Optical Control System for Displacement Monitoring of the High Precision Measurement Setup Elements

Introduction. It is necessary to ensure the reliability of measurements when operating high-precision measurement setups. The elements displacement of the measurement path introduces measurement results distortions, especially in measurement setups operating in the microwave range. It is necessary to monitor the elements positions of the measurement setup to ensure the measurements reliability. The monitoring should be performed during the measurement, and the control device should be connected to the automatic control system of the measurement setup, and it should neither mechanically affect the setup elements nor introduce the electrical and electromagnetic interferences.Objective. The objective of the present work is a design of the control system, which allows monitoring of elements displacements of the high precision measuring setup with an accuracy of 1.0·10–4 mm. And the designed control system should neither mechanically affect the controlled elements nor introduce the electrical and electromagnetic interferences, thus allowing the digital signal processing.Materials and methods. The designed system utilizes optical methods of the displacements monitoring, which are based on the geometric optics principles. The charge-coupled devices (CCD) to record the system response to optical path changes are used.Results. Two designs of the control system for the displacement monitoring of the high precision measurement setup elements are presented. The first system design allows detecting the elements displacement occurrence, and the second system design allows to identify the displaced element. The system is capable to register the elements displacements with accuracy of 1.0·10–4 mm and monitor the elements positions while vibration exposures. The system does not mechanically or electromagnetically affect the controlled elements. All system elements are resistant to the microwave radiation and increased background radiation, excluding CCD that should be placed outside the active zone. The mathematical simulation allows assessing the sensitivity of the designed optical control system. The system sensitivity increasing method by the optical path increasing and corrective reflector using is proposed.Conclusion. The designed control system for the displacements monitoring of the high precision measurement setup elements meets the requirements imposed on it. The system allows the digital signal processing and can withstand the increased microwave, X-ray and background radiation. The designed system is much simpler to implement in comparison with systems based on other physical principles. The novelty of the control system technical solution is confirmed by the patent.