Echidna Mark II: one giant leap for 'tilting spine' fibre positioning technology

TL;DR

Echidna Mark II enhances 'tilting spine' fibre positioning with improved accuracy, reduced voltage requirements, and increased modularity, enabling faster and more reliable astronomical observations.

Contribution

The paper introduces a redeveloped 'tilting spine' fibre positioning system with superior performance, lower voltage operation, and fully independent spines, advancing astronomical fibre positioning technology.

Findings

Achieved 2.8 μm RMS closed-loop positioning errors in ~10 seconds.

Halved tilt-induced throughput losses by lengthening spines.

Reduced drive voltage from ~150 V to <10 V, simplifying electronics.

Abstract

The Australian Astronomical Observatory's 'tilting spine' fibre positioning technology has been redeveloped to provide superior performance in a smaller package. The new design offers demonstrated closed-loop positioning errors of 2.8 {\mu}m RMS in only five moves (~10 s excluding metrology overheads) and an improved capacity for open-loop tracking during observations. Tilt-induced throughput losses have been halved by lengthening spines while maintaining excellent accuracy. New low-voltage multilayer piezo actuator technology has reduced a spine's peak drive amplitude from ~150 V to <10 V, simplifying the control electronics design, reducing the system's overall size, and improving modularity. Every spine is now a truly independent unit with a dedicated drive circuit and no restrictions on the timing or direction of fibre motion.