Computational Geometry Algorithms for Animation of a Segmented Space Reflector Telescope

This paper presents the ongoing development of a computer animation software package for a large space segmented telescope test-bed. The test-bed was developed to provide a platform for experiments related to the control of precision segmented reflectors. The software was developed using algorithms of computational geometry. The algorithms were optimized based on the common translation and rotation primitives provided by the graphic library, OpenGL. In addition, a user-friendly graphic interface was developed for the users to specify the parameters related to the system as well as the control algorithms in an interactive fashion. Window snapshots were shown in the paper to demonstrate the operation of the system as well as the results of the animation.