Overview

This chapter gives readers a preliminary understanding of the radio telescope, FAST, and rigid and cable-driven parallel robots, which is the foundation for the subsequent content. This chapter begins with a brief introduction to astronomical telescopes, reviews the construction process of the Five-hundred-meter Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), known as “China Sky Eye”, and clarifies its important role in astronomy and deep space exploration. Then, the main components, structural properties, and operating principles of the FAST are illustrated, and its innovations and breakthroughs are described compared with the Arecibo Observatory's radio telescope. Besides, this chapter discusses the cable-driven parallel robot and the rigid parallel robot that are used in the FAST feed support system to achieve lightweight and high-precision dynamic tracking with a large workspace.