Update and preliminary performance analysis of the New Robotic Telescope structure

Rodríguez Pereira, César; de la Roza Palicio, Fruela; Gracia Rodríguez, Javier; Sánchez Lasheras, Fernando; Ranjbar, Ali; Copley, David; Torres Gil, Miguel A.; Harvey, Éamonn; Oria, Asier; de Cos Juez, Francisco Javier
Bibliographical reference

Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IX

Advertised on:
8
2022
Number of authors
10
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The New Robotic Telescope will be 4-meter class telescope with a fast response time (less than 30 seconds) as its primary design target. To achieve this, enough structural stiffness and a quick settling time are key factors. Over the last year, important updates to the structure have been carried out. The biggest update consists of changing the tube from a Serrurier Truss to a Multibay Truss, a tube that is more common in bigger telescopes, which provides more stiffness at a lower weight, enabling better drive performance and low settling times. A new design of the M1 Cell has also been designed, as well as updating some key parts of the structure in response to the optical specification update, that has changed from f/7.5 to f/10.6. Here we present these updates to the structure, and a parametric PyMAPDL model that allows rapid iteration over the different design parameters. Based on this finite element model, we show the preliminary static, modal, and dynamic analyses, that outline the behaviour of the design. The static analysis shows low deformations, which will allow good optical performance once the telescope is pointed at a target. Meanwhile, the modal and dynamic analyses show promising results regarding vibration, pointing and tracking performance, which will enable the telescope to move quickly enough to respond to quickly fading transient events.