Miniature freefall mechanism
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a mass dropper comprising;
(i) a first test mass;
(ii) a grasper, wherein said grasper passively grasps said first test mass when in a first position, and wherein said grasper releases said first test mass when in a second position; and
(iii) an actuator for moving said grasper on a path that includes said first position and said second position;
a sensor for providing a first signal based on an orientation of said mass dropper with respect to vertical; and
a gimbal for controlling the orientation of said mass dropper.
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Abstract
A system for measuring differential gravity at two points is disclosed. In the illustrative embodiment, the system uses a pair of graspers which each repeatedly grasp, raise, and drop a test mass. The accelerations of the two free-falling test masses are monitored using optical interferometry. An output signal is provided that is based on a differential acceleration of the two test masses.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a mass dropper comprising; (i) a first test mass; (ii) a grasper, wherein said grasper passively grasps said first test mass when in a first position, and wherein said grasper releases said first test mass when in a second position; and (iii) an actuator for moving said grasper on a path that includes said first position and said second position; a sensor for providing a first signal based on an orientation of said mass dropper with respect to vertical; and a gimbal for controlling the orientation of said mass dropper. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus comprising:
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(1) a first mass dropper, wherein said first mass dropper comprises; (i) a first test mass; (ii) a first grasper, wherein said first grasper grasps said first test mass when said first grasper is in a first position, and wherein said first grasper does not grasp said first test mass when said first grasper is in a second position; (iii) a first actuator for moving said first grasper on a first path that includes said first position and said second position; and (2) a first gimbal for orienting said first mass dropper in a substantially vertical orientation; (3) a second mass dropper, wherein said second mass dropper comprises; (i) a second test mass; (ii) a second grasper, wherein said second grasper grasps said second test mass when said second grasper is in a third position, and wherein said second grasper does not grasp said second test mass when said second grasper is in a fourth position; (iii) a second actuator for moving said second grasper on a second path that includes said third position and said fourth position; and (4) a second gimbal for orienting said second mass dropper in a substantially vertical orientation; and (5) an optical system, wherein said optical system provides an output signal based on the phases of a first optical signal and a second optical signal, wherein said first optical signal is reflected from said first test mass and said second optical signal is reflected from said second test mass. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification