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Off-axis parabolic mirrors (OAPs) are occasionally desirable for specialized applications, but are known to introduce field-dependent astigmatic aberrations. In an experiment where optical tweezers are formed by OAPs, another OAP is added…
Deformable mirrors are increasingly used in astronomy. However, they still are limited in stroke for active correction of high amplitude optical aberrations. Magnetic Liquid deformable mirrors (MLDMs) are a new technology that has…
We present a promising approach to the extremely fast sensing and correction of small wavefront errors in adaptive optics systems. As our algorithm's computational complexity is roughly proportional to the number of actuators, it is…
Adaptive optics (AO) instruments for the future extremely large telescopes (ELTs) are characterized by advanced optical systems with diffraction-limited optical quality. Low geometric distortion is also crucial for high accuracy astrometric…
Long-term stability of deformable mirrors (DM) is a critical performance requirement for instruments requiring open-loop corrections. The effects of temperature changes in the DM performance are equally critical for such instruments. This…
We present modeling and analysis of a hysteretic deformable mirror where the facesheet interacts with a continuous layer of piezoelectric material that can be actuated distributively by a matrix of electrodes through multiplexing. Moreover,…
Direct imaging of exoplanet systems requires the use of coronagraphs to reach high contrast levels (10^-8 to 10^-11) at small angular separations (0.1"). However, the performance of these devices is drastically limited by aberrations (in…
The performance of a wide-field adaptive optics system depends on input design parameters. Here we investigate the performance of a multi-conjugate adaptive optics system design for the European Extremely Large Telescope, using an…
We devise a laser-controlled adaptive optical element which operates intracavity under high intensity radiation. This element substitutes a conventional mechanically deformable mirror and is free of critical heat-sensitive components and…
High-Performance Adaptive Optics systems are rapidly spreading as useful applications in the fields of astronomy, ophthalmology, and telecommunications. This technology is critical to enable coronagraphic direct imaging of exoplanets…
The MMT Adaptive optics exoPlanet characterization System (MAPS) is currently in its engineering phase, operating on-sky at the MMT Telescope on Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona. The MAPS Adaptive Secondary Mirror's actuators are controlled…
Optics for future X-ray telescopes will be characterized by very large aperture and focal length, and will be made of lightweight materials like glass or silicon in order to keep the total mass within acceptable limits. Optical modules…
Soft actuators have attracted a great deal of interest in the context of rehabilitative and assistive robots for increasing safety and lowering costs as compared to rigid-body robotic systems. During actuation, soft actuators experience…
Isoperimetric robotic trusses can adapt to different tasks and environments because they have a high strength-to-weight ratio, can change their own shape dramatically, and can be reconfigured into a variety of different shapes. However,…
Quadruped robots have strong adaptability to extreme environments but may also experience faults. Once these faults occur, robots must be repaired before returning to the task, reducing their practical feasibility. One prevalent concern…
It is widely believed that adaptive optics only has a role in correcting turbulent wavefronts on large telescopes using very bright reference stars. Unfortunately these are very scarce and many astronomical targets require wavefront…
Astrometry is one of the main science case which drives the requirements of the next multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) systems for future extremely large telescopes. The small diffraction limited point-spread function (PSF) and the high…
A Cassegrain mounted adaptive optics instrument presents unique challenges for opto-mechanical design. The flexure and temperature tolerances for stability are tighter than those of seeing limited instruments. This criteria requires…
In order to increase the corrected field of view of an adaptive optics (AO) system, several deformable mirrors (DM) have to be placed in the conjugate planes of the dominant turbulent layers (multi-conjugate adaptive optics, MCAO [Beckers…
Variable curvature mirrors of large amplitude are designed by using finite element analysis. The specific case studied reaches at least a 800 {\mu}m sag with an optical quality better than {\lambda}/5 over a 120 mm clear aperture. We…