The AAO is building an optical high resolution multi-object spectrograph for the AAT for Galactic Archaeology. The instrument has undergone significant design revision over that presented at the 2008 Marseilles SPIE meeting. The current design is a 4-channel VPH-grating based spectrograph providing a nominal spectral resolving power of 28,000 and a high-resolution mode of 45,000 with the use of a slit mask. The total spectral coverage is about 1000 Angstroms for up to 392 simultaneous targets within the 2 degree field of view. Major challenges in the design include the mechanical stability, grating and dichroic efficiencies, and fibre slit relay implementation. An overview of the current design and discussion of these challenges is presented.
We report on the technological achievements of our latest Starbug prototypes and their implications for smart focal plane fiber positioning applications for wide-field astronomy. The Starbugs are innovative self-motile miniature robotic devices that can simultaneously and independently position fibers or payloads over a field plate located at the telescope's focal plane. The Starbugs concept overcomes many of the limitations associated with the traditional 'pick and place' positioners where a robot places fixed buttons onto the field plate. The new Starbug prototypes use piezoelectric actuators and have the following features: (i) new 'lift-and-step' method (discrete step) for accurate positioning over different surfaces; and (ii) operate in an inverted hanging position underneath a transparent field plate, removing the need for fiber\cable retractors. In this paper, we present aspects of the Starbug prototypes, including the theoretical model, mechanical design, experimental setup, algorithms, performance and applications for astronomical instrumentation.
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