Closed Loop Electrostatic Actuation of Membrane Mirrors

Abstract

Our recent work related to closed-loop electrostatic control of membrane mirrors is summarized in this presentation. We begin with a short description of electrostatic actuation as applied to membrane mirrors, and follow this up with a brief overview of the possible actuation control approaches. The main focus of this presentation is on the two techniques being studied in our laboratory: (1) area control, which involves switching control of conductor segments forming suitably located electrode clusters, and (ii) gap control, which consists of mechanical control of the electrode-membrane gap via a movable electrode substrate. Closed loop control strategies are investigated that provide deflections and bandwidths in the range of 60 micrometers and 500 Hz respectively. A Lyapunov potential method is used for stable tracking of trajectories consistent with these deflection-bandwidth criteria. While our initial emphasis is on small single-mode focus/defocus and tip/tilt mirrors, the method generalizes without much difficulty to multiple-mode actuation of larger mirrors. Results discussed here include time domain simulations and experiments on the closed-loop dynamics of singlemode mirrors under area and gap control, and static tests illustrating gap control of multiple-mode mirrors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 07, 2010
Accession Number
ADA524252

Entities

People

  • Brian C. Fehrman
  • Miles A. Wickersham
  • Umesh A. Korde

Organizations

  • South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Bandwidth
  • Deflection
  • Dynamics
  • Electrodes
  • Engineering
  • Markov Processes
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Membranes
  • Simulations
  • Static Tests
  • Substrates
  • Switching
  • Trajectories

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Systems Analysis and Design