Now it's your turn to answer some questions since I answered yours.
"Doesn't do anything useful?" Why do you say that?
This is my assumption based on the last few projects readers were invited to follow your lead.
There's the $5 quadcopter. Not only were you going to show how to build one for only $5 but the plan was to have a quadcopter flying autonomously while controlled by a Propeller chip. Neither the building of a flying quadcopter nor having a quadcopter fly without human intervention is a trivial task.
(If you're thinking about "Quad Copter First Choice" as a kit or complete plans package, just post a comment and tell us about your interests.)
Follow along and build your own Quadcopter for $5. Then let your Propeller control it. Or make your own controller so you can have all the fun.
You'll need four of these low cost Chinese science kits to build one Quadcopter. Batteries not included. The remaining parts needed are only some recycled stuff like wire, cardboard and the proverbial duct tape.
__________________________
Quad Copter QC First Choice - Finally, this is the Quadcopter you've been waiting for to get started - affordable, easy piece of cake assembly, durable with replacements, and fun to fly. Check out various aerodynamics with this kit as a first choice. The Big Brain has insisted on building a QuadCopter and Humanoido is doing all the work so you can follow along and DIY your own.
According to the Brain, our budget is $5 per Quadcopter. (It does sound like the Brain is thinking of a fleet of QCs.) This build is for a craft that is flown and controlled initially by the Brain in Micro Space. If you want to develop a human control so you can have fun flying it outdoors, we'll show you how, but we insist on using parts already on hand.
The QC will have plans, parts list, and continuing descriptions on how to DIY. We'll include illustrative photos. Consider these posts the Build It Kit Instruction Manual. Plus you can chime in politely at any time with questions and comments for possible very limited technical support regarding various build steps. Any software is up to you, the Big Brain or your own Propeller. This first part is all about getting the craft built and up and running.
The project is four fold. The build will address step one and then proceed based on a natural progression if time is available.
1) a craft that will fly by itself
2) a craft that you can fly
3) a robot craft flown by the Big Brain
4) a Propeller chip craft project.
I would say the $5 quadcopter doesn't do anything useful.
Build This "Million Drops" Liquid Telescope Runs on Water Fuel
Million water drops telescope
The fuel to power this telescope comes from water and forms the primary Plano-Convex lens for this refracting design. It can build in versions ranging from small lenses on up to giant lenses. The upper limit is imposed by the weight of the lens and the strength of the membrane.
The Water Drop Telescope forms varying size refracting
lenses by a clear transparent membrane and a million
drops of water.
______________________________
Telescope Key
1 - Plano surface (flat) of water level
2 - Mount
3 - Water
4 - Clear Plastic Membrane
5 - Detector
6 - Lower Mounting Surface
Assembly
1) Begin assembly with the side mounts (2)
2) Stretch a strong yet very clear membrane across the top of the mount (4)
3) Add water (3)
4) Take some photos with camera (5)
Theory of Operation
The weight of water held in place by the sagging membrane and pulled down by gravity will form a spherical convex surface. Parallel celestial light rays enter through the plano side of the lens and exit the convex side, converging to a common focal point where a detector measures and records the image.
Materials
Go to the kitchen and find the Seran Wrap. This will make a lens about a foot in diameter. For larger lenses, use industrial clear wrap. Try large sheets of commercial shrink wrap and clear rolls of cellophane in 12-foot wide rolls. This will make a telescope with a refracting objective as large as 144-inches in diameter. Make sure the material is strong enough to support the weight of water.
Construction Tips
Use the Weight of Common Water Lenses chart to determine the weight and the practicality of the material to support this weight.
Weight
The weight of a million drops water lens is 110 lbs.
Increasing Strength
You can increase the strength of the membrane by doubling up on the surface layer but this will also degrade optical viewing by a certain proportional amount. The degree of degradation may be well worth it to massively increase the diameter to gather more light.
Adjusting the Telescope
Some membrane stretch may occur. This is offset using a detector with travel focus.
It is my opinion that to repeat many of the activities you have suggested would be a waste of time. There are my activities that would be a better use of time such as following the instructions of the Propeller Eduction Kit or reading many of the fine articles and books Parallax makes available.
What do you call, "a viable approach to astronomy?" What is that?
A viable approach to astronomy would be to learn about astronomy, telescopes, mirrors and lenses from many of the good sources of information.
I do not consider this thread a good source of information. There to many wild claims mixed in with valid theory.
Your repeated attempts to use many small lenses to emulate a single large lens is impossible by the rules of physics as Phil pointed out. Phil stated the requirements of of using multiple lenses together.
Using water held in a plastic film is not a viable approach to astronomy.
Using aluminized film as a main mirror for a telescope is not a viable approach to astronomy.
Duane, Hey, I didn't ask you to be negative again!
I'm sorry none of these projects worked out for you.
You've made your points. As Mike said, move on.
Why is it that, All the grapes I can not reach, are so sour?? Oh well, it's all part of the fun, I guess...
As a funny aside to the telescope discussion,
About one week ago, I got a letter in my catcher account that says I can buy the Hubble telescope for $1000 dollars.
Thats right folks, One Thousand dollars will buy you the Hubble Telescope, an additional $200 will get you 13 nokia phones.
I don't normally deal with "Phone Vendors" but just for fun, I will keep baiting him just to see what the shipping charges will be...
Why is it that, All the grapes I can not reach, are so sour?? Oh well, it's all part of the fun, I guess...As a funny aside to the telescope discussion, About one week ago, I got a letter in my catcher account that says I can buy the Hubble telescope for $1000 dollars. Thats right folks, One Thousand dollars will buy you the Hubble Telescope, an additional $200 will get you 13 nokia phones. I don't normally deal with "Phone Vendors" but just for fun, I will keep baiting him just to see what the shipping charges will be...Sorry for the interuption, Please, carry on. Tommy
No interruption at all. It's more like a breath of fresh air. Along the topic of the great deal on the Hubble Space Telescope, it's probably because it's being retired and replaced. But watch out for the phony Phone vendor. They can't sell it. The HST is by NASA.
The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. Webb will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Webb will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. Webb's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.
Project Proposals Being Accepted
for the Big Brain's ULT Ultra Large Telescope Plans, Designs, Projects, and Experiments Move Forward
The Brain indicates you can still be part of its Ultra Large Telescope Project by offering your positive input and suggestions. For example, ideas and discussion is open for the ULT telescope observing programs and the overall design. This means you can suggest observing projects and then state the telescope design required to perform that observational study. It will then be given consideration now in the ULT design process. Here is the first example.
Project 11.18.11 has the objective of traveling back in time to when primordial stars and planets were first forming. However, these objects are optically visibly hidden behind giant globs of dust and matter that absorb and block visible light. If the telescope is infrared, it can observe IR light that penetrates these dusty shrouds and reveals what's inside.
Suppose I want to "be part of the [Big Brain's] Ultra Large Telescope Project." What assurances can you offer that any demonstrably positive contribution I might make will result in actual hardware that embodies my ideas? 'Just wondering because, so far -- and excuse me for saying so -- I have not seen any indication that you possess the actual wherewithal to build large-scale optical apparati. If I'm to make any contributions to your ... excuse me again: the Big Brain's ... project, I need to know that my time and effort will not be wasted.
Big Brain Telescope Developments Small Telescopes Dedicate their Life to the Big One
The life span of these small telescopes includes the experiments necessary to investigate parameters and the viabilities of systems for the the large Ultra Large Telescope.
ULT criteria is open. The wavelength of the telescope is currently open. Numerous and various telescope designs are currently being explored, reviewed, built, studied and experimented upon. The objective of this, according to the Big Brain, is to contribute towards the ULT project and the knowledge of all aspects required for it.
For example, some telescopes designed, or built, or studied, or experimented on may include the following (see list below). Feel free to add to this list in positive ways. Note, these are very advanced telescope design concepts and not intended as beginner astronomy telescope projects for the uninitiated (even though they may be constructed as inexpensively as possible and presented in simple fashion with minimal designs).
MMT Multiple Mirror Telescope
MLT Multiple Lens Telescope
Water Drop Telescope
Intelligent Mirror Telescope
Thin Film Telescope
Thick Polymer Telescope
Spin Resin Telescope
Cylinder Barrel Telescope
Liquid Telescope
High Resolution Enhanced Telescope
Hybrid Telescope
Disclaimer: Projects, photos, drawings, designs, concepts, models, experiments and materials are purposed, conducted, and owned by the Big Propeller Brain and its owner, and are developed by and for the Brain's purposes and objectives. The Big Brain is developing these projects for itself, not you. You are on your own when determining any suitability of these projects for your own use. These projects are designed to satisfy the requirements and evolution of the Big Propeller Brain, not your requirements.
If you can not read the thread and enjoy it, maybe read something else?
If you cannot try an experiment and have fun, maybe don't try it?
FYI - I used aluminized film for a telescope main mirror, and it worked just fine for what I was trying to do. Of course, it wasn't optically perfect, but it was pneumatically focus-able. Pretty darn good for "free".
FYI - water in a plastic film is viable for user focusable eyeglasses, why would it not be viable for astronomy? I don't think you could sell a lot of them to NASA, but is would sure be cool to play with in the back yard some summer night, and if the kids break it, there's no glass shards.
Humanoido, Suppose I want to "be part of the [Big Brain's] Ultra Large Telescope Project." What assurances can you offer that any demonstrably positive contribution I might make will result in actual hardware that embodies my ideas? 'Just wondering because, so far -- and excuse me for saying so -- I have not seen any indication that you possess the actual wherewithal to build large-scale optical apparati. If I'm to make any contributions to your ... excuse me again: the Big Brain's ... project, I need to know that my time and effort will not be wasted. Thanks, -Phil
What guarantee can be offered about the success of this project? Absolutely no guarantee. What guarantee is there about what actual hardware and ideas will embody it? No guarantee. Can I prove I have great skills to accomplish this great task? No I cannot. However, I believe the words of wise men have great merit.
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. - Babe Ruth
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. - Frank Loyd Wright
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. - Abraham Lincoln
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. - Thomas Jefferson
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. - Theodore Roosevelt
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. - Henry Ford
The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. - Confucius
Thin Film Telescope Patents and NASA Plus Aerospace and Assorted Sources
Sources for thin film telescopes continue to increase. NASA is interested in deployable telescopes that are rolled up during transport and unrolled in space and has already demonstrated the concept. Flexible mirrors require extra work to shape and precisely form their surfaces, however the rewards of initial compactness, material cost, speedy deployment, portability, and light weight are valuable.
This patent documents eight pages of diagrams showing an unfolding thin film telescope.
Deployable telescope having a thin-film mirror and metering structure (24-Aug-2010) http://ip.com/patent/US7782530
Acquisition
A polymer substrate with an aluminized front surface (and clear on the back) is now obtained in the meter size for experimental use testing and as a grade B experimental telescope mirror. Another meter size mirror is obtained and will be used to make a number of small and medium size mirrors and telescopes and pieces used for experiments.
Sizing & Transporting
On Thursday one of two meter mirrors was cut into three pieces and taken back to Lab 2 for more experiments. The large meter size reflector is kept in Lab 4. It is determined a meter size telescope mirror can be created for testing, housed flatted in the lab room and transported to the balcony, possibly in telescope form, for assembly and testing. A computer program will compute the times and positions of visibility for bright stars, planets and the Moon in between skyscrapers for running optical tests.
Test Results
Test results for the reflective mirror polymer are nearly identical as the reflective film.
1) the material is highly susceptible to abrading, even by rolling.
2) the material scratches easily through the aluminum coating.
3) Scratches can create a light path from the opposite side.
4) the thicker material has a degree of permanence in its curve.
5) Cutting is easily accomplished by scissors.
6) the material is highly reflective.
7) the material forms images when made convex
8) the material form images when made concave.
9) Some diffusion exists in the material at a distance
10) the material has the highest optical quality found recently
11) Cost of this material is only $5 per meter mirror
Advice for future Materials
1) Cut the material yourself (have a cloth tape measure and scissors handy)
2) Do not tighten the roll after it is rolled.
3) Handle the surface with white cotton gloves.
4) Two or three people must help handle the material.
5) Avoid kinks and pinches which can easily happen are are permanent
6) Material is electrostatic and will not easily give up dust.
7) Do not set the material on the floor.
8) Order the material with protective coating like silicon dioxide.
9) Make sure the mirror is of the first surface variety.
10) For best optical quality, confirm mirrors are over 90% reflective.
11) Find a mirror with the least amount of diffusion.
12) Measure diffusion not close up but at a distance.
13) Do not purchase the first part of the roll exposed to the outside
14) Confirm the quality of the material on both sides
15) The material surface can rest on soft tissue paper
16) Have a soft string prepared to tie the roll for transport
17) Cut the roll into a maximum diameter to fit transport luggage
Some material points for various designs
1) a roll out telescope mirror (like a window shade)
2) a variable focus telescope mirror
3) multiple mirror telescope
4) Adaptive Optics AO
5) Intelligent mirrors
6) Cylinder mirrors
7) Spherical mirrors
8) Active Optics AO
9) Morphing Designs
Robotic Control of AO or AO?
Adaptive Optics and Active Optics
Defining & Differentiating the Big Brain's Technique
from Adaptive Optics and Active Optics
In a previous post, we called the process of robotically forming, figuring, focusing, and changing the characteristics of the telescope mirror such as focal length, figure shape, and mirror design with the term active optics. This is may be too loosely applied as the Brain's technique which is powerful in additional ways and can be applied not only to both Adaptive Optics and Active Optics, but other effects mentioned. In the case with Active Optics and Adaptive Optics, some features of all systems overlap (change the surface of the mirror). However, by consideration of the definitions below, the Brain's technique is entirely functional in all new categories and requires a new definition.
According to the Wiki definition, active optics only applies to the prevention of external caused deformations like wind, temperature and mechanical stress. Adaptive optics is generally used to correct the effects of atmospheric seeing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_optics Active optics is not to be confused with adaptive optics, which operates at a shorter timescale and corrects different distortions. Active optics is a technology used with reflecting telescopes developed in the 1980s[1], which actively shapes a telescope's mirrors to prevent deformation due to external influences such as wind, temperature, mechanical stress. Without active optics, the construction of 8 metre class telescopes is not possible, nor would telescopes with segmented mirrors be feasible. This method is used by, among others, the Nordic Optical Telescope[2], the New Technology Telescope, the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and the Keck telescopes, as well as all of the largest telescopes built in the last decade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optics Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of wavefront distortions. It is used in astronomical telescopes[1] and laser communication systems to remove the effects of atmospheric distortion, and in retinal imaging systems[2] to reduce the impact of optical aberrations. Adaptive optics works by measuring the distortions in a wavefront and compensating for them with a device that corrects those errors such as a deformable mirror or a liquid crystal array. AO was first envisioned by Horace W. Babcock in 1953, but it did not come into common usage until advances in computer technology during the 1990s made the technique practical. Adaptive optics should not be confused with active optics, which works on a longer timescale to correct the primary mirror geometry.
Morphing Optics MO Big Brain Robotic Optics Control Technique
The effects of Morphing Optics can be seen
in three images of the Moon, taken at
different focal lengths determined by MO.
This morphing mode includes the ability
to change the focal length. If the mirror
is placed in Prime Focus, the effects of
a changing FL are more readily observed
and recorded. At top, the smallest FL,
middle shows medium FL and bottom
shows the largest FL. For all images a
SONY Cybershot camera was used.
No effort is made to image process
or actively form the mirror to increase
resolution, focus, or other MO effects.
This strictly shows the effects of MO
for a change in Focal Length. All images
are by humanoido for the Big Brain
project and the Morphing Optics
subproject under the Big Brain. _______________________
Morphing Optics - Precision ring A supports unenhanced
optical surface (mirror) B. Linkage D connects to B. Center
exampling servo motor E connects to Linkage D and forms
mirror to figure C. Left and right Servo Arrays E are
activated as needed. Total command and control is by the
Big Brain in real time. In the proposed Brain multiple servo
arrangement, the Brain actively holds the positions of all
active servos using Propellers based on the command.
_________________________
Definition
The process of robotically forming, reshaping, figuring, correcting, focusing, and changing the characteristics of the telescope mirror and including focal length, figure shape, and mirror design is named MO or Morphing Optics.
Design
In the most simple demonstrative form, glass, film, polymer substrate, or other material, is connected to a propeller chip through a servo which attaches to the back side of the mirror along the central axis.
History
Morphing Optics was originally introduced in 1971 for the 40-inch Ultra Thin Glass Mirror Newtonian Telescope project with a resolution of 144. This design led to the Resin Mirror 52-inch Newtonian Reflector Telescope series. MO was used primarily to figure the glass shape at the eyepiece during telescopic observation.
MO Useage
The uses for MO Morphing Optics are varied. A list of suggested uses is given below.
Figure mirror in real time
Change mirror design
Establish Focus
Change and set the FL
Introduce automatic presets
Correct aberrations such as astigmatism
Correct mounting thermal conductivity
Correct angular stresses
Correct some effects of atmosphere
Correct mirror temperature changes
Experiment with mirror shapes, spherical, oblate, parabolic
Change mirror to compensate orientation
Develop Parfocal systems
Improve optical performance
Spin Code
The code currently used to drive a Propeller chip with one servo to example mirror morphing is found from stock programs in the Parallax OBEX. In the future the hope and plan is to create a more specific and customized program for more servos. For now, we are looking for the most simple driver program to example one servo.
http://obex.parallax.com/objects/456/
by Kwabena W. Agyeman - A dual servo driver that runs in one cog. The code has been fully optimized with a super simple spin interface for maximum speed and is also fully commented. Provides full support for: Setting the pulse length for the left servo. Setting the pulse length for the right servo.
{{///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// PWM2C Servo Demo
//
// Author: Kwabena W. Agyeman
// Updated: 8/22/2010
// Designed For: P8X32A
// Version: 1.0
//
// Copyright (c) 2010 Kwabena W. Agyeman
// See end of file for terms of use.
//
// Update History:
//
// v1.0 - Original release - 8/22/2010.
//
// Run the program with the specified driver hardware.
//
// Nyamekye,
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
}}
CON
_clkmode = xtal1 + pll16x
_xinfreq = 5_000_000
_leftServoPin = 8
_rightServoPin = 9
_timeStepInMilliseconds = 20
_updateFrequencyInHertz = 50
OBJ
ser: "PWM2C_SEREngine.spin"
PUB demo | timeCounter, frequencyCounter
ifnot(ser.SEREngineStart(_leftServoPin, _rightServoPin, _updateFrequencyInHertz))
reboot
timeCounter := ((clkfreq / 1_000) * _timeStepInMilliseconds)
repeat
repeat frequencyCounter from 0 to 1_000 step 10
ser.leftPulseLength(1_000 + frequencyCounter)
ser.rightPulseLength(2_000 - frequencyCounter)
waitcnt(timeCounter + cnt)
repeat frequencyCounter from 1_000 to 0 step 10
ser.leftPulseLength(1_000 + frequencyCounter)
ser.rightPulseLength(2_000 - frequencyCounter)
waitcnt(timeCounter + cnt)
{{
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// TERMS OF USE: MIT License
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
// files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy,
// modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
// Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
//
// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the
// Software.
//
// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
// WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
// COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,
// ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
}}
http://obex.parallax.com/objects/604/
by Diego Pontones - This object allows the control of up to 14 standard servos. It requires 1 cog. 2 cogs required for Accelerated/ Decelerated Moves. This object is based on the Servos for PE Kit.spin but incorporates many new features like:
a) Three different type of movements: Immediate, Gradual and Accelerated/Decelerated Immediate Moves: One or more servos are moved to the new positions as fast as they allow it. Gradual Moves: One or more servos are moved to the new positions in a predetermined number of pulses. Accelerated/Decelerated Moves: One or more servos are moved to the new position using the sine function to achieve a gradual acceleration at the beginning of the move and a gradual deceleration at the end of the move. Please note that if Accelerated/Decelerated moves are used an additional cog is required to run the Float32 object used for the sin function. All movements are executed during a certain number of pulses, where 50 pulses equal one second.
b) Option to send pulses while in holding position. When a movement is completed there is the option to keep sending pulses to hold the servo in the last position or to stop sending pulses. Sending hold pulses helps keep the servo firmly in position (useful for robotic arms or walking robots) but increases the power consumption. Not sending hold pulses leaves the servo idle so power consumption is reduced, this is normally used for servos that do not require a high holding torque.
c) Servos can be moved individually or in combined moves. All parameters, like type of movement, number of pulses and optional holding pulse can be set individually for each servo so very complex movements can be executed. For example different movement durations can be set for each servo or some servos can be moved many times while other servos are still completing a long move.
{{
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ dservo_use_1_Servo_Example v1.0 │
│ Author: Diego Pontones │
│ Copyright (c) 2010 Diego Pontones │
│ See end of file for terms of use. │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
INTRODUCTION
The following object is an example on how to use the dServo object to control 1 servo (most basic use).
HISTORY
v1.0 2010-03-24 Beta release
}}
CON
_clkmode = xtal1 + pll16x ' Feedback and PLL multiplier = 80 MHz
_xinfreq = 5_000_000 ' External oscillator = 5 MHz
NumServos = 1 ' Number of servos to control 1 to 14
VAR
byte pin[NumServos] ' Propeller pin numbers for each servo.
long CurrPos[NumServos] ' Contains the current Pulse Width (Position) for each servo, -1000 to 1000
long NewPos[NumServos] ' Enter the desired New Pulse Width (Position) for each servo, -1000 to 1000
long NumPulses[NumServos] ' Number of Pulses to be sent for each servo. (pulse period is 20 ms, 50 ms = 1 sec)
long GradMove ' One bit for each servo. If bit is set then movement will be gradual.
long AccDecMove ' One bit for each servo. If bit is set then movement will have Acceleration/Deceleration.
long HoldPulse ' One bit for each servo. If bit is set then pulses will be sent continuously to hold the new position
OBJ
servos : "dServo" ' Declare Servos object
PUB testServos | index, startOK ' Example on how to control one servo
pin[0] := 15 'Initialize value of propeller pin connected to the servo
NumPulses[0] := 0 'Initialize number of pulses pending to be sent to the servo as cero
NewPos[0] := CurrPos[0]:= 0 'Initialize starting and current servo positions
'Once the initial positions have been initialized start the servos object in a new cog.
startOK := servos.start(@pin[0], @CurrPos[0], @NewPos[0], @NumPulses[0],@GradMove,@AccDecMove,@HoldPulse, NumServos)
'Move servo to position 800, using Accelerated/Decelerated move, lasting 2 seconds, and sending holding pulses at the end.
GradMove:= %0 'No Gradual Movement
AccDecMove:= %1 'Use Accelerated/Decelerated movement
HoldPulse:= %1 'Send holding pulses
NewPos[0]:= 800
NumPulses[0]:= 100 'Execute movement
repeat while NumPulses[0] 'Wait for movement to complete
waitcnt(clkfreq * 4 + cnt) 'Wait 4 seconds
'Move servo to position -800, using Gradual move, lasting 6 seconds, and then idle the servo at the end.
GradMove:= %1 'Gradual Movement
AccDecMove:= %0 'Do not use Accelerated/Decelerated movement
HoldPulse:= %0 'Do not Send holding pulses
NewPos[0]:= -800
NumPulses[0]:= 300 'Execute movement
repeat while NumPulses[0] 'Wait for movement to complete
waitcnt(clkfreq * 4 + cnt) 'Wait 4 seconds
'Move servo to position 0 (center), using Immediate move, send 40 pulses, and then idle the servo at the end.
GradMove:= %0 'No Gradual Movement
NewPos[0]:= 0
NumPulses[0]:= 40 'Execute movement
repeat while NumPulses[0] 'Wait for movement to complete
waitcnt(clkfreq * 4 + cnt) 'Wait 4 seconds
servos.stop 'Stop the servos object.
{{
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TERMS OF USE: MIT License │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation │
│files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, │
│modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software│
│is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: │
│ │
│The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.│
│ │
│THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE │
│WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR │
│COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, │
│ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
}}
Brain MO and the Herschelian Design Morphing Optics and the Potential of Herschel's Design
The Brain is attempting to build in a Herschelian design into Morphing optics that will not require the use of a secondary mirror. The advantage is the image could be reflected to the side and picked up either visually, magnified, or camera imaged. The image is not mirrored a second time, there is no central obstruction, the image remains brighter and should be of higher quality with reduced optical reflections. Distortions are minimized in this design by using longer focal lengths. It's possible, if the anti distortion mirror surface is calculated, the Big Brain's MO could correct for it.
Propeller Brain Allotment Factors for Zonal Control & Observational Data Sensors
Rick: Thanks for sharing those quotes. They make very good sense.
When you come to a fork in the road, take it!
- Yogi Berra
You can observe a lot by watching.
- Yogi Berra
Propeller Brain Allotment
Our fork in the road will include choices of the amount of Propeller Big Brain allotment to the AI Telescope control, the size of the primary, and what objectives will be accomplished with it.
Factors for Zonal Control
On the number of Propeller chips required, it depends on the size of the primary mirror. In small exampling Intelligent Mirror, one demonstrative Propeller chip can form the mirror to approach spherical and set the focal length. On the ULT, depending on design (MMT or Single), the number of Propeller chips will need to be increased according to the number of zones to be commanded. Consider a Cog per zone, so eight zones per chip. If a 40-inch takes 144 zones, consider what a larger telescope will require. In the case of a 40-inch, it would take 18 Propeller chips. (144 zones/8 cogs per Propeller chip) In the previous postings we examined primary objective diameter sizes. We will need the Big Brain with many processors to cover all zones commanded in the Ultra Large Mirror.
Observational Data
The watching part may come from observational data, either looking through the telescope with a mirror shaped by Propeller chips or examining the collection of data. This data can be obtained experimentally using Parallax sensors, in the case of infrared light.
Tommy and Paul: Thanks for the kind words. When this ultra large telescope is built, it will be a top priority to report on and share the results - maybe you can look though it or we'll beam data and images to you through internet.
This could use a web site dedicated to the ULT, a page controlled by the Propeller based Big Brain, and even data provided by a Parallax Spinneret Web Server.
Basic Web
In the basic configuration, a web site will dish out data, observations, and discoveries.
Historical
In the past, the Remote Controlled Cyber Space Telescope allowed individuals to control the telescope from any part of the world. Should the Big Brain do the same with the ULT? Small remote telescopes are more controllable with smaller scopes, smaller observatories and smaller equipment. Real time remote acquisition may offer some real challenges.
Reflective Film Travel Results: Three types of reflective film, substrate, and polymer were transfered from Lab 4 to Lab 2 and pieces for study were transported to Lab 3 to build more protos. Work can now progress at three Labs. The camera is in Lab 3 where work is now in progress, so we can document more details on building more Intelligent Mirrors. The important point is the Ultra Large Telescope will likely have an Intelligent Mirror or some technical details of its construct.
Beijing China Mirror Sheeting: Nearly perfect mirror sheeting was found - used for construction, this glass mirror substitute was found, distributed by various construction companies for mirror facing in banks and government buildings. Size is about 4-feet wide by very long rolls. The inspected sample would work well for a telescope, though it had some signs of astigmatism because it was not mounted on a flat plane surface. This material does not have the diffusion effect that other lower grades of reflective material have.
Europe's Fantastic Telescope: Followers of the Big Brain and its Ultra Large Telescope Project may also want to follow along with Europe's fantastic project for a future telescope.
The Very Large Telescope array (VLT) is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy at the beginning of the third Millennium. It is the world's most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’ ... allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Also brought back to the Lab are two tube mounts that can be used to create the Big Brain's new invention: a Telescoping Vacuum Mirror.
The device is using two telescoping cardboard tubes. One end of each is open. The other end of one is sealed. The other tube has two open ends, one of which contains the mirror.
Sliding the tubes apart create a vacuum and negative pressure which causes the mirror to collapse into a near perfect spherical reflector.
In this version the reflective membrane needs a vacuum seal around its perimeter.
This experiment is to try this technique's viability for use in the Ultra Large Telescope.
The TVM is hand operated, so the pressure can be adjusted and calibrated. For temporary testing, the substrate, cut in a piece larger than the open tube diameter, can overlap the tube and attach with elastic bands. In this case, an irregular substrate shape will work fine.
The amount of pressure determines the shape of the mirror and determines its focal length. It also increases the level of curve smoothness of the overall substrate and minimizes wrinkles and pinch effects should they exist.
The TVM is ideal for rapid testing of numerous reflective films and thin polymer substrates. It's a good test device for Mylar, mirror film, thin polymer, and other reflective substrates.
Ultra Large Telescope Design Scenarios Design Considerations for a Future ULT
The exact design of the ULC is unknown at this time. Experiments with different telescopes and designs continue. Some conjectures are made at this time. These ideas really depend on the size, style and type of the telescope. Some things may apply to smaller ultra large telescopes and other things may apply to the largest possible ULTs. The exact size (design, diameter and length) of the ULT is unknown at this time.
Mobility, Portability, Transport, Moving
The entire telescope is disassembled into flat pieces
Disassembly, Storage, Relocation
A thin film reflective mirror is rolled like a window shade.
Primary Telescope Mirror Type
The vacuum chamber shapes the mirror.
Most Probable Distance Transport from City to Rural Setting
The light weight structure transports by trailer or truck.
Telescope Design
The telescope structure is a Truss.
Mirror
Ultra Large Primary. The mirror is intelligent, thin, flexible, light weight.
Telescope with a Brain
The Big Brain or any of its siblings will serve as command and control.
Successful early tests of the first Telescoping Vacuum Mirror show a device made from recycled reflective material and leftover store wrappings, forming images. Not seen are the effects and changes in FL when sliding the telescoping section in or out. No attempt is made to process the images or reduce aberrations. The reflective mirror has a micro patterned plastic surface with some folds, pinches, scratches and a varying degree of astigmatism.
____________________________
These eight photos show the early Telescoping Vacuum Mirror TVM. The TVM works well for its intended application. The mirror is a common "store discard" reflective wrapper. The body is a cylindrical shaped store container cut in half. One half holds the mirror with elastic bands, the other scored half with the metal end plate becomes the telescoping adjustment.
In the eight photos showing the setup, the mirror is tested by reflecting the keyboard. No attempt is made to reduce any defects. This is a confirmation experiment for the Big Brain's purposes.
Moving sliding the telescoping section slightly in and out, the mirror warped from a plane surface to a spherical surface.
The effects noted:
For smaller mirrors, the substrate must be much more flexible.
The substrate should stretch more.
The ends of the mirror should be duct taped to ensure a longer lasting vacuum.
The chamber should be more air tight
For higher quality, sub original reflective Mylar.
The degree of planar is dependent on the pressure of even edge force
The speed of the mirror is increased by increasing vacuum
The mirror speed is decreased with decreased edge force
Insufficient edge force can cause slippage of the mirror
Thick substrate needs to be cut into a circle and supported with the plane
Thick substrate folded over the mount forms deforming pinch marks
Pinching deformers create astigmatism
Astigmatism is reduced by increasing vacuum and edge tension
The Big Brain is very happy with these test results. This paves the way for larger reflective film pneumatic mirrors which are controlled by air pressure. It introduces thin films as an equation into the picture of the VLT Very Large Telescope Project.
It's likely thin films can be controlled by the Big Brain in ways different from Intelligent Mirrors and Intelligent Glass. Control for thin films can be affected by varying pressures in a pneumatic system. Propeller chips can measure, calculate and control the shape of the mirror.
The VLT could use thin film, resin, glass, liquid, water, oil, polymer, or other mirror materials. This is the Brain's quest to find the ultimate material suitable for the intended purposes of the VLT. Thin reflective film is a viable approach and will become a more permanent part of this research program.
ULT Ultra Large Telescope
Discussion on Size, Site Selection, Mobility What is manageable?
Some goals are a telescope that is manageable and large enough to satisfy the observational and data collection requirements.
The ULT Ultra Large Telescope is open for discussion regarding size - not only must it satisfy the project science requirements of the Big Brain, it must also be of reasonable size so it can be managed. Factors to consider include design, where it should be located, and how it should be transported. To better answer the question about how it should be transported, and where it should be located, the decision on size must be determined.
The size larger than a house
Do we want the telescope a size larger than a house? If so, it would take a long time to set up and take down. If it were one of the largest telescopes in the world, it would need a permanent housing and observatory. Maybe the ULT would take a week to setup and an equal amount of time to take down if it were made relocatable. It would need either several transport trips to the site, or would need to remain on the site, or it could have its own truck for transport.
Historical & Other Considerations
The 40-inch and 52-inch telescopes were transported by pickup truck. A telescope that's larger than 200-inches would need a flat bed semi truck. This could be expensive and take up a lot of room. There is also the consideration of storage. If the telescope is 600-inches in diameter, it would be over 50-feet wide. Even a 200 inch diameter mirror would extend out 17-feet wide.
The size equal to a room
Let's say a room is 9-feet wide or slightly larger. If rolled or folded, a 72-inch mirror could be disassembled, it could fit into the room. But the technology for rolling and folding and then reassembling a telescope mirror in a reasonable amount of time needs to be developed. NASA has this technology but at a cost of millions of dollars.
Smaller Considerations
Mirror material is readily available in 24 and 48-inches wide and 1-meter wide rolls. Do we want one telescope mirror of this size or five 48-inch mirrors making one larger telescope? Two 50-inch telescopes in MMT format would be possible.
Computer Program
Let's run a small design program to calculate a series of mirror diameters in inches and feet. Then we can see what fits in a room, what needs to be folded or rolled, and which telescope mirrors can remain whole.
If the storage room is ten feet to a side, and the mirror is folding or rolling, it could fit in through the doorway. If a garage is a storage place, the overhead door may allow a 7 or 8 foot mirror (80 or 90 inch) in one piece. The room of 10-feet wide could hold these mirrors stored against one side.
The Brain's mirrored reflectors are now divided into three groups.
Thin Film
Medium Substrate
Thick Material
Working with 8 MIL
In the case of 8 MIL reflector, it is not recommended for use as a higher grade telescope mirror because the material takes on the characteristic shape of the roll which is never fully eliminated.
Results & Conclusions
Attempted fixes included the listed experiments.
Opposite Deformation
Constant pressure
Heat
This curve causes a measured turned down edge. The figure must be under constant pressure along the opposite direction of the curve, along the entire material surface. This natural curling tendency causes more stress in the X direction compared to Y. The stress therefore creates a structural imbalance which results in astigmatism.
Corrections
The astigmatism is reduced by stretching the material equally in all directions and forming the shape using a mirror morphing technique with a Propeller chip by controlling the sagitta of the mirror. To accomplish this, a servo can be used to deform the center and approximate a spherical surface.
Masking
It appears a technique of masking will be required when these mirrors are used for astronomical purposes. More on zonal masking for specific materials will be studied, experimented on and reported.
Inflatable Robot Technology - Is this the next ULT? Can large structures like the E-ELT Telescope concept be made more inexpensively with inflatable structures? Can this technology make larger telescopes more transportable and affordable to the amateur astronomer?
By judicious use of Inflatable telescope parts, can the Big Brain's New Generation Ultra Large Telescope benefit from weight and cost reduction?
http://www.washedit.com/2009/04/ This is the concept for the European Space Agency ELT Extremely Large Telescope. The 1 billion euro (£700 million) E-ELT will have more mirror glass than all the other telescopes in the world put together. Construction of the E-ELT, which is being funded by the European Southern Observatory, an international research organisation made up of 14 European countries including Britain and the telescope is due to be operational by 2018.
___________________________
The E-ELT will use 906 hexagonal segments – each four and a half feet across – that will be pieced together to work together as a single mirror housed inside a giant rotatable dome. Each segment will have to be continually adjusted by computers to produce a single image.
http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html
Dubbed E-ELT for European Extremely Large Telescope, this revolutionary new ground-based telescope concept will have a 40-metre-class main mirror and will be the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world: “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Can large structures be replaced with light weight inflatable sections and devices?
Consider this robot and its posted video on Youtube. http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?136114-Inflata-Bot&p=1054083#post1054083
Inflata-Bot can walk using an inflated form. Can our largest telescopes use an inflated form? Can various sections of the ULT be reduced in weight and increased in ease of portability as a result? We will explore these questions and see how this technology can be used in ultra large telescopes operated by the Big Brain.
Considerations
A cursory view seems to indicate a lack of solid non-moving structural support using an inflated mount. But the inflated device can surround the base-line mounting as a protective observatory. Even inflatable devices can weigh heavily when large enough. So size is a consideration as it relates to transportable weight. Inflatable fabric with a bladder can have longer lasting results though it will be more expensive. An inflatable housing structure will not have security as it can easily be breached. There are two types of inflated devices, those that are inflated once and those that are inflated with a constant supply of air. In the case of the Big Brain's ULT, a constant supply of air would contribute to a degrade in atmospheric seeing.
In the Case of Light Weight Support
The Brain's ULC may have some lighter components which could be mounted with the use of inflatable fabric/membranes. The secondary may be light weight and a kind of Serrurier Truss that could be inflated and offer support.
Form Factor
Making forms in shapes other than round or oblong balloons is a tried and proven technology. One only needs to attend a parade to see the many shapes and figures. http://www.bigeventsonline.com/Parades/ParadePg.html http://www.biggideas.com/
Fabric can help the balloon bladder conform to specific shapes. In a telescope, many forms are round, cylindrical, and easily fit the shapes of inflatable devices.
Potential ULT Devices for Inflatable Integration
Truss
Upper Ring
Housing
Light Shield
Observatory Structure
Construction
Nylon balloons have a vinyl bladder. For more durable applications, the nylon can sub with canvas and the vinyl can be replaced with car inner tube material.
Air Pressure Changes in air pressure can affect the size and shape of inflatable devices. For this reason, such devices are not suitable for spacing, positioning and distancing critical systems. This includes optical devices in the ULT.
Some Early Conclusions The critical components in the mount for the optics, the optical support, and optical adjustment devices often have images amplified and this amplification would also amplify any inflatable motions and those changes due to variance of air pressure. Intended light bucket studies at EOU Edge of Universe include data amplification of 10x and 20x. This is in addition to the EFL Effective Focal Length. Therefore inflatable devices are not recommended for optical support. However, other devices can benefit, such as shields, housings, and other non optical materials and devices.
Now you can find everything about the Big Brain's ULT Ultra Large Telescope Project with this SpotLite Index. Beginning with talk about the ULT on October 25th, 2011 to current date November 24th, 2011 - The SpotLite index is introduced periodically on selected topics of research importance and to keep track of all developments when they become numerous, to keep levels of new information at influx, and continue tracking a project's development through completion.
page 77
1527 Big Brain Applications in Astronomy, The merging of Propeller and Telescope
1528 Can the Propeller Brain Make a Larger ULT Telescope?
1530 Analyzing the Big Brain's ULT, Telescope Systems Design Program Part 1
1532 Brain, over 3,200 Controlling I/Os, Aligning ULT in MMT Config w/ Propeller Brain
1534 Big Brain Solving Riddles of the Universe w/ ULT Ultra Large Robotic Telescope
page 78
1546 Combining ULT & MSP, Combination Ultra Large Telescope/ Micro Space Program
1547 Big Brain Invents Massive ULT Crater Telescope
page 80
1582 Build a James Web Space Telescope or ULT
page 86
1716 Project Proposals Being Accepted - Big Brain's ULT Ultra Large Telescope
1718 Big Brain Telescope Developments
1720 Guarantees
page 87
1729 Propeller Brain Allotment
1730 ULT & the Web
1731 Intelligent Mirror Reflectors - Reflective Mirror Sheeting
1732 The Very Large Telescope array (VLT)
1733 Telescoping Vacuum Mirror
1734 Ultra Large Telescope Design Scenarios, Design Considerations Future ULT
1736 ULT Ultra Large Telescope, Discussion on Size, Site Selection, Mobility
1738 Inflatable Robot Technology - Is this the next ULT?
Comments
But, since you asked:
This is my assumption based on the last few projects readers were invited to follow your lead.
There's the $5 quadcopter. Not only were you going to show how to build one for only $5 but the plan was to have a quadcopter flying autonomously while controlled by a Propeller chip. Neither the building of a flying quadcopter nor having a quadcopter fly without human intervention is a trivial task.
I would say the $5 quadcopter doesn't do anything useful.
An then there's the "Million Drops" Liquid Telescope.
Again, not useful.
It is my opinion that to repeat many of the activities you have suggested would be a waste of time. There are my activities that would be a better use of time such as following the instructions of the Propeller Eduction Kit or reading many of the fine articles and books Parallax makes available.
A viable approach to astronomy would be to learn about astronomy, telescopes, mirrors and lenses from many of the good sources of information.
I do not consider this thread a good source of information. There to many wild claims mixed in with valid theory.
Your repeated attempts to use many small lenses to emulate a single large lens is impossible by the rules of physics as Phil pointed out. Phil stated the requirements of of using multiple lenses together.
Using water held in a plastic film is not a viable approach to astronomy.
Using aluminized film as a main mirror for a telescope is not a viable approach to astronomy.
Duane
I'm sorry none of these projects worked out for you.
You've made your points. As Mike said, move on.
As a funny aside to the telescope discussion,
About one week ago, I got a letter in my catcher account that says I can buy the Hubble telescope for $1000 dollars.
Thats right folks, One Thousand dollars will buy you the Hubble Telescope, an additional $200 will get you 13 nokia phones.
I don't normally deal with "Phone Vendors" but just for fun, I will keep baiting him just to see what the shipping charges will be...
Sorry for the interuption, Please, carry on.
-Tommy
The James Webb Space Telescope
www.jwst.nasa.gov/
NASA's next-generation successor to the Hubble Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. Webb will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Webb will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. Webb's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.
Orbital positions of HST and the new Webb
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/comparison.html
More information about the James Webb Space Telescope on page 80 post 1582
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1049167&viewfull=1#post1049167
[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/586478main_flightmirrors3_226.jpg[/img]
Webb mirrors have a gold coating.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-mirror-coating.html
for the Big Brain's ULT Ultra Large Telescope
Plans, Designs, Projects, and Experiments Move Forward
The Brain indicates you can still be part of its Ultra Large Telescope Project by offering your positive input and suggestions. For example, ideas and discussion is open for the ULT telescope observing programs and the overall design. This means you can suggest observing projects and then state the telescope design required to perform that observational study. It will then be given consideration now in the ULT design process. Here is the first example.
Project 11.18.11 has the objective of traveling back in time to when primordial stars and planets were first forming. However, these objects are optically visibly hidden behind giant globs of dust and matter that absorb and block visible light. If the telescope is infrared, it can observe IR light that penetrates these dusty shrouds and reveals what's inside.
Suppose I want to "be part of the [Big Brain's] Ultra Large Telescope Project." What assurances can you offer that any demonstrably positive contribution I might make will result in actual hardware that embodies my ideas? 'Just wondering because, so far -- and excuse me for saying so -- I have not seen any indication that you possess the actual wherewithal to build large-scale optical apparati. If I'm to make any contributions to your ... excuse me again: the Big Brain's ... project, I need to know that my time and effort will not be wasted.
Thanks,
-Phil
Small Telescopes Dedicate their Life to the Big One
The life span of these small telescopes includes the experiments necessary to investigate parameters and the viabilities of systems for the the large Ultra Large Telescope.
ULT criteria is open. The wavelength of the telescope is currently open. Numerous and various telescope designs are currently being explored, reviewed, built, studied and experimented upon. The objective of this, according to the Big Brain, is to contribute towards the ULT project and the knowledge of all aspects required for it.
For example, some telescopes designed, or built, or studied, or experimented on may include the following (see list below). Feel free to add to this list in positive ways. Note, these are very advanced telescope design concepts and not intended as beginner astronomy telescope projects for the uninitiated (even though they may be constructed as inexpensively as possible and presented in simple fashion with minimal designs).
- MMT Multiple Mirror Telescope
- MLT Multiple Lens Telescope
- Water Drop Telescope
- Intelligent Mirror Telescope
- Thin Film Telescope
- Thick Polymer Telescope
- Spin Resin Telescope
- Cylinder Barrel Telescope
- Liquid Telescope
- High Resolution Enhanced Telescope
- Hybrid Telescope
Disclaimer: Projects, photos, drawings, designs, concepts, models, experiments and materials are purposed, conducted, and owned by the Big Propeller Brain and its owner, and are developed by and for the Brain's purposes and objectives. The Big Brain is developing these projects for itself, not you. You are on your own when determining any suitability of these projects for your own use. These projects are designed to satisfy the requirements and evolution of the Big Propeller Brain, not your requirements.If you cannot try an experiment and have fun, maybe don't try it?
FYI - I used aluminized film for a telescope main mirror, and it worked just fine for what I was trying to do. Of course, it wasn't optically perfect, but it was pneumatically focus-able. Pretty darn good for "free".
FYI - water in a plastic film is viable for user focusable eyeglasses, why would it not be viable for astronomy? I don't think you could sell a lot of them to NASA, but is would sure be cool to play with in the back yard some summer night, and if the kids break it, there's no glass shards.
What guarantee can be offered about the success of this project? Absolutely no guarantee. What guarantee is there about what actual hardware and ideas will embody it? No guarantee. Can I prove I have great skills to accomplish this great task? No I cannot. However, I believe the words of wise men have great merit.
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. - Babe Ruth
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. - Frank Loyd Wright
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. - Abraham Lincoln
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. - Thomas Jefferson
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. - Theodore Roosevelt
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. - Henry Ford
The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. - Confucius
- Yogi Berra
You can observe a lot by watching.
- Yogi Berra
Plus Aerospace and Assorted Sources
Sources for thin film telescopes continue to increase. NASA is interested in deployable telescopes that are rolled up during transport and unrolled in space and has already demonstrated the concept. Flexible mirrors require extra work to shape and precisely form their surfaces, however the rewards of initial compactness, material cost, speedy deployment, portability, and light weight are valuable.
This patent documents eight pages of diagrams showing an unfolding thin film telescope.
Deployable telescope having a thin-film mirror and metering structure (24-Aug-2010)
http://ip.com/patent/US7782530
Thin film telescope questions
http://www.wdv.com/Aerospace/Astronomy/DSBMirror/questions.html
Coffee can thin membrane experiments
http://www.wdv.com/Aerospace/Astronomy/DSBMirror/
Mount Ring Specs
http://www.wdv.com/Aerospace/Astronomy/DSBMirror/ringSpec.html
Aluminized Mylar as a Flux Collector
http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/flux.htm
New Deployable Thin-Film, Ultralight Mirror May Be Future Of Space Telescopes And Surveillance Satellites
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/05/000519064524.htm
[PDF] Shape correction of thin mirrors in a reconfigurable modular space ...
www.kiss.caltech.edu/study/.../patterson-pellegrino-breckinridge.pdfFile
by K Patterson
Mylar Vacuum Mirror
http://www.astronomyforum.net/atm-diy-telescope-making-forum/99613-mylar-vacuum-mirror.html
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/archive/index.php/t-62744.html
Gamma Scopes Mirrors of Thin Mylar
http://www.gammapc.com/gammascopes.html
Acquisition
A polymer substrate with an aluminized front surface (and clear on the back) is now obtained in the meter size for experimental use testing and as a grade B experimental telescope mirror. Another meter size mirror is obtained and will be used to make a number of small and medium size mirrors and telescopes and pieces used for experiments.
Sizing & Transporting
On Thursday one of two meter mirrors was cut into three pieces and taken back to Lab 2 for more experiments. The large meter size reflector is kept in Lab 4. It is determined a meter size telescope mirror can be created for testing, housed flatted in the lab room and transported to the balcony, possibly in telescope form, for assembly and testing. A computer program will compute the times and positions of visibility for bright stars, planets and the Moon in between skyscrapers for running optical tests.
Test Results
Test results for the reflective mirror polymer are nearly identical as the reflective film.
1) the material is highly susceptible to abrading, even by rolling.
2) the material scratches easily through the aluminum coating.
3) Scratches can create a light path from the opposite side.
4) the thicker material has a degree of permanence in its curve.
5) Cutting is easily accomplished by scissors.
6) the material is highly reflective.
7) the material forms images when made convex
8) the material form images when made concave.
9) Some diffusion exists in the material at a distance
10) the material has the highest optical quality found recently
11) Cost of this material is only $5 per meter mirror
Advice for future Materials
1) Cut the material yourself (have a cloth tape measure and scissors handy)
2) Do not tighten the roll after it is rolled.
3) Handle the surface with white cotton gloves.
4) Two or three people must help handle the material.
5) Avoid kinks and pinches which can easily happen are are permanent
6) Material is electrostatic and will not easily give up dust.
7) Do not set the material on the floor.
8) Order the material with protective coating like silicon dioxide.
9) Make sure the mirror is of the first surface variety.
10) For best optical quality, confirm mirrors are over 90% reflective.
11) Find a mirror with the least amount of diffusion.
12) Measure diffusion not close up but at a distance.
13) Do not purchase the first part of the roll exposed to the outside
14) Confirm the quality of the material on both sides
15) The material surface can rest on soft tissue paper
16) Have a soft string prepared to tie the roll for transport
17) Cut the roll into a maximum diameter to fit transport luggage
Some material points for various designs
1) a roll out telescope mirror (like a window shade)
2) a variable focus telescope mirror
3) multiple mirror telescope
4) Adaptive Optics AO
5) Intelligent mirrors
6) Cylinder mirrors
7) Spherical mirrors
8) Active Optics AO
9) Morphing Designs
Adaptive Optics and Active Optics
Defining & Differentiating the Big Brain's Technique
from Adaptive Optics and Active Optics
In a previous post, we called the process of robotically forming, figuring, focusing, and changing the characteristics of the telescope mirror such as focal length, figure shape, and mirror design with the term active optics. This is may be too loosely applied as the Brain's technique which is powerful in additional ways and can be applied not only to both Adaptive Optics and Active Optics, but other effects mentioned. In the case with Active Optics and Adaptive Optics, some features of all systems overlap (change the surface of the mirror). However, by consideration of the definitions below, the Brain's technique is entirely functional in all new categories and requires a new definition.
According to the Wiki definition, active optics only applies to the prevention of external caused deformations like wind, temperature and mechanical stress. Adaptive optics is generally used to correct the effects of atmospheric seeing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_optics
Active optics is not to be confused with adaptive optics, which operates at a shorter timescale and corrects different distortions. Active optics is a technology used with reflecting telescopes developed in the 1980s[1], which actively shapes a telescope's mirrors to prevent deformation due to external influences such as wind, temperature, mechanical stress. Without active optics, the construction of 8 metre class telescopes is not possible, nor would telescopes with segmented mirrors be feasible. This method is used by, among others, the Nordic Optical Telescope[2], the New Technology Telescope, the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and the Keck telescopes, as well as all of the largest telescopes built in the last decade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of wavefront distortions. It is used in astronomical telescopes[1] and laser communication systems to remove the effects of atmospheric distortion, and in retinal imaging systems[2] to reduce the impact of optical aberrations. Adaptive optics works by measuring the distortions in a wavefront and compensating for them with a device that corrects those errors such as a deformable mirror or a liquid crystal array. AO was first envisioned by Horace W. Babcock in 1953, but it did not come into common usage until advances in computer technology during the 1990s made the technique practical. Adaptive optics should not be confused with active optics, which works on a longer timescale to correct the primary mirror geometry.
Big Brain Robotic Optics Control Technique
The effects of Morphing Optics can be seen
in three images of the Moon, taken at
different focal lengths determined by MO.
This morphing mode includes the ability
to change the focal length. If the mirror
is placed in Prime Focus, the effects of
a changing FL are more readily observed
and recorded. At top, the smallest FL,
middle shows medium FL and bottom
shows the largest FL. For all images a
SONY Cybershot camera was used.
No effort is made to image process
or actively form the mirror to increase
resolution, focus, or other MO effects.
This strictly shows the effects of MO
for a change in Focal Length. All images
are by humanoido for the Big Brain
project and the Morphing Optics
subproject under the Big Brain.
_______________________
Morphing Optics - Precision ring A supports unenhanced
optical surface (mirror) B. Linkage D connects to B. Center
exampling servo motor E connects to Linkage D and forms
mirror to figure C. Left and right Servo Arrays E are
activated as needed. Total command and control is by the
Big Brain in real time. In the proposed Brain multiple servo
arrangement, the Brain actively holds the positions of all
active servos using Propellers based on the command.
_________________________
Definition
The process of robotically forming, reshaping, figuring, correcting, focusing, and changing the characteristics of the telescope mirror and including focal length, figure shape, and mirror design is named MO or Morphing Optics.
Design
In the most simple demonstrative form, glass, film, polymer substrate, or other material, is connected to a propeller chip through a servo which attaches to the back side of the mirror along the central axis.
History
Morphing Optics was originally introduced in 1971 for the 40-inch Ultra Thin Glass Mirror Newtonian Telescope project with a resolution of 144. This design led to the Resin Mirror 52-inch Newtonian Reflector Telescope series. MO was used primarily to figure the glass shape at the eyepiece during telescopic observation.
MO Useage
The uses for MO Morphing Optics are varied. A list of suggested uses is given below.
- Figure mirror in real time
- Change mirror design
- Establish Focus
- Change and set the FL
- Introduce automatic presets
- Correct aberrations such as astigmatism
- Correct mounting thermal conductivity
- Correct angular stresses
- Correct some effects of atmosphere
- Correct mirror temperature changes
- Experiment with mirror shapes, spherical, oblate, parabolic
- Change mirror to compensate orientation
- Develop Parfocal systems
- Improve optical performance
Spin CodeThe code currently used to drive a Propeller chip with one servo to example mirror morphing is found from stock programs in the Parallax OBEX. In the future the hope and plan is to create a more specific and customized program for more servos. For now, we are looking for the most simple driver program to example one servo.
http://obex.parallax.com/objects/456/
by Kwabena W. Agyeman - A dual servo driver that runs in one cog. The code has been fully optimized with a super simple spin interface for maximum speed and is also fully commented. Provides full support for: Setting the pulse length for the left servo. Setting the pulse length for the right servo.
{{/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // PWM2C Servo Demo // // Author: Kwabena W. Agyeman // Updated: 8/22/2010 // Designed For: P8X32A // Version: 1.0 // // Copyright (c) 2010 Kwabena W. Agyeman // See end of file for terms of use. // // Update History: // // v1.0 - Original release - 8/22/2010. // // Run the program with the specified driver hardware. // // Nyamekye, /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// }} CON _clkmode = xtal1 + pll16x _xinfreq = 5_000_000 _leftServoPin = 8 _rightServoPin = 9 _timeStepInMilliseconds = 20 _updateFrequencyInHertz = 50 OBJ ser: "PWM2C_SEREngine.spin" PUB demo | timeCounter, frequencyCounter ifnot(ser.SEREngineStart(_leftServoPin, _rightServoPin, _updateFrequencyInHertz)) reboot timeCounter := ((clkfreq / 1_000) * _timeStepInMilliseconds) repeat repeat frequencyCounter from 0 to 1_000 step 10 ser.leftPulseLength(1_000 + frequencyCounter) ser.rightPulseLength(2_000 - frequencyCounter) waitcnt(timeCounter + cnt) repeat frequencyCounter from 1_000 to 0 step 10 ser.leftPulseLength(1_000 + frequencyCounter) ser.rightPulseLength(2_000 - frequencyCounter) waitcnt(timeCounter + cnt) {{ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // TERMS OF USE: MIT License /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation // files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, // modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the // Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: // // The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the // Software. // // THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE // WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR // COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, // ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// }}http://obex.parallax.com/objects/604/
by Diego Pontones - This object allows the control of up to 14 standard servos. It requires 1 cog. 2 cogs required for Accelerated/ Decelerated Moves. This object is based on the Servos for PE Kit.spin but incorporates many new features like:
a) Three different type of movements: Immediate, Gradual and Accelerated/Decelerated Immediate Moves: One or more servos are moved to the new positions as fast as they allow it. Gradual Moves: One or more servos are moved to the new positions in a predetermined number of pulses. Accelerated/Decelerated Moves: One or more servos are moved to the new position using the sine function to achieve a gradual acceleration at the beginning of the move and a gradual deceleration at the end of the move. Please note that if Accelerated/Decelerated moves are used an additional cog is required to run the Float32 object used for the sin function. All movements are executed during a certain number of pulses, where 50 pulses equal one second.
b) Option to send pulses while in holding position. When a movement is completed there is the option to keep sending pulses to hold the servo in the last position or to stop sending pulses. Sending hold pulses helps keep the servo firmly in position (useful for robotic arms or walking robots) but increases the power consumption. Not sending hold pulses leaves the servo idle so power consumption is reduced, this is normally used for servos that do not require a high holding torque.
c) Servos can be moved individually or in combined moves. All parameters, like type of movement, number of pulses and optional holding pulse can be set individually for each servo so very complex movements can be executed. For example different movement durations can be set for each servo or some servos can be moved many times while other servos are still completing a long move.
{{ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ dservo_use_1_Servo_Example v1.0 │ │ Author: Diego Pontones │ │ Copyright (c) 2010 Diego Pontones │ │ See end of file for terms of use. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ INTRODUCTION The following object is an example on how to use the dServo object to control 1 servo (most basic use). HISTORY v1.0 2010-03-24 Beta release }} CON _clkmode = xtal1 + pll16x ' Feedback and PLL multiplier = 80 MHz _xinfreq = 5_000_000 ' External oscillator = 5 MHz NumServos = 1 ' Number of servos to control 1 to 14 VAR byte pin[NumServos] ' Propeller pin numbers for each servo. long CurrPos[NumServos] ' Contains the current Pulse Width (Position) for each servo, -1000 to 1000 long NewPos[NumServos] ' Enter the desired New Pulse Width (Position) for each servo, -1000 to 1000 long NumPulses[NumServos] ' Number of Pulses to be sent for each servo. (pulse period is 20 ms, 50 ms = 1 sec) long GradMove ' One bit for each servo. If bit is set then movement will be gradual. long AccDecMove ' One bit for each servo. If bit is set then movement will have Acceleration/Deceleration. long HoldPulse ' One bit for each servo. If bit is set then pulses will be sent continuously to hold the new position OBJ servos : "dServo" ' Declare Servos object PUB testServos | index, startOK ' Example on how to control one servo pin[0] := 15 'Initialize value of propeller pin connected to the servo NumPulses[0] := 0 'Initialize number of pulses pending to be sent to the servo as cero NewPos[0] := CurrPos[0]:= 0 'Initialize starting and current servo positions 'Once the initial positions have been initialized start the servos object in a new cog. startOK := servos.start(@pin[0], @CurrPos[0], @NewPos[0], @NumPulses[0],@GradMove,@AccDecMove,@HoldPulse, NumServos) 'Move servo to position 800, using Accelerated/Decelerated move, lasting 2 seconds, and sending holding pulses at the end. GradMove:= %0 'No Gradual Movement AccDecMove:= %1 'Use Accelerated/Decelerated movement HoldPulse:= %1 'Send holding pulses NewPos[0]:= 800 NumPulses[0]:= 100 'Execute movement repeat while NumPulses[0] 'Wait for movement to complete waitcnt(clkfreq * 4 + cnt) 'Wait 4 seconds 'Move servo to position -800, using Gradual move, lasting 6 seconds, and then idle the servo at the end. GradMove:= %1 'Gradual Movement AccDecMove:= %0 'Do not use Accelerated/Decelerated movement HoldPulse:= %0 'Do not Send holding pulses NewPos[0]:= -800 NumPulses[0]:= 300 'Execute movement repeat while NumPulses[0] 'Wait for movement to complete waitcnt(clkfreq * 4 + cnt) 'Wait 4 seconds 'Move servo to position 0 (center), using Immediate move, send 40 pulses, and then idle the servo at the end. GradMove:= %0 'No Gradual Movement NewPos[0]:= 0 NumPulses[0]:= 40 'Execute movement repeat while NumPulses[0] 'Wait for movement to complete waitcnt(clkfreq * 4 + cnt) 'Wait 4 seconds servos.stop 'Stop the servos object. {{ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ TERMS OF USE: MIT License │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation │ │files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, │ │modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software│ │is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: │ │ │ │The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.│ │ │ │THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE │ │WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR │ │COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, │ │ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ }}Observational examples
See Photos
Morphing Optics and the Potential of Herschel's Design
The Brain is attempting to build in a Herschelian design into Morphing optics that will not require the use of a secondary mirror. The advantage is the image could be reflected to the side and picked up either visually, magnified, or camera imaged. The image is not mirrored a second time, there is no central obstruction, the image remains brighter and should be of higher quality with reduced optical reflections. Distortions are minimized in this design by using longer focal lengths. It's possible, if the anti distortion mirror surface is calculated, the Big Brain's MO could correct for it.
Sincerly, thank you for your time in this Humanoido.
Keep up the good fun.
-Tommy
Paul
Factors for Zonal Control & Observational Data Sensors
Rick: Thanks for sharing those quotes. They make very good sense.
When you come to a fork in the road, take it!
- Yogi Berra
You can observe a lot by watching.
- Yogi Berra
Propeller Brain Allotment
Our fork in the road will include choices of the amount of Propeller Big Brain allotment to the AI Telescope control, the size of the primary, and what objectives will be accomplished with it.
Factors for Zonal Control
On the number of Propeller chips required, it depends on the size of the primary mirror. In small exampling Intelligent Mirror, one demonstrative Propeller chip can form the mirror to approach spherical and set the focal length. On the ULT, depending on design (MMT or Single), the number of Propeller chips will need to be increased according to the number of zones to be commanded. Consider a Cog per zone, so eight zones per chip. If a 40-inch takes 144 zones, consider what a larger telescope will require. In the case of a 40-inch, it would take 18 Propeller chips. (144 zones/8 cogs per Propeller chip) In the previous postings we examined primary objective diameter sizes. We will need the Big Brain with many processors to cover all zones commanded in the Ultra Large Mirror.
Observational Data
The watching part may come from observational data, either looking through the telescope with a mirror shaped by Propeller chips or examining the collection of data. This data can be obtained experimentally using Parallax sensors, in the case of infrared light.
Infrared Receiver
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Sensors/ColorLight/tabid/175/CategoryID/50/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/177/Default.aspx
Phototransistor
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Sensors/ColorLight/tabid/175/CategoryID/50/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/604/Default.aspx
Light to Frequency Converter
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Sensors/ColorLight/tabid/175/CategoryID/50/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/783/Default.aspx
Tommy and Paul: Thanks for the kind words. When this ultra large telescope is built, it will be a top priority to report on and share the results - maybe you can look though it or we'll beam data and images to you through internet.
This could use a web site dedicated to the ULT, a page controlled by the Propeller based Big Brain, and even data provided by a Parallax Spinneret Web Server.
http://www.parallax.com/Resources/ApplicationsContests/Contests/SpinneretWebServerContestWinners/tabid/944/Default.aspx
Basic Web
In the basic configuration, a web site will dish out data, observations, and discoveries.
Historical
In the past, the Remote Controlled Cyber Space Telescope allowed individuals to control the telescope from any part of the world. Should the Big Brain do the same with the ULT? Small remote telescopes are more controllable with smaller scopes, smaller observatories and smaller equipment. Real time remote acquisition may offer some real challenges.
Reflective Mirror Sheeting
Reflective Film Travel Results: Three types of reflective film, substrate, and polymer were transfered from Lab 4 to Lab 2 and pieces for study were transported to Lab 3 to build more protos. Work can now progress at three Labs. The camera is in Lab 3 where work is now in progress, so we can document more details on building more Intelligent Mirrors. The important point is the Ultra Large Telescope will likely have an Intelligent Mirror or some technical details of its construct.
Beijing China Mirror Sheeting: Nearly perfect mirror sheeting was found - used for construction, this glass mirror substitute was found, distributed by various construction companies for mirror facing in banks and government buildings. Size is about 4-feet wide by very long rolls. The inspected sample would work well for a telescope, though it had some signs of astigmatism because it was not mounted on a flat plane surface. This material does not have the diffusion effect that other lower grades of reflective material have.
Europe's Fantastic Telescope: Followers of the Big Brain and its Ultra Large Telescope Project may also want to follow along with Europe's fantastic project for a future telescope.
http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/vlt.html
The Very Large Telescope array (VLT) is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy at the beginning of the third Millennium. It is the world's most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’ ... allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Also brought back to the Lab are two tube mounts that can be used to create the Big Brain's new invention: a Telescoping Vacuum Mirror.
The device is using two telescoping cardboard tubes. One end of each is open. The other end of one is sealed. The other tube has two open ends, one of which contains the mirror.
Sliding the tubes apart create a vacuum and negative pressure which causes the mirror to collapse into a near perfect spherical reflector.
In this version the reflective membrane needs a vacuum seal around its perimeter.
This experiment is to try this technique's viability for use in the Ultra Large Telescope.
The TVM is hand operated, so the pressure can be adjusted and calibrated. For temporary testing, the substrate, cut in a piece larger than the open tube diameter, can overlap the tube and attach with elastic bands. In this case, an irregular substrate shape will work fine.
The amount of pressure determines the shape of the mirror and determines its focal length. It also increases the level of curve smoothness of the overall substrate and minimizes wrinkles and pinch effects should they exist.
The TVM is ideal for rapid testing of numerous reflective films and thin polymer substrates. It's a good test device for Mylar, mirror film, thin polymer, and other reflective substrates.
Design Considerations for a Future ULT
The exact design of the ULC is unknown at this time. Experiments with different telescopes and designs continue. Some conjectures are made at this time. These ideas really depend on the size, style and type of the telescope. Some things may apply to smaller ultra large telescopes and other things may apply to the largest possible ULTs. The exact size (design, diameter and length) of the ULT is unknown at this time.
Mobility, Portability, Transport, Moving
The entire telescope is disassembled into flat pieces
Disassembly, Storage, Relocation
A thin film reflective mirror is rolled like a window shade.
Primary Telescope Mirror Type
The vacuum chamber shapes the mirror.
Most Probable Distance Transport from City to Rural Setting
The light weight structure transports by trailer or truck.
Telescope Design
The telescope structure is a Truss.
Mirror
Ultra Large Primary. The mirror is intelligent, thin, flexible, light weight.
Telescope with a Brain
The Big Brain or any of its siblings will serve as command and control.
Successful early tests of the first Telescoping Vacuum Mirror show a device made from recycled reflective material and leftover store wrappings, forming images. Not seen are the effects and changes in FL when sliding the telescoping section in or out. No attempt is made to process the images or reduce aberrations. The reflective mirror has a micro patterned plastic surface with some folds, pinches, scratches and a varying degree of astigmatism.
____________________________
These eight photos show the early Telescoping Vacuum Mirror TVM. The TVM works well for its intended application. The mirror is a common "store discard" reflective wrapper. The body is a cylindrical shaped store container cut in half. One half holds the mirror with elastic bands, the other scored half with the metal end plate becomes the telescoping adjustment.
In the eight photos showing the setup, the mirror is tested by reflecting the keyboard. No attempt is made to reduce any defects. This is a confirmation experiment for the Big Brain's purposes.
Moving sliding the telescoping section slightly in and out, the mirror warped from a plane surface to a spherical surface.
The effects noted:
- For smaller mirrors, the substrate must be much more flexible.
- The substrate should stretch more.
- The ends of the mirror should be duct taped to ensure a longer lasting vacuum.
- The chamber should be more air tight
- For higher quality, sub original reflective Mylar.
- The degree of planar is dependent on the pressure of even edge force
- The speed of the mirror is increased by increasing vacuum
- The mirror speed is decreased with decreased edge force
- Insufficient edge force can cause slippage of the mirror
- Thick substrate needs to be cut into a circle and supported with the plane
- Thick substrate folded over the mount forms deforming pinch marks
- Pinching deformers create astigmatism
- Astigmatism is reduced by increasing vacuum and edge tension
The Big Brain is very happy with these test results. This paves the way for larger reflective film pneumatic mirrors which are controlled by air pressure. It introduces thin films as an equation into the picture of the VLT Very Large Telescope Project.It's likely thin films can be controlled by the Big Brain in ways different from Intelligent Mirrors and Intelligent Glass. Control for thin films can be affected by varying pressures in a pneumatic system. Propeller chips can measure, calculate and control the shape of the mirror.
The VLT could use thin film, resin, glass, liquid, water, oil, polymer, or other mirror materials. This is the Brain's quest to find the ultimate material suitable for the intended purposes of the VLT. Thin reflective film is a viable approach and will become a more permanent part of this research program.
Discussion on Size, Site Selection, Mobility
What is manageable?
Some goals are a telescope that is manageable and large enough to satisfy the observational and data collection requirements.
The ULT Ultra Large Telescope is open for discussion regarding size - not only must it satisfy the project science requirements of the Big Brain, it must also be of reasonable size so it can be managed. Factors to consider include design, where it should be located, and how it should be transported. To better answer the question about how it should be transported, and where it should be located, the decision on size must be determined.
The size larger than a house
Do we want the telescope a size larger than a house? If so, it would take a long time to set up and take down. If it were one of the largest telescopes in the world, it would need a permanent housing and observatory. Maybe the ULT would take a week to setup and an equal amount of time to take down if it were made relocatable. It would need either several transport trips to the site, or would need to remain on the site, or it could have its own truck for transport.
Historical & Other Considerations
The 40-inch and 52-inch telescopes were transported by pickup truck. A telescope that's larger than 200-inches would need a flat bed semi truck. This could be expensive and take up a lot of room. There is also the consideration of storage. If the telescope is 600-inches in diameter, it would be over 50-feet wide. Even a 200 inch diameter mirror would extend out 17-feet wide.
The size equal to a room
Let's say a room is 9-feet wide or slightly larger. If rolled or folded, a 72-inch mirror could be disassembled, it could fit into the room. But the technology for rolling and folding and then reassembling a telescope mirror in a reasonable amount of time needs to be developed. NASA has this technology but at a cost of millions of dollars.
Smaller Considerations
Mirror material is readily available in 24 and 48-inches wide and 1-meter wide rolls. Do we want one telescope mirror of this size or five 48-inch mirrors making one larger telescope? Two 50-inch telescopes in MMT format would be possible.
Computer Program
Let's run a small design program to calculate a series of mirror diameters in inches and feet. Then we can see what fits in a room, what needs to be folded or rolled, and which telescope mirrors can remain whole.
If the storage room is ten feet to a side, and the mirror is folding or rolling, it could fit in through the doorway. If a garage is a storage place, the overhead door may allow a 7 or 8 foot mirror (80 or 90 inch) in one piece. The room of 10-feet wide could hold these mirrors stored against one side.
DIAMETER = 50 INCHES & 4.166667 FEET
DIAMETER = 60 INCHES & 5 FEET
DIAMETER = 70 INCHES & 5.833333 FEET
DIAMETER = 80 INCHES & 6.666667 FEET
DIAMETER = 90 INCHES & 7.5 FEET
DIAMETER = 100 INCHES & 8.333333 FEET
DIAMETER = 110 INCHES & 9.166667 FEET
Three classes of material
The Brain's mirrored reflectors are now divided into three groups.
- Thin Film
- Medium Substrate
- Thick Material
Working with 8 MILIn the case of 8 MIL reflector, it is not recommended for use as a higher grade telescope mirror because the material takes on the characteristic shape of the roll which is never fully eliminated.
Results & Conclusions
Attempted fixes included the listed experiments.
- Opposite Deformation
- Constant pressure
- Heat
This curve causes a measured turned down edge. The figure must be under constant pressure along the opposite direction of the curve, along the entire material surface. This natural curling tendency causes more stress in the X direction compared to Y. The stress therefore creates a structural imbalance which results in astigmatism.Corrections
The astigmatism is reduced by stretching the material equally in all directions and forming the shape using a mirror morphing technique with a Propeller chip by controlling the sagitta of the mirror. To accomplish this, a servo can be used to deform the center and approximate a spherical surface.
Masking
It appears a technique of masking will be required when these mirrors are used for astronomical purposes. More on zonal masking for specific materials will be studied, experimented on and reported.
Can large structures like the E-ELT Telescope concept be made more inexpensively with inflatable structures? Can this technology make larger telescopes more transportable and affordable to the amateur astronomer?
By judicious use of Inflatable telescope parts, can the Big Brain's New Generation Ultra Large Telescope benefit from weight and cost reduction?
http://www.washedit.com/2009/04/
This is the concept for the European Space Agency ELT Extremely Large Telescope. The 1 billion euro (£700 million) E-ELT will have more mirror glass than all the other telescopes in the world put together. Construction of the E-ELT, which is being funded by the European Southern Observatory, an international research organisation made up of 14 European countries including Britain and the telescope is due to be operational by 2018.
___________________________
The E-ELT will use 906 hexagonal segments – each four and a half feet across – that will be pieced together to work together as a single mirror housed inside a giant rotatable dome. Each segment will have to be continually adjusted by computers to produce a single image.
http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html
Dubbed E-ELT for European Extremely Large Telescope, this revolutionary new ground-based telescope concept will have a 40-metre-class main mirror and will be the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world: “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Can large structures be replaced with light weight inflatable sections and devices?
Consider this robot and its posted video on Youtube.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?136114-Inflata-Bot&p=1054083#post1054083
Inflata-Bot can walk using an inflated form. Can our largest telescopes use an inflated form? Can various sections of the ULT be reduced in weight and increased in ease of portability as a result? We will explore these questions and see how this technology can be used in ultra large telescopes operated by the Big Brain.
Considerations
A cursory view seems to indicate a lack of solid non-moving structural support using an inflated mount. But the inflated device can surround the base-line mounting as a protective observatory. Even inflatable devices can weigh heavily when large enough. So size is a consideration as it relates to transportable weight. Inflatable fabric with a bladder can have longer lasting results though it will be more expensive. An inflatable housing structure will not have security as it can easily be breached. There are two types of inflated devices, those that are inflated once and those that are inflated with a constant supply of air. In the case of the Big Brain's ULT, a constant supply of air would contribute to a degrade in atmospheric seeing.
In the Case of Light Weight Support
The Brain's ULC may have some lighter components which could be mounted with the use of inflatable fabric/membranes. The secondary may be light weight and a kind of Serrurier Truss that could be inflated and offer support.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serrurier_truss
Form Factor
Making forms in shapes other than round or oblong balloons is a tried and proven technology. One only needs to attend a parade to see the many shapes and figures.
http://www.bigeventsonline.com/Parades/ParadePg.html
http://www.biggideas.com/
Fabric can help the balloon bladder conform to specific shapes. In a telescope, many forms are round, cylindrical, and easily fit the shapes of inflatable devices.
Potential ULT Devices for Inflatable Integration
Truss
Upper Ring
Housing
Light Shield
Observatory Structure
Construction
Nylon balloons have a vinyl bladder. For more durable applications, the nylon can sub with canvas and the vinyl can be replaced with car inner tube material.
Sky Balloons
http://trade.indiamart.com/search.mp?search=inflatable+bladders
A sky balloon is a flexible bladder of rubber, latex and nylon fabric ...
Air Pressure
Changes in air pressure can affect the size and shape of inflatable devices. For this reason, such devices are not suitable for spacing, positioning and distancing critical systems. This includes optical devices in the ULT.
Some Early Conclusions
The critical components in the mount for the optics, the optical support, and optical adjustment devices often have images amplified and this amplification would also amplify any inflatable motions and those changes due to variance of air pressure. Intended light bucket studies at EOU Edge of Universe include data amplification of 10x and 20x. This is in addition to the EFL Effective Focal Length. Therefore inflatable devices are not recommended for optical support. However, other devices can benefit, such as shields, housings, and other non optical materials and devices.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/34085109.html
Now you can find everything about the Big Brain's ULT Ultra Large Telescope Project with this SpotLite Index. Beginning with talk about the ULT on October 25th, 2011 to current date November 24th, 2011 - The SpotLite index is introduced periodically on selected topics of research importance and to keep track of all developments when they become numerous, to keep levels of new information at influx, and continue tracking a project's development through completion.
page 77
1527 Big Brain Applications in Astronomy, The merging of Propeller and Telescope
1528 Can the Propeller Brain Make a Larger ULT Telescope?
1530 Analyzing the Big Brain's ULT, Telescope Systems Design Program Part 1
1532 Brain, over 3,200 Controlling I/Os, Aligning ULT in MMT Config w/ Propeller Brain
1534 Big Brain Solving Riddles of the Universe w/ ULT Ultra Large Robotic Telescope
page 78
1546 Combining ULT & MSP, Combination Ultra Large Telescope/ Micro Space Program
1547 Big Brain Invents Massive ULT Crater Telescope
page 80
1582 Build a James Web Space Telescope or ULT
page 82
1630 Brain Project Multitasking, Fly Eye Telescope, Water Telescope, Multiple Lens Telescope, Ultra Large Telescope, Resin Cast Mirror Telescope, Hydraulic Mirror Membrane Telescope, MMT & ULT Merging Telescopes
page 83
1652 Talk about the ULT
1654 Big Brain Established Telescope Mirror Definitions
1658 Big Brain Labs, World Expansion
page 84
1661 10X Telescope Diameter Enhancement
1671 Inflatables, Aluminized Film
page 85
1688 No-Brainer News Update
page 86
1716 Project Proposals Being Accepted - Big Brain's ULT Ultra Large Telescope
1718 Big Brain Telescope Developments
1720 Guarantees
page 87
1729 Propeller Brain Allotment
1730 ULT & the Web
1731 Intelligent Mirror Reflectors - Reflective Mirror Sheeting
1732 The Very Large Telescope array (VLT)
1733 Telescoping Vacuum Mirror
1734 Ultra Large Telescope Design Scenarios, Design Considerations Future ULT
1736 ULT Ultra Large Telescope, Discussion on Size, Site Selection, Mobility
1738 Inflatable Robot Technology - Is this the next ULT?
Is it speed, cogs, i/o pins or comms between props?