Mirror support smart actuator

The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) has presented the proposal for the Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) 8 m telescope. As a part of this project, we have proposed a distributed control system using the Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol for the control of hundreds of force actuators for the support of the 8 m diameter thin meniscus mirror, allowing active optics applications. Recently, our efforts in this area have focused on the development of a low cost, compact, force actuator `node' with a view towards large scale production. We present hardware and software details of the node prototype and our plans for the incorporation and evaluation of 18 such nodes in the IAC 1 m mirror support test rig. We also provide details of an extension in actuator closed loop bandwidth to around 10 Hz.