DSPE Opto – Mechatronica Symposium 2026 Program

This presentation covers the design and development of a compact imaging payload based on the monolithic Tiny Telescope architecture, combining high imaging performance with reduced volume, mass, and mechanical complexity. The monolithic optical architecture integrates reflective and refractive surfaces, internal baffling, and structural features within a single optical element, providing a compact and mechanically robust solution while maintaining diffraction-limited optical performance. The optical design and payload architecture are presented, including the selection and integration approach of the imaging sensor. Image contrast enhancement algorithms improve the quality and interpretability of the acquired imagery. The use of this technology in different applications is highlighted.

Some part of the light is absorbed by the mirrors causing thermal deformation which lead to signal degradation. The MeROPE consortium explores novel sensors and actuators to compensate for these deformations. To close the loop between detection and actuation, advanced algorithms are necessary to distill the tiny signatures of the deformations from the main signal.
With a complete simulation model of the optical system including a Phase Camera – that can measure both the intensity and the phase of the light – we can deduce the deformation state of the mirrors. This provides the information necessary to direct the compensation system. We will give an overview of this scheme and preliminary results on a tabletop experiment with suspended mirror and the Phase Camera.

The mirrors and other elements of the detector are decoupled from the Earth’s ever-present motion by advanced seismic isolation systems, which require extremely sensitive and compact (inertial) sensors. For future detectors, even the best commercial sensors do not comply with sensitivity requirements, because the best commercial seismometers are designed to characterise the quietest places on Earth. However, our seismic attenuation systems create environments that move much less than Earth at frequencies where we would like to detect a black hole merger. I will give an overview of the custom – and opto-mechatronic – sensors from the field, future directions, and how they might be used in industry.