National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC

Aaron M Ison

Patrick S Barney

Daniel Paul Gillund

Theodore E Salas

Ronald L Akau

Nathan Weir

Charles A Walker

Peter Schwindt

Jongmin Lee

David Bossert

Kyle H Fuerschbach

A compact grating-mirror magneto-optical trap (GMOT) cold atom inertial sensor head is disclosed. To make the sensor head compatible with the high vibration levels encountered in dynamic environments, the number of optical ports in the vacuum chamber is minimized and various components, including fixed optical components and a reflective grating chip, are hard mounted within the vacuum chamber. The use of the reflective grating chip reduces the number of optical ports required for cooling beams from six to one. The number of optical ports is further reduced by time multiplexing multiple beams passing through a given optical port.

Compact grating magneto-optical trap sensor head for inertial navigation in dynamic environments

A flexure having six degrees of freedom is disclosed. The constraint and compliance of the flexure in all six degrees of freedom may be independently tuned for an application. The flexure may include various combinations of sections including, for example, straight arm and curvilinear sections. The constraint and compliance of the flexure is determined by the geometry, cross-sectional area, cross-sectional shape, and material used to form the various sections. A coupling mechanism and a corresponding method for using the coupling mechanism for automated or autonomous assembly of elements using tuned flexures is disclosed. The automated or autonomous assembly of elements employs a coupling mechanism having a motor driven grip and a coupler, in which the coupler includes a six degrees of freedom flexure. The motor driven grip and coupler may optionally include electrical or optical interconnections and self-aligning features.

Six degrees of freedom compliant flexure and autonomous assembly using same

A flexure bearing includes an inner race, an outer race, and a plurality of substantially planar radially extending blades coupled between the inner and outer race. The blades have a thickness that is thinner than a thickness of the inner and outer races. The inner race, outer race, and blades have substantially the same height. At least one heating element is coupled to the inner race and/or the outer race. The heating element is configured to apply heat to the race that it is coupled to in order to tune the flexure bearing.

Rotation flexure with temperature controlled modal frequency

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Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

Aaron M Ison