Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026
05:57
Characterization of SiN Integrated Optical Phased Arrays on a Wafer-Scale Test Station
Published on: April 1, 2020
Autonomous tip/tilt alignment and phasing of a distributed aperture imaging testbed.
Mel Ni1, Larry Benson, John Camp
1Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Advanced Technology Center, 3251 Hanover St, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. melvin.s.ni@lmco.com
Optics Express
|July 1, 2010
Summary
Star-9 demonstrated algorithms for aligning nine telescopes in a distributed aperture imaging system. These methods correct tip/tilt and phasing errors for clear image combination from point and extended sources.
Area of Science:
- Optical Engineering
- Astronomy
- Image Processing
Background:
- Distributed aperture imaging systems combine light from multiple telescopes to achieve higher resolution.
- Active control is necessary to correct for optical aberrations and alignment errors in such systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present algorithms for automatic alignment of telescopes in a distributed aperture system.
- To validate these algorithms using the Star-9 experimental demonstration.
Main Methods:
- Development of algorithms for automatic tip/tilt and phasing error correction.
- Testing algorithms with both point sources and extended scenes.
- Utilizing the Star-9 experimental setup with nine actively controlled telescopes.
Main Results:
- Successful automatic correction of relative tip/tilt and phasing errors for all telescopes.
- Demonstrated functionality with diverse scene types.
- Experimental validation of the developed software algorithms.
Conclusions:
- The developed algorithms effectively enable the alignment of telescopes in a distributed aperture system.
- The Star-9 experiment successfully demonstrated the feasibility of automated alignment for advanced optical imaging.
