This thesis discusses the construction, modeling and control of an active optical system for Flexlab. Flexlab is a flexible structures control testbed on which modeling and control techniques can be researched and developed. The addition of the active optical system onto the flexible structure allows the testbed to represent a more complex system for study as well as providing a wider range of capabilities. The optical path established along the flexible structure is highly susceptible to disturbances in pointing and alignment. Thus, the end goal is to provide optical path stabilization using the active optical system.
This thesis can be divided into three main sections. The first is a discussion of the hardware aspects of integrating the optical system into the existing Flexlab system. This involves a study of the high-speed steering mirror which is the active component of the optical system.
The second section of the thesis is a discussion of model development of the optical system. A model is developed based on the geometry and layout of the optical path. Both multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) and single-input, single-output (SISO)models are developed.
The third section of the thesis involves the development of a controller which provides disturbance rejection for the optical system. The closed-loop control effort is restricted to the SISO case. Once the controller is designed, it is implemented and the results are presented.