The performance of OzPoz: a multifiber positioner on the VLT

Peter R. Gillingham; Dan Popovic; Tony J. Farrell; Lew G. Waller

doi:10.1117/12.461950

7 March 2003 The performance of OzPoz, a multi-fiber positioner on the VLT

Peter R. Gillingham, Dan Popovic, Tony J. Farrell, Lew G. Waller

Proceedings Volume 4841, Instrument Design and Performance for Optical/Infrared Ground-based Telescopes; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461950
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

OzPoz is a multi-fiber positioner to feed spectrographs from a Nasmyth focus of VLT Unit Telescope 2. The concept follows that of the 2dF system on the AAT: a robot re-positions magnetically attached buttons on one of a pair of steel plates while the other plate is observing. But the large scale and the curvature of the VLT Nasmyth focal surface led to the design being very different. Its combination of large moving elements with high precision and the need to survive severe earthquakes presented special challenges. Electrical interlocking of the many functions had to be very comprehensive to minimize risks of damage to the instrument and harm to personnel. Despite the valuable inheritance from 2dF, considerable effort had to be devoted to software to fit the ESO VLT environment and to deal with the complexity of the interacting elements. Integration on the VLT commenced in March 2002, followed by commissioning runs with Giraffe in June, August, and October. Some instrument defects were uncovered during installation and commissioning but none was fundamental and they were readily fixed in between night runs. The time taken to reconfigure a plate, an average of ten seconds/fiber, meets specification and the accuracy of alignment of fiber apertures with stars is limited mostly by the astrometry of target fields.

Citation Download Citation

Peter R. Gillingham, Dan Popovic, Tony J. Farrell, and Lew G. Waller "The performance of OzPoz, a multi-fiber positioner on the VLT", Proc. SPIE 4841, Instrument Design and Performance for Optical/Infrared Ground-based Telescopes, (7 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461950

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