Ultra-Precision Robotic Polishing for X-ray Telescope Mirrors

At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, recent efforts have focused on developing cutting-edge X-ray telescopes capable of deflecting X-ray beams into observatory instruments at extremely shallow angles, resulting in high-resolution images.

Achieving this requires exceptional precision in the surface slope of each aspheric mirror.

Traditional industrial robotic polishing falls short due to equipment vibrations that cause waviness in the polishing contact zone.

To address this challenge, our team has developed a method that ensures consistent contact and compensates for these undesirable vibrational effects. Our research introduces a passive error compensator that maintains uniform pressure in the contact zone, adhering to the planned material removal rate.

Through a statistical approach, we have validated the elimination of force overshoot and contact pressure fluctuations.

Experimental analysis confirmed the efficacy of our method, marking a significant step toward the practical application of robotic polishing for producing X-ray mirror segments that meet performance standards. This innovation represents a breakthrough in the field of robotics and precision manufacturing, bringing us closer to achieving the stringent specifications required for high-performance X-ray optics.