Rapid and Inexpensive Thermoforming Technology for Precision Radio Telescope Reflector Panels

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Radio telescopes use large dish antennas. More antennas in an array allow fainter objects at higher spatial resolution to be observed. New radio astronomy facilities are being planned for locations around the world and there is need for mass-production manufacturing of the needed dishes. Current fabrication methods are slow and expensive. This project will develop a fast, low cost process called thermoforming. The process curves metal sheets using a mold that can change its shape. This mold can make a wide range of shapes without expensive machining. The project will also develop an infrared 3D scanner to measure the shape of each panel. The use of these technologies will bring many benefits including the ability to manufacture dishes that are not symmetrical and a reduction in the cost of dishes. The team will design a rooftop radio telescope for students. It will also make ten dishes for telescopes at other educational institutions. This distribution of dishes will involve hundreds of non-scientists in radio astronomy every year. This project will develop a process of quickly shaping curved metal panels using thermoforming. Preliminary tests show that this concept is feasible. Panels will be manufactured of a size suitable for research telescopes and an investigation of how well the input designed shapes are implemented in manufacturing will be made. In support of this work infrared deflectometry technology for 3D scanning of curved metal sheets will be developed. This will be part of efforts to optimize a mass-production process of manufacturing. The developed technology will be utilized in a rooftop radio telescope for students and public outreach. Further, ten additional dishes will be manufactured that are compatible with MIT’s Small Radio Telescope kit for distribution to educational institutions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.