optical instrumentation, telescope design, eyepiece design, instrument design, optical design, motion control

Home	Checkup	Services	Track Record	Optomechanics	About Us	Links	Contact Us

CAPABILITIES

CASE STUDYS

We are optomechanical design and development specialists and have engineered semi-custom mechanisms and optical instrumentation for the astronomical research community over a number of years. Capabilities include:

lens design and optimisation
budget tolerance analysis
precision mechanisms including traction drives and compound flexures
coordinated multi-axis motion control
static and dynamics structural and thermal simulation
including drop-testing, optical element deformation under
self-weight and thermal stressing
CFD analysis of cooling flows in the vicinity of precision massive optics
telescope design, prototyping and small-batch manufacture
extremely economical managed manufacture of optical assemblies

Case Study: Primary Mirror Mount for Reflecting Telescopes

One of the weakest aspects of the vast majority of amateur and professional reflecting telescopes is the engineering of the primary mirror mount.

Unstable and awkward collimation, thermal equilibration and dust exclusion usually limit performance for critical high-resolution applications and/or waste valuable telescope time in maintenance. The system described here was designed to improve stability, equilibration and dirt exclusion.

Case Study: Upgraded Drive System for a Popular Telescope Mount
new - 3D PDF model - click image

Telescope drives move the telescope mass very precisely to counteract the rotation of the earth. Popular mounts have two orthogonal rotary axes which require both velocity and position control to arc second-level accuracy. A popular German Equatorial mount (GEM) appeared on the market with robust mechanical construction but primitive controls.
It was clear that there was good potential to extract better performance by retrofitting better controls to existing mechanics. The project is described here.

Case Study: Wide Angle Aberration-Free Ocular

Shibumi plans to commercialise the first of a family of high quality astronomical eyepieces. These are of a conventional yet highly refined refractive optical design, originally patented by Don Dilworth in 1986.
The oculars are distinguished by a 90 degree field of view, free of all perceptible field aberration when used with common types of astronomical telescopes. Spherical aberration of the pupil is also low, eliminating the ‘kidney bean phenomenon. The project is described here.