The Arrayed Wide-Angle Camera System (AWACS) is an astronomical wide-field imaging
system that utilizes hundreds of replicated small optical units spread across the
focal surface of two-mirror telescopes. The AWACS concept is completely different
from the traditional monolithic lens-based corrector design and can potentially enable
a compact, cost-effective, and high-performance wide-field corrector system for the
Extremely Large Telescopes. In this paper, we detail some of the AWACS design features
and the results from early laboratory prototype tests.
