Developing a real time controlled adaptive MRE-based tunable vibration absorber system for a linear cryogenic cooler

Abstract

To cool down image sensors in observation satellites, a miniature linear cryogenic cooler is used. The cooler operates at a constant frequency and it creates the main vibration disturbance that is transmitted to the image sensors, causing poor image quality. A semi-active vibration system using a tuned vibration absorber (TVA) has shown to be effective for suppressing the cooler vibrations. However, if the cooler operating frequency changes, the off-tuned TVA loses its effectiveness. To automatically retune the TVA to the varying disturbance frequency, this paper proposes a control strategy of the TVA using magnetorheological elastomer(MRE). It focuses on the development of a real time control system for an 2-DOF MRE based TVA applied on a linear cooler.