Open AccessAutonomous tip/tilt alignment and phasing of a distributed aperture imaging testbed
Author(s) -
Mel Ni,
Larry Benson,
John Camp,
Bruce J. Herman
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.013051
Subject(s) - computer science , tilt (camera) , testbed , optics , aperture (computer memory) , telescope , software , adaptive optics , computer vision , physics , acoustics , engineering , mechanical engineering , computer network , programming language
Star-9 is an experimental demonstration of distributed aperture imaging built at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center. White light from a scene generator enters an array of nine actively controlled telescopes, and is combined at a focused image plane. This paper describes the algorithms used to automatically bring each telescope's relative tip/tilt and phasing errors to within the operational range of the control system. The algorithms work with point-sources as well as with extended scenes. Experimental results and software algorithms are presented.