An 8-mm diameter Fiber Robot Positioner for Massive Spectroscopy Surveys

Abstract

Massive spectroscopic survey are becoming trendy in astrophysics and cosmology, as they can address new fundamental knowledge such as Galactic Archaeology and probe the nature of the mysterious Dark Energy. To enable massive spectroscopic surveys, new technology are being developed to place thousands of optical fibers at a given position on a focal plane. These technology needs to be: 1) accurate, with micrometer positional accuracy; 2) fast to minimize overhead; 3) robust to minimize failure; and 4) low cost. In this paper we present the development of a new 8-mm in diameter fiber positionner robot using two 4mm DC-brushless gearmotors, developed in the context of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. This development was conducted by a Spanish-Swiss (ES-CH) team led by the Instituto de F\'isica Te\'orica (UAM-CSIC) and the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique (EPFL), in collaboration with the AVS company in Spain and the Faulhaber group (MPS & FAULHABER-MINIMOTOR) in Switzerland.