Integrated Telescope Assembly with Fixed Optics for Vibration Immunity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional telescope designs using reflective mirrors are vulnerable to vibrations and perturbations, requiring complex active control mechanisms for alignment, which can fail and are not suitable for compact and lightweight applications like satellites, where maintaining optical alignment is critical.
Innovation Solution
An integrated telescope design with fixed optical components, including front, middle, and rear optics pieces, a correction lens, and an image sensor, configured to form a folded optical path without movable parts, enhancing immunity to vibrations and maintaining stability, while reducing physical size and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional telescope designs with movable and adjustable optical components are used, then optical alignment can be adjusted, but the system becomes vulnerable to vibrations and perturbations
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making optical components movable and adjustable as in conventional telescopes, this patent inverts the approach by making them permanently fixed at predefined positions. The optical pieces are rigidly mounted to the housing structure, eliminating adjustment mechanisms and thereby improving immunity to vibrations and perturbations during satellite operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple optical components (front optics piece, middle optics piece, rear optics piece, correction lens) into a single integrated assembly that is rigidly mounted together. This combining of components into a fixed integrated unit eliminates relative movement between parts and improves overall system stability against vibrations.
2Reliability
If conventional telescope designs with complex active control mechanisms are used, then alignment can be maintained, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the complex active control mechanisms, motors, and adjustment systems from the telescope design. By using fixed optical components rigidly mounted to the housing, the system achieves alignment stability without requiring any active control systems, thereby dramatically reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixed optical design is self-aligning by construction, with optical components permanently fixed at predefined positions during manufacturing. The system does not require external control systems or active intervention to maintain alignment, as the rigid structure inherently maintains optical stability throughout operation.
3Measurement precision
If larger telescope designs are used, then optical performance can be improved, but the physical size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a folded optical path design where light reflects multiple times between optical surfaces within a compact volume. By utilizing the third dimension (depth) through folding the optical path rather than extending it linearly, the system achieves long effective optical paths and high measurement precision within a small physical footprint suitable for satellite deployment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The integrated telescope design provides stable and compact optical alignment resistant to vibrations, achieving comparable or superior performance to larger telescopes without the need for active alignment, suitable for applications like satellites and space missions.
Implementation Method 1
The convex reflector surface of the front optics piece and the concave reflector surface of the rear optics piece are configured to form an optical telescope that directs the input light received by the peripheral ring shaped region
Implementation Method 2
a correction lens located in the through hole of the rear optics piece and fixed to the second flat surface of the middle optics piece to receive output light from the optical telescope
Data Source
AI summary
The telescopes described are configured in an integrated telescope package by permanently fixing optical components of the telescope at predefined positions without having movable or adjustable components in the optical layout of the telescope to improve immunity to vibrations and other perturbations and to maintain stability of the optical alignment.