  We are developing an adaptive secondary mirror (ASM) that uses a new actuator
technology created by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific
Research (TNO). The TNO hybrid variable reluctance actuators have more than an
order of magnitude better efficiency over the traditional voice coil actuators
that have been used on existing ASMs and show potential for improving the
long-term robustness and reliability of ASMs. To demonstrate the performance,
operations, and serviceability of TNO's actuators in an observatory, we have
developed a 36-actuator prototype ASM for the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility
(IRTF) called IRTF-ASM-1. IRTF-ASM-1 provides the first on-sky demonstration of
this approach and will help us evaluate the long-term performance and use of
this technology in an astronomical facility environment. We present calibration
and performance results with the ASM in a Meniscus Hindle Sphere lens setup as
well as preliminary on-sky results on IRTF. IRTF-ASM-1 achieved stable
closed-loop performance on-sky with H-band Strehl ratios of 35-40% in
long-exposure images under a variety of seeing conditions.
