Integration and mechanical interfacing of very large instruments at UKIRT and JCMT telescopes

Abstract

The progress in development of advanced instrumentation for IR and submillimeter telescopes during the past decades is bringing new structural and logistics challenges to engineers at both the UKIRT and JCMT telescopes. These facilities were designed for instruments much smaller, lighter, and less complex than those currently under construction. This paper describes the ongoing structural changes to the design of both telescopes and innovative approaches to the mechanical interfacing of extremely large and heavy instruments. The design changes and handling schemes these large and unwieldy instruments require would be unthinkable without utilization of advanced 3-D computer modeling and finite element analysis. Examples will be given of particular challenges associated with the handling and interfacing of existing instruments at both facilities as well as the difficulties presented by new generation instrumentation currently under development. The importance of involving facility engineers as early as the conceptual stages of new instrument design and development will be demonstrated.