David A. Kienholz
CSA Engineering, Inc.
2565 Leghorn Street
Mountain View, CA
Presented at SPIE, Smart Structures and Materials Conference, San Diego, CA, March, 2000
ABSTRACT
Airborne optical or electro-optical systems may be too large for all elements to be mounted on a single integrated structure, other than the aircraft fuselage itself. An active system must then be used to maintain the required alignment between elements. However the various smaller integrating structures (benches) must still be isolated from high-frequency airframe disturbances that could excite resonances outside the bandwidth of the alignment control system. The combined active alignment and vibration isolation functions must be performed by flight-weight components, which may have to operate in vacuum. A testbed system developed for the Air Force Airborne Laser program is described. The payload, a full-scale 1650-lb simulated bench, is mounted in six degrees of freedom to a vibrating platform by a set of isolator-actuators. The mounts utilize a combination of pneumatics and magnetics to perform the dual functions of low-frequency alignment and high-frequency isolation. Test results are given and future directions for development are described.