How to achieve nanometer precision in space?
Breaking Taps4 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2022-2026
748K views · 4 years ago · explainer · evergreen
Breaking Taps explains how the cryogenic mirror actuators on the James Webb Space Telescope achieve nanometer precision using flexures. It shows a 3D-printed replica and how one motor handles both coarse and fine motion.
Commenters repeatedly recommend it in JWST threads as a great explanation of clever mechanical design that is accurate and long lasting.
31:12The Insane Engineering of James Webb Telescope
Real Engineering
8.8M views • 4 years ago
12:55Building Prototypes Dan Gelbart part 10 of 18 Flexures
Dan Gelbart
114K views • 13 years ago
12:52Why Machines That Bend Are Better
Veritasium
13.3M views • 7 years ago
45:08Adam Savage's Epiphany on the Science of Measurement!
Adam Savage’s Tested
1.1M views • 4 years ago
19:58The Genius of 3D Printed Rockets
Veritasium
13.2M views • 5 years ago
16:01Mars Helicopter (before it went to Mars)
Veritasium
6.2M views • 7 years ago
17:18The Antikythera Mechanism Episode 9 - Making The Epicyclic Pin and Slot Gearing
Clickspring
650K views • 8 years ago
8:0329 Days on the Edge
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
469K views • 5 years ago
46:07Speedrunning 30yrs of lithography technology
Breaking Taps
1.9M views • 2 years ago
23:23Building Prototypes Dan Gelbart part 18 of 18 Design
Dan Gelbart
99K views • 13 years ago
10:30Building Prototypes Dan Gelbart part 1 of 18 Introduction
Dan Gelbart
233K views • 13 years ago
1:31Space Shuttle Thermal Tile Demonstration
Roscket Tasartir
3.3M views • 15 years ago
8:36The 3D-Printed Curta Calculator
Adam Savage’s Tested
2M views • 9 years ago
30:36Orbital Rings
Isaac Arthur
421K views • 9 years ago
27:46Laser diode self-mixing: Range-finding and sub-micron vibration measurement
Applied Science
491K views • 7 years ago
1:03:45How We Diagnosed and Fixed the 2023 Voyager 1 Anomaly from 15 Billion Miles Away
Flight Software Workshop
17K views • 1 year ago
3:58Reusable Falcon 9 Launcher from Space-X!
Devon
124K views • 15 years ago
1:00:26Why Starting A Rocket Engine Is So Hard!
Everyday Astronaut
2.3M views • 3 years ago
7:001,000km Cable to the Stars - The Skyhook
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
13M views • 6 years ago
23:32Inside a cheap set of eBay digital calipers
bigclivedotcom
758K views • 5 years ago
6 comments from Hacker News
I have a related question, how far are you turning the thumbscrews when making adjustments? I think M3 standard thread pitch is 0.5mm, so to a first approximation that almost 1000 wavelengths (if I have the SI units right in my head, and I'm not 3 orders of magnitude out?). I suspect the left/right and up/down adjustments have as fairly high lever ratio, but I can't imagine you could successfully adjust the in/out distance with any precision (not in the 690nm sense anyway)? Is the in/out distance not important so long as the beams are aligned? Dunno if you've seen it, but there's a great youtube video explaining how the actuators to align the James Webb mirrors work: ▶ this video including a 3D printable version of them: link "This is a replica of JWST's mirror actuators. Six of these actuators are paired into a hexapod / stewart platform arrangement and used to control 6 degrees of freedom of each mirror segment (tip, tilt, roll, x, y, z translation)."
Clever. I wonder how the mechanical realization looks like, as I can't really wrap my head around it. Reminds me of the JWST actuators which also "overload" a single axis for coarse/fine control: ▶ this video
This video ▶ this video was posted here link about how the actuators work on the James Webb telescope. It's a great watch.
This video ▶ this video was posted here link about how the actuators work on the James Webb telescope. It's a great watch and shows how well thought out design can produce accurate and long lasting parts.
Here a nice video that explains the mechanism that aligns each mirror: ▶ this video It is amazing that this is done with only a single motor. It works something like this: one direction of the motor sets which axis to align, the other direction sets the alignment of the chosen axis.
The actuator is a genius flexure design that is both mechanically simple and accurate. Breaking Taps 3d-prints a working replica and describes the design. I highly recommend: ▶ this video The actuator breaking wasn't as concerning after seeing the design.