Developing engineering model Cobra fiber positioners for the Subaru Telescope’s prime focus spectrometer

Charles Fisher; Chaz Morantz; David Braun; Michael Seiffert; Hrand Aghazarian; Eamon Partos; Matthew King; Larry E. Hovland; Mark Schwochert; Joel Kaluzny; Christopher Capocasale; Andrew Houck; Johannes Gross; Daniel Reiley; Peter Mao; Reed Riddle; Khanh Bui; David Henderson; Todd Haran; Robert Culhane; Daniele Piazza; Eric Walkama

doi:10.1117/12.2054700

7 August 2014 Developing engineering model Cobra fiber positioners for the Subaru Telescope’s prime focus spectrometer

Charles Fisher, Chaz Morantz, David Braun, Michael Seiffert, Hrand Aghazarian, Eamon Partos, Matthew King, Larry E. Hovland, Mark Schwochert, Joel Kaluzny, Christopher Capocasale, Andrew Houck, Johannes Gross, Daniel Reiley, Peter Mao, Reed Riddle, Khanh Bui, David Henderson, Todd Haran, Robert Culhane, Daniele Piazza, Eric Walkama

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9151, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation; 91511Y (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054700
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The Cobra fiber positioner is being developed by the California Institute of Technology (CIT) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) instrument that will be installed at the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. PFS is a fiber fed multi-object spectrometer that uses an array of Cobra fiber positioners to rapidly reconfigure 2394 optical fibers at the prime focus of the Subaru Telescope that are capable of positioning a fiber to within 5μm of a specified target location. A single Cobra fiber positioner measures 7.7mm in diameter and is 115mm tall. The Cobra fiber positioner uses two piezo-electric rotary motors to move a fiber optic anywhere in a 9.5mm diameter patrol area. In preparation for full-scale production of 2550 Cobra positioners an Engineering Model (EM) version was developed, built and tested to validate the design, reduce manufacturing costs, and improve system reliability. The EM leveraged the previously developed prototype versions of the Cobra fiber positioner. The requirements, design, assembly techniques, development testing, design qualification and performance evaluation of EM Cobra fiber positioners are described here. Also discussed is the use of the EM build and test campaign to validate the plans for full-scale production of 2550 Cobra fiber positioners scheduled to begin in late-2014.

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Charles Fisher, Chaz Morantz, David Braun, Michael Seiffert, Hrand Aghazarian, Eamon Partos, Matthew King, Larry E. Hovland, Mark Schwochert, Joel Kaluzny, Christopher Capocasale, Andrew Houck, Johannes Gross, Daniel Reiley, Peter Mao, Reed Riddle, Khanh Bui, David Henderson, Todd Haran, Robert Culhane, Daniele Piazza, and Eric Walkama "Developing engineering model Cobra fiber positioners for the Subaru Telescope’s prime focus spectrometer", Proc. SPIE 9151, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation, 91511Y (7 August 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054700

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