Dr. Doug Neil Profile

Dr. Doug Neil

Telescope & Site Team Member at Vera C. Rubin Observatory

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Publications (4)

Proceedings Article | 11 September 2024 Presentation + Paper

Rubin M1M3 support system dynamic performance

Bruno Quint, Felipe Daruich, Petr Kubánek, Douglas Neill, Guillem Megias, Adrian Shestakov, Alysha Shugart, Andrea Jeremie, Benjamin Levine, Brian Stalder, Craig Lage, David Sanmartim, Dominique Boutigny, Elana Urbach, Erik Dennihy, Freddy Muñoz Arancibia, Holger Drass, HyeYun Park, Ignacio Sevilla-Noarbe, Ioana Sotuela, Jacques Sebag, Joaquín Hernández, Jeffrey Carlin, Karla Aubel, Kevin Fanning, Kevin Reil, Laura Toribio San Cipriano, Merlin Fisher-Levine, Peter Ferguson, Roberto Tighe, Sandrine Thomas, Tiago Ribeiro, Yijung Kang

Proceedings Volume 13094, 1309429 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019268

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Telescopes, Actuators, Safety, Glasses, Accelerometers, Observatories, Control systems, Dynamical systems

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Proceedings Article | 11 September 2024 Presentation + Paper

The Vera C. Rubin's M2 support system integration and verification at the TMA

Gabriele Rodeghiero, Luca Rosignoli, Rodolfo Canestrari, Enrico Giro, Pablo Zorzi, Te-Wei Tsai, Holger Drass, Yijung Kang, Roberto Tighe, Doug Neil, Franco Colleoni, Felipe Daruich, Mostafa Lutfi, Guillem Megias Homar, Bruno Quint, Tiago Ribeiro, Austin Roberts, Jacques Sebag, Brian Stalder, Kevin Siruno, Malhar Sonaniskar, Kevin Fanning, Peter Ferguson, Petr Kubánek, Sandrine Thomas, Chuck Claver, Andy Clemens, Kevin Reil, Freddy Muñoz Arancibia, John Andrew, Ian Ordenez Jimenez, Robinson Godoy, Mario Rivera, HyeYun Park, David Sanmartim, Paulina Venegas, Karla Aubel, Alysha Shugart, Massimo Brescia, David Cabrera, David Jimenez, Carlos Morales, Angelo Fausti, Chuck Gessner, Russel Owen

Proceedings Volume 13094, 130942D (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019210

KEYWORDS: Actuators, Mirrors, Telescopes, Glasses, Safety, Observatories, Control systems, Baffles, Cameras, Interfaces

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The M2 secondary mirror of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scheduled to be commissioned on-sky in 2024, will be the first active secondary mirror of 3.5m diameter in operation. Its substantial dimensions and advanced functionalities place it in league with the secondary mirrors of the upcoming 30m class telescopes. Characterizing its performance serves as a critical step towards comprehending and controlling the optics of the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). This study focuses on testing and validating the M2 cell in the Observatory’s integration hall and at the Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA). We also report on the integration steps of the M2 cell onto the TMA itself, including installing the light baffle. During the testing campaign, the M2 cell is equipped with an aluminum mirror surrogate for safety reasons regarding the glass mirror. To ensure integrity when the thin glass mirror (10cm) is installed onto the telescope, the M2 support system must be actively controlled during any M2 cell movement. This prompted the development of a dedicated control system to enable closed loop mode for transporting the M2 cell with the glass mirror from the integration hall to the telescope. The tests in the integration hall were conducted with the M2 cell mounted on a rotating cart, allowing different orientations with respect to gravity as it will experience on the telescope. Upon reaching the telescope, static and dynamic tests are conducted at progressively higher telescope performance, increasing slewing speed, acceleration, and jerk. A significant novelty introduced by Rubin to astronomical instrumentation is the Verification & Validation architecture as part of the model-based Systems Engineering approach where requirements, test procedures and executions are merged into an interlaced and dynamic flow. This report presents the experimental results from the distinct test campaigns covering a wide range of M2 cell functionalities. These include characterization of actuator behavior in terms of maximum stroke and force limits, evaluation of closed-loop (active) and open-loop (passive) support system operation for the M2, system settling time and Force Balance response to different slewing speeds of the telescope.

Proceedings Article | 29 August 2022 Presentation + Paper

Simonyi Survey Telescope M1M3 control system

Petr Kubánek, Doug Neill, Te-Wei Tsai, Dave Mills, Tiago Ribeiro, Felipe Daruich, Oliver Wiecha

Proceedings Volume 12189, 121890H (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629784

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Field programmable gate arrays, LabVIEW, Telescopes, Control systems, Observatories, Human-machine interfaces, Control systems design, Telecommunications, Actuators, Borosilicate glass

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

LSST coating plant status and progress

Tomislav Vucina, Norman Muller, Bettina Michel, Markus Gehlert, Jorg Faber, Matthias Smolke, Torsten Wellner, Robert Kunanz, Christian Melde, Heiko Naucke, Peter Espig, William Gressler, Jacques Sebag, John Andrew, Doug Neil

Proceedings Volume 10700, 1070002 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312708

KEYWORDS: Coating, Mirrors, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Silver, Aluminum, Reflectivity, Sputter deposition, Telescopes, Sensors, Control systems

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