Integrated modeling for stellar interferometry ― motivation, development strategy and practical usage

摘要

This article presents a software package for "integrated modeling" of single- and multi-aperture optical telescopes. Integrated modeling is aiming at time-dependent system analysis combining different technical disciplines such as optics, mechanical structure, control system with sensors and actuators. Various, environmental and internal disturbances can be taken into account. Software design and development is done in a joint effort by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), Astrium GmbH and the Institute of Lightweight Structures (LLB), Technical University of Munich. The architectures of the two most advanced modules generating dynamic models of the mechanical structure and the optical system are described. A "real-life" example related to the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) illustrates the application in practice.