A collaborative team comprising researchers, engineers, and technicians has successfully developed a groundbreaking solution known as the “SMART box,” to power the planet's largest radio telescope.
Image Credit: ICRAR/Curtin University
These innovative Power and Signal Distribution (PaSD) SMART boxes, denoted as Small Modular Aggregation RFoF Trunk, play a pivotal role within the Square Kilometre Array Low frequency (SKA-Low) telescope. This telescope is in the construction phase at the Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara site, which forms part of the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.
The 131,072 antennas on the SKA-Low telescope are powered by the SMART boxes, which also gather signals from the sky to send elsewhere for processing.
The first 24 SMART boxes were designed and constructed by the Engineering & Operations team at the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), a project that took 10 years to complete.
The only electrical devices that must be positioned among the antennas, according to Tom Booler, Program Lead for Engineering and Operations at ICRAR, presents a challenge for this delicate equipment.
The SKA-Low telescope will receive exquisitely faint signals that have traveled across the Universe for billions of years. To detect them, the SKA-Low telescope is being built in a pristine radio quiet zone far from the interference created by modern technology.
Tom Booler, Program Lead, Engineering and Operations, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Tom Booler notes, “It’s so radio quiet at the observatory site that the biggest potential source of interference is the electronics like ours, due to the proximity to the antennas. That meant our project had to meet the strictest radio emission requirements across the entire Australian SKA site.”
The team procured “radio quiet” components, minimizing interference, and substituted the more “noisy” ones. These components were subsequently encased in a specially crafted enclosure to contain any stray radio waves.
Rigorous testing of the boxes took place at a dedicated electromagnetic test facility in South Africa, where they successfully passed all assessments.
The ‘radio quiet’ results that the ICRAR-designed SMART boxes achieved were to the highest standards in radio astronomy. A mobile phone on the surface of the moon would cause more interference to the antennas than the SMART boxes that sit among them.
Tom Booler, Program Lead, Engineering and Operations, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Perth-based company AVI secured a significant contract through a competitive tender process to manufacture a potential 12,000 SMART boxes for the complete outfitting of the SKA-Low telescope.
This contract marks the largest undertaking in Australia related to SKA construction, excluding infrastructure and software components. It represents the tangible fruition of the Australian Government’s decade-long investment in SKA pre-construction initiatives.
Mr. Booler expressed his satisfaction at the prospect of SMART box production taking place in Western Australia, viewing it as a positive indicator of Australia's sovereign capabilities in the space industry, with promising future prospects. AVI Managing Director, Tony Routledge, voiced the company’s pride in their involvement.
Being part of the SKA project is an incredible opportunity for AVI to contribute what we have learnt over our thirty-five years of delivering hardened electronic systems to the defense, security, and mining sectors. Harsh environments are our specialty. Extreme temperatures, ingress protection, and the low noise requirements, coupled with the remoteness of this location offer more opportunities to learn and evolve. I think we are all eager to be a part of what findings may eventually be revealed by the radio telescope.
Tony Routledge, Managing Director, AVI