ACS collaborates with TNO to create competitive and sustainable innovations

TNO is a public not-for-profit organization, aiming at connecting people and knowledge to create innovations that boost the sustainable competitive strength of industry and well-being of society.

They intended to become by 2021 the “flywheel of innovation” in the Netherlands, “not by doing or knowing everything ourselves, but by forming a network of solid relationships with partners who work with us to translate our know-how into complete and practical solutions”.

We are proud then to play a part in the activity of their Space Department which has a long heritage of on-ground and in-orbit space instrument calibration as well as ultra clean vacuum systems. 

The large TVC realized for TNO has a vertical cylinder structure that, together with the shroud,  is cut diagonally by a large opening flange equipped with an automatic movement for the top half, allowing easy and safe access for instruments and installation personnel.

Inside the chamber there is a mechanical manipulation system that allows precise movement of the earth observation instruments with 6 degrees of freedom. The manipulation system consists of a hexapod on top of a rotation stage and is designed for a total, instrument + GSE (Ground Support Equipment), mass of up to 300 kg.

A set of optical stimuli, including a generic optical collimator, will be positioned outside the chamber, which has multiple large flanges enabling flexible positioning  of one or more windows.

Thanks to TNO staff for their precious info:

Tim Luijkx, Freek Molkenboer, Rik Jansen,  Willem van Werkhoven, Wouter Mulckhuyse,  Gerard Otter,  Eleonie van Schreven, Brigitte de Roode, Hans Haasnoot, Alfred Abutan, Nick van der Valk.