Mechanical development of an alternative set of actuators for the LMT/GTM primary surface outer rings: also useful to replace the interim actuators

The Large Millimeter Telescope/Gran Telescopio Milimetrico (LMT/GTM) is the world’s largest, single dish radio telescope for observations in millimeter wavelengths. 180 segments arranged in 5 rings form the reflector’s active surface. Each segment supported by four linear actuators. The current interim actuators fill the 3 inner rings only, while allowing the completion of the rest of the surface and the installation of the final actuators. A new modification had, to be made in order to reduce the actuators size for the outer rings and also to improve their performance. The project needs to install at least another 336 actuators for the 2 outer rings of segments. However, the room for those actuators has reduced room underneath the outer rings. Initially, the present development was intended as alternative for the antenna’s outer rings, but as time went by, we discovered the advantage of installing them as replacements of the current interim actuators, since a system of final actuators for the antenna’s outer rings is already under test and construction. Hence, this new mechanical design of compact geometry is not only capable of fitting in the reduced space, but also of replacing the interim actuators in the inner rings.