About the Upgrade
• James Hedberg
Installing a new projection system
We will be installing a spherical mirror projection system over the existing Spitz 512 instrument. The spherical mirror system will allow us to show digital media on the dome, without a major overhaul of the infrastructure.
The basic concept involves redirecting a projector’s beam to the entire surface of the dome using a hemispherical mirror.
The schematic shows the idea. Rays coming from the projector will be reflected from the spherical mirror and directed to the entire dome.
Our installation will require another planar mirror so that the projector doesn’t have to be cantilevered out into the middle of the dome. This increases the stability of the projection system, at the expense of the little brightness.
We will also make some improvements to the audio systems in the room.
Hopefully, it all goes swimmingly!