3-D animation for a segmented space reflector telescope

This paper presents the design and implementation of a 3-D animation 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. In this paper, the physical model of the segmented telescope was imported into our 3-D animation software architecture. Algorithms based on computational geometry were developed to animate the movements of the panel segments of the telescope. In addition, a modulization of the animation system was proposed to facilitate the development and the maintenance of the animation system. This 3-D animation software architecture provides a visualization of control implementation for the segmented telescope test-bed.