14, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Astronomical Instrumentation
• Principal researcher: Rodrigo Alvite Romano
• Grantee: Rodrigo Alvite Romano
• Host: Rodolphe Conan
• Home Institution: Escola de Engenharia Mauá (EEM). Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia. São Caetano do Sul , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Giant Magellan Telescope Organization Corporation, Pasadena (GMTO Corporation), United States
• Associated research grant: 11/51680-6 - Exploring the universe: from the galaxies formation to Earth-like planets with the Giant Magellan Telescope, AP.ESP

Abstract

The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO) is designing and building a ground-based 25-meter extremely large telescope. São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a founder member of the GMTO consortium. This project represents a significant increase in complexity and performance requirements over 8-10m class telescope control systems. There is no precedent for the optical configuration adopted by the GMT design, which consists of maximizing the mirror diameters in order to use few segments to reach the desired collecting area. This choice has advantages over small-segment mirror designs, but requires the development of novel control strategies, as the methods encountered in the control literature for extremely large telescopes (ELTs) do not apply. The present application has the development of feedback control strategies for the primary mirror active support system as its primary goal. The funding asked is for a one-year sabbatical research period with the Integrated Modeling team of the GMTO. The developed control algorithms shall be implemented in a sophisticated dynamic optics simulator and evaluated regarding the image quality acquired in realistic scenarios. This journey should also provide a complete view of the entire telescope control system as the simulator integrates almost all of the GMT subsystems. (AU)