Kent Harada (Project Manager), Shane Brown (Finance Manager), Donovan Macanas (VIP Coordinator), and Tina Li (Systems Integrator)
Manoa Astronomical Technologies (MAT) is a
Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP), currently in its second iteration. Dr. Trimble’s research laboratory, R.I.P. Laboratory, oversees MAT. VIP is geared to get underclassmen involved with the design process before their senior year. By the time senior design comes around, those members will be aware of the workload to come. Furthermore, if an underclassman sticks with the same VIP project, that member will be familiar with the content and context of the project.
Last year, MAT created a Newtonian Telescope named
Pioneer 01-A. The telescope’s subsystems that MAT fabricated includes its primary mirror cell (the means of supporting the primary parabolic 12″ mirror), the secondary mirror cell (which supports a flat mirror that projects the image to the observer), its instrument mounting system (which mounts a focuser and a camera), and its Optical Tube Assembly (which is the primary means to support the above). The mirrors and the German-Equatorial Mount were donated to MAT.
This year we will be working to improve the previous year’s design with the intent of improving the collimation process, improving the stability of the primary mirror, and capturing images produced by Pioneer with a high-definition camera. To do this we are redesigning the primary mirror cell and adding a focuser that is compatible with said high definition camera.
Mission Statement
To cultivate an interdisciplinary Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) program in which students will experience the design process, learn team dynamics, and gain technical skills through tasks focusing on reducing optical aberrations by improving collimation for Pioneer 01-A.
Project Summary
Development of Pioneer 01-B will occur throughout the remainder of the academic year. Following the preliminary research completed in September, the project continue into the component design phase and SolidWorks modeling throughout the remainder of October and pursue FEA analysis in November. The project will transition to fabrication in December and will pursue verification and testing in February and March. On April 7, 2017, Jupiter will be at opposition (the shortest distance between itself and Earth), and the project aims to capture a high-resolution image of Jupiter from Haleakala.
A summary of the expenditures needed for this project.
Project Budget:
Event Budget:
Minimum Funding Needed:
Requested Funding:
Funders:
Alex Dzierba, Stan Truitt, College of Engineering at UH Manoa
Thank you to all the funders for supporting this project! We truly appreciate your help!
A summary of our project performance (functional/system requirements, subteams, research, design concepts, designs, manufacturing methods, etc.).
Functional/system requirements:
- Structural: Total weight of main telescope assembly should be not greater than 150 lbs. Main Telescope assembly included all subsystems mounted on the Paramount ME.
- Structural: Telescope should be modular and able to fit in 2 containers of size 2ftx2ftx2ft, one container of 6″x6″x5′, and one container of size 1’x1’x1′ when disassembled.
- Structural: Telescope should not rotate more than 0.5 arcsecond when left to freely rotate while held from its mounting point in any orientation after being balanced.
- Structural: The Primary Mirror axis will not deviate more than .45mm from the secondary mirror’s center.
- Structural: The focuser axis will not deviate more than ⅜” from the primary mirror’s center.
- Structural: Distance between the primary mirror and focal point should be to within 0.281 inches (0.5% of the designed focal length).
- Testing: All mirror cells should allow for standard tilt and positioning collimation with optical axis.
- Testing: Temperature of all mirrors and optical components must be maintained to within 1 degree Celsius of the ambient air temperature.
- Testing: Focuser must be able to focus 50x magnification to 150x magnification.
- Testing: Full optical path achieves 0.8 Strehl Ratio
- Testing: Rayleigh ¼ wave criterion for monochromatic aberrations (astigmatism, coma, etc.)
Subsystems:
- Primary Mirror Cell and Secondary Mirror
- Optical Tube Assembly
- Focuser/Camera
- Protection System
Underclassmen
Advisors
A Zachary Trimble (Advisor)
Alex Dzierba (Mentor)
Henry Weiland (Mentor)
Stan Truitt (Mentor)
Grant Takara (Graduate Advisor)
Brennan Yamamoto (Graduate Advisor)
Contact Info
Team Email: astrotec@hawaii.edu
Project Manager: kcharada@hawaii.edu, Kent Harada
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Get Involved!
Team Meetings: Mondays 2:30 – 4:00 pm & Wednesdays 1:30 – 3:30 pm at POST 221
Fill out this interest form if you are interested in joining the project here.
