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The Yuan Tseh Lee Array (YTLA, formerly AMiBA)
| THE AMiBA HEXAPOD TELESCOPE MOUNT |
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Image Credit: VERTEX ANTENNENTECHNIK GmbH
General design of the AMiBA hexapod mount with its main components: support cone, jack screws, u-joints, and platform
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| The hexapod mount is probably the most distinctive characteristic of the AMiBA telescope. Structurally, it is very simple -- a platform manipulated by six actuators. By controlling the lengths of the actuators, one could point the platform toward a large portion of the sky. In addition, it provides the capability of platform rotation. Its design is driven by the requirement for having a lightweight structure which can be easily and quickly dismantled and shipped to another site for possible relocation, and the need of having direct access to the receivers on the platform for maintenance. The targeted science defines the range of the interferometer baseline lengths, leading to a 6-meter platform. Array configurations with maximum baselines require a pointing accuracy of ~0.2'. Based on these considerations, a hexapod mount with CFRP platform was chosen. In particular, for a hexapod mount no elevation counterweight and no azimuth bearing are needed and the access to the receivers and correlator from beneath the platform is straight forward. (Koch et al., 2009) |
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