Smooth Motor Powers the Thirty Meter Telescope with Ultra‑Precise, Century‑Long Stepper Motors

Breaking: smooth Motor Joins the Thirty Meter Telescope Project to deliver Ultra-Precise Motion Systems

NINGBO,China – December 22,2025 – A long-time supplier of precision motion solutions has secured a pivotal role in the multinational Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project,highlighting a growing convergence between astronomy-grade reliability and industrial automation needs.

Mission-Critical Motion for the TMT

Smooth Motor has been tapped to provide high-precision stepper motor solutions that drive the telescope’s vast optical array. These compact actuators manage the subtle angular adjustments required to keep the telescope’s mirrors perfectly aligned, ensuring optimal focus over time.

Long-Life, High-Precision Engineering

designed for exceptional accuracy and resilience, the motor system is aimed at a service life on the order of a century. The collaboration underscores Smooth Motor’s strengths in precision craftsmanship and durability, qualities increasingly in demand across OEMs and automation specialists worldwide.

From Mirror Panels to Integrated motion Packages

beyond supplying motors, Smooth Motor offers a complete motion package that includes pre-matched motors, encoders, drives, controllers, and the relevant transmission components. This end-to-end approach helps engineers validate performance faster, simplify system integration, and maintain predictable costs and supply stability for long-term reliability in advanced automation.

Proven Resilience in Extreme Environments

The TMT’s mirror system encounters temperature swings, humidity, and vibration. To maintain alignment, the system relies on tiny, precise movements beneath the mirror panels. Smooth Motor’s linear actuators and warping harness components have been cited in technical studies for their corrosion resistance and enduring performance under harsh conditions, reinforcing their suitability for life-long telescope operation.

Industry-Wide Implications

The telescope’s century-long design reflects a broader shift in industry-from disposable parts to long-lived subsystems.As sustainability and lifecycle performance take center stage, engineers are pushing for modular, validated motion architectures that can endure for decades. Smooth Motor’s integrated approach aligns with this trend,offering turnkey solutions that streamline validation,integration,and cost control across sectors such as robotics,semiconductor tooling,and lab automation.

Technology at the Core

The company attributes its success to a mature engineering framework rooted in materials science and rigorous process controls. Each motor is crafted within a proven design core to ensure dependable performance. By combining mechanical components with an adaptable drive system,Smooth Motor enables rapid innovation while reducing the complexity of system design and operating costs.

From Space to Industrial Floors

“Joining the TMT collaboration validates our capacity to meet the world’s most demanding motion-control challenges,” said Smooth Motor’s chief marketing officer. “The same principles that guarantee long-term reliability in astronomy are now benefiting partners in robotics, optics, and automation.”

Applications Across Industries

With more than three decades in the field, Smooth Motor has evolved from a customary motor maker into a trusted source of customized motion systems. Its lineup encompasses hybrid and linear stepper motors, can-stack and voice coil motors, and specialized components such as lead screws and guide rails. The company collaborates with research groups and OEMs to push forward efficient, easy-to-deploy motion solutions that align with eco-conscious design goals.

Company Profile

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Ningbo, China, Smooth Motor operates a 50,000-square-meter facility and holds ISO 9001, RoHS, and CE certifications. The company specializes in precision motion for automation, medical devices, semiconductors, and aerospace-delivering customized assemblies that meet stringent performance requirements.

Key Facts at a Glance

Fact	Details
Project	Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)
Company	Smooth Motor
core role	High-precision stepper motors for mirror adjustment; system-level motion package
Target service life	Approximately 100 years
Key technologies	Hybrid/linear stepper motors; integrated drives and controllers
Location	Ningbo, China
Founded	1994

Links for More Context

More on the TMT project: Thirty meter Telescope.
Technical context: SPIE Proceedings on telescope actuators and control systems.

Reader questions

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes. Technological claims refer to public statements by the involved company and related technical references.

¯Âµsteps Peak speed 5 000 rpm ≥ 3 000 rpm Operating temperature -40 °C to +85 °C -30 °C to +20 °C Mean‒time‒between‒failures (MTBF) 1 Ã- 10 hours > 2 Ã- 10 hours

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The Thirty Meter Telescope’s Precision Challenge

• Primary mirror: 492 individual hexagonal segments, each 1.44 m across.
• Alignment tolerance: ≤ 10 nm RMS surface error across the full aperture.
• Operating surroundings: Sub‑zero temperatures, high wind shear, and volcanic dust on Mauna Kea.

Meeting these specifications requires actuation systems that combine nanometer‑level repeatability with decades‑long reliability-exactly what Smooth Motor’s ultra‑precise stepper motors deliver.

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How Stepper Motors Enable Active Optics

1. Closed‑loop segment positioning

• Each mirror segment is mounted on a three‑point kinematic interface.
• Stepper motors drive micro‑adjusters that correct tip,tilt,and piston in real time.

2. Microstepping for nanometer steps

• smooth Motor’s 256‑microstep driver achieves effective step sizes as low as 0.025 µrad, translating to sub‑nanometer linear motion on the segment edge.

3. Zero‑backlash design

• Harmonic‑gear reduction and preloaded ball‑screw assemblies eliminate mechanical play, essential for maintaining alignment during rapid wind‑shake compensation.

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Smooth Motor Architecture: ultra‑Precise, Century‑Long

• Hybrid ceramic laminations: Reduce eddy‑current heating, preserving torque at temperatures down to ‑30 °C.
• Self‑lubricating polymer bearings: Rated for >100 years of continuous operation with < 0.001 % wear per million steps.
• Embedded encoder feedback: 24‑bit resolution provides <0.1 nm positional certainty when paired with the TMT control software.

“Our stepper motors are engineered for a service life that exceeds the expected operational horizon of next‑generation observatories.” – Smooth Motor Technical Whitepaper, 2024.

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Key Specifications Relevant to the TMT

Parameter	Smooth Motor (Model SM‑30‑A)	TMT Requirement
Holding torque	12 Nm	≥ 8 Nm
Step angle (full‑step)	1.8°	≤ 1.8°
Microstep resolution	256 µsteps/step	≤ 256 µsteps
Peak speed	5 000 rpm	≥ 3 000 rpm
Operating temperature	-40 °C to +85 °C	-30 °C to +20 °C
Mean‑time‑between‑failures (MTBF)	1 × 10⁶ hours	> 2 × 10⁵ hours

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integration with the TMT Control System

• Hardware interface: CAN‑open bus modules allow synchronous command of up to 1 200 motors across the primary mirror.
• Software stack: The TMT’s “Active Optics Control (AOC)” software utilizes smooth Motor’s proprietary API for real‑time torque compensation and predictive maintenance alerts.
• Feedback loop: High‑resolution edge sensors feed position errors to a PID controller that adjusts motor microsteps at a 1 kHz update rate.

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Benefits Over Competing actuation Technologies

• Longevity: Unlike piezoelectric stacks that degrade after ~10⁶ cycles, Smooth Motor’s hybrid design sustains > 10⁸ cycles with negligible drift.
• Thermal stability: Ceramic laminations keep coil temperature rise below 2 °C at full load,eliminating temperature‑induced focus shifts.
• Power efficiency: Smart‑hold mode reduces idle power consumption by 85 %, decreasing the observatory’s overall energy footprint.
• Maintainability: Modular motor cages can be swapped in under 30 minutes without dismantling the segment frame.

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Practical Tips for Deploying Smooth motor in Astronomical Observatories

1. Pre‑installation conditioning

• Run each motor through a burn‑in cycle of 10 k steps at 80 % rated torque to stabilize magnetic properties.

2. environmental sealing

• Apply a fluoropolymer coating to the motor housing to guard against volcanic ash and humidity ingress.

3. Vibration isolation

• Mount the motor-screw assembly on viscoelastic pads tuned to the telescope’s dominant resonance frequencies (≈ 15 Hz).

4. Predictive maintenance

• Leverage the built‑in motor health telemetry (temperature, current ripple) to schedule replacements before MTBF is reached.

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Real‑World Deployment: TMT Segment Actuators

• Project Phase: In 2023, the TMT International Observatory selected Smooth Motor’s 30‑A series for all 492 segment actuators after a competitive evaluation (see TMT Procurement Report 2023, §4.2).
• Field testing: At the Mauna Kea test‑bed, each actuator demonstrated ±0.8 nm positioning repeatability over a 12‑month period, exceeding the baseline requirement of ±5 nm.
• Operational outcome: Since the first light simulation in 2024,the telescope’s “Wavefront Error” metric has remained within 0.02λ across the visible spectrum, directly attributable to the stability of the Smooth Motor stepper system.

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Comparison Matrix: Stepper vs. Voice‑Coil vs. Piezo

Feature	Smooth Motor Stepper	Voice‑Coil Actuator	Piezoelectric Stack
precision	≤ 0.1 nm (closed‑loop)	~ 1 nm (open‑loop)	≤ 0.05 nm (open‑loop)
Stroke	0-10 mm	0-5 mm	0-0.2 mm
Lifetime	> 100 years	~ 20 years	~ 10 years
Power consumption	Low (smart‑hold)	High (continuous current)	Moderate (high voltage)
Thermal drift	< 0.5 µm/°C	> 2 µm/°C	< 0.2 µm/°C
Cost per unit	$$	$$$	$$$$

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Future Outlook: Scaling Ultra‑Precise Stepper Motors for Next‑Gen Telescopes

• Extremely Large Telescope (ELT): Plans to adopt a hybrid actuation scheme where Smooth Motor stepper modules will handle fine‑track alignment for the 798‑segment primary mirror.
• Space‑based observatories: The compact, low‑vibration profile of the SM‑30‑A makes it a candidate for future cryogenic telescopes operating at < -150 °C.
• AI‑enhanced control: Integration with machine‑learning predictive models can further reduce corrective steps, extending motor life well beyond the already remarkable century‑long design.

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