Papers
17
Total Citations
272
H-Index
9
About
Michael Goodwin is an Australian instrumentation scientist and engineer whose career spans two remarkably distinct domains: astronomical instrumentation and robotic telepresence systems. His most impactful work lies in the development of cutting-edge spectroscopic instruments for major telescopes, most notably the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) for the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which has garnered 93 citations since its 2015 first-light publication. HERMES underpins the GALAH Galactic Archaeology Survey, a landmark initiative to reconstruct the formation and evolution of the Milky Way through detailed stellar chemistry. Goodwin has also been central to the development of Starbug technology — innovative miniature piezoelectric robots that autonomously position optical fibres across a telescope's focal plane — enabling next-generation instruments such as TAIPAN, Hector, and MANIFEST for the Giant Magellan Telescope. His earlier career produced pioneering contributions to teleoperation, including multi-sensory feedback systems for twin-armed mobile robots operating in hazardous environments. With over 200 cumulative citations across his publications, Goodwin's work bridges precision engineering and observational astrophysics, helping to shape the infrastructure underpinning modern large-scale astronomical surveys.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 3TAIPAN: optical spectroscopy with StarBugs23 citations · 2014
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- 5Telepresence feedback and input systems for a twin armed mobile robot22 citations · 1996
- 6Integrating the HERMES spectrograph for the AAT17 citations · 2012
- 7The MANIFEST prototyping design study12 citations · 2016
- 8TAIPAN instrument fibre positioner and Starbug robots: engineering overview11 citations · 2016
- 9Starbugs: focal plane fiber positioning technology11 citations · 2010
- 10