3
1
Introduction
1.1
Summary of GuideStar
TM
II System
The GuideStar II laser stabilization system guarantees critical alignment of complex laser
systems by compensating beam pointing and position drift. The system is based on
Picomotor™ actuated mirrors which provide high-precision control with outstanding
intrinsic stability. Two miniature cameras provide complete position, pointing, and profile
information, while dedicated software implements a user-friendly, intelligent control
algorithm that keeps the beam’s four degrees of freedom precisely locked. The position
data is fed back to the mirror using our patented control algorithm (US Patent # 7,528,364
Optical Beam Steering and Sampling Apparatus and Method, 2009), the only technique
that completely corrects the laser beam position in both X and Y and the beam rotation
about both X and Y.
The system is anchored by the small GuideStar II Model 8783 controller which serves as a
USB hub for communication with the cameras and also serves as a multiplexed Picomotor
driver to generate drive signals for the four motors.
The controller connects to the user’s host computer via USB. And the host computer runs
the GuideStar II software which is user-friendly and conveniently permits full beam
profiles and beam position data which can be tracked, stored, and analyzed. An easy set-up
menu guides new users through the installation. Simple settings menus allow complete
control of a wide range of camera and beam stabilization parameters including: 1000:1
dynamic camera exposure time, loop gain to optimize performance of the control loop, and
complete control of target size and location for each camera.
Designed for accuracy, reliability, and ease-of-use, the GuideStar™ II System is the answer
to laser beam drift correction for the most demanding laser applications.
