Re: ATM Yet another interesting thought

[Aplanatic@aol.com]

I wrote:

> With a four-stack, we need to generate 
> about 300 volts to drive the actuators, 
> but 600 would be better.

Well, this is pretty lame, isn't it?  What we actually do is wire the stack of PZT actuators electrically in parallel, reducing the voltage needed to something like 100 volts.  Increase the number of layers to 8, reduce the size to 1/4" square and reduce the circle on which they reside to 1" diameter.  Now we can get over 20 arcseconds of image motion in any direction with reasonable voltages.  We obtain 18 complete stacks from a single $100 sheet.

Now we need the real-time CCD camera and actuator control software to make it happen, and a 100 volt, low current amplifier (not a problem).

Dave Rowe