Customized overhead cranes for installation of India's largest 3.6m optical telescope at Devasthal, Nainital, India

Tarun Bangia; Shobhit Yadava; Brijesh Kumar; A. S. Ghanti; P.M. Hardikar

doi:10.1117/12.2232127

27 July 2016 Customized overhead cranes for installation of India's largest 3.6m optical telescope at Devasthal, Nainital, India

Tarun Bangia, Shobhit Yadava, Brijesh Kumar, A. S. Ghanti, P.M. Hardikar

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9906, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VI; 990620 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232127
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

India's largest 3.6 m aperture optical telescope facility has been recently established at Devasthal site by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observation Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous Institute under Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The telescope is equipped with active optics and it is designed to be used for seeinglimited observations at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. A steel building with rotating cylindrical steel Dome was erected to house 3.6m telescope and its accessories at hilltop of Devasthal site. Customized cranes were essentially required inside the building as there were space constraints around the telescope building for operating big external heavy duty cranes from outside, transportation constraints in route for bringing heavy weight cranes, altitude of observatory, and sharp bends etc. to site. To meet the challenge of telescope installation from inside the telescope building by lifting components through its hatch, two Single Girder cranes and two Under Slung cranes of 10 MT capacity each were specifically designed and developed. All the four overhead cranes were custom built to achieve the goal of handling telescope mirror and its various components during installation and assembly. Overhead cranes were installed in limited available space inside the building and tested as per IS 3177. Cranes were equipped with many features like VVVFD compatibility, provision for tandem operation, digital load display, anti-collision mechanism, electrical interlocks, radio remote, low hook height and compact carriage etc. for telescope integration at site.

Citation Download Citation

Tarun Bangia, Shobhit Yadava, Brijesh Kumar, A. S. Ghanti, and P.M. Hardikar "Customized overhead cranes for installation of India's largest 3.6m optical telescope at Devasthal, Nainital, India", Proc. SPIE 9906, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VI, 990620 (27 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232127

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