KEYWORDS: Spectroscopy, Sensors, Digital micromirror devices, Mirrors, Diffraction gratings, Signal detection, Signal to noise ratio, Infrared spectroscopy, Digital Light Processing, Signal processing
Spectroscopic measurements have the potential to positively impact a wide range of research, development, monitoring and control applications. In many cases, this potential is not realized because the spectrometer cannot be brought out of the laboratory to the measurement site due to sensitivities to environmental factors, highly accurate data cannot be obtained in a timely manner, or customizing the spectrometer to a specific application is costly and precludes re-use of the device for other application once its original purpose is served. We present the development of a DLP-based spectroscopic system in the near-infrared that is low-cost, compact and rugged, provides high resolution and is highly adaptable through straightforward software control. The key elements of the design include an efficient and compact optical pathway, a high-resolution DMD controlled by a fast DLP board, and a user-friendly, feature-rich software package that facilitates system configuration and data analysis. The DMD replaces the detector array in traditional spectrometers, and is shown to provide greater functionality while eliminating the need for mechanical scanning. We demonstrate how the long, thin columns of mirrors in the DMD provide high wavelength selectivity and capture more light at each wavelength, increasing measurement SNR. Selectively activating columns of mirrors is shown to adaptively tailor the resolution and the wavelengths collected and analyzed by the system allow one device to meet the needs of many different applications and to reduce measurement times. The software interface developed for accessing the many features of the spectrometer is discussed.
KEYWORDS: Printing, 3D printing, Digital Light Processing, Digital micromirror devices, Control systems, Computer aided design, Control systems design, 3D modeling, Software development, Ultraviolet radiation
As 3D printer technology has rapidly developed and penetrated into a wide range of applications, several methods for creating 3D objects have been explored and developed. One such method utilizes UV curing of special resins, where the patterning of each layer of the 3D object is determined by a digital micromirror device (DMD) controlled by a digital light processing (DLP) system. This method possesses important advantages over other methods in terms of variable object composition, high spatial resolution, and reduced build times, but usually requires specialized knowledge to program and control the DMD and other printer systems. Not all potential users of 3D printers will be able or willing to acquire this knowledge in order to take full advantage of all that 3D printing has to offer in their ideas or applications. new software package called Design23DPrint has been developed that provides a user-friendly and intuitive interface for importing, manipulating, and editing 3D objects and has the ability to be readily interfaced with many different DLP and printer control systems. Both layer creation and the positioning of supports can be automated or be manually controlled. Integration of Design23DPrint with existing software packages for DMD control allows the user to edit layers on a pixel-by-pixel basis. The software was integrated with a new 3D printer design developed by Texas Instruments to demonstrate the capabilities of the software to control the printing process and to interface with resident control systems.
We are currently in the process of developing a static-volume 3D display, CSpace® display, that has the capability to
produce images of much larger size than any other static-volume display currently under development, with up to nearly
800 million voxel resolution. A key component in achieving the size and resolution of the display is the optical system
that transfers the pixel data from a standard DMD projection unit to the voxel size required by the display with high
contrast and minimal distortion. The current optical system is capable of such performance for only small image sizes,
and thus new designs of the optical system must be developed. We report here on the design and testing of a new optical
projection system with the intent of achieving performance close to that of a telecentric lens. Theoretical analysis with
Zemax allowed selection of appropriate lens size, spacing, and focal length, and identified the need for tilting the
assembly to produce the desired beam properties. Experimental analysis using the CSpace® prototype showed that the
improved beam parameters allowed for higher resolution and brighter images than those previously achieved, though
their remains room for further improvement of the design. Heating of the DMD and its housing components were also
addressed to minimize heating effects on the optical system. A combination of a thermo-electric cooler and a small fan
produced sufficient cooling to stabilize the temperature of the system to acceptable levels.
This proposed display constructs different images within three layers viewable around a 180 degree arc. The display
contains special particles suspended within its image space, that when excited by two different infrared lasers, illuminate
to generate images. It consists of a first projector that launches a first infrared laser forming sequential slices of a 2D
image along the length and width of the image space, and a second projector that launches a second infrared laser
creating translational layers across the depth of the image space. This display can be utilized in a variety of applications
such as gaming and air traffic control applications.
KEYWORDS: 3D displays, 3D image processing, Projection systems, Digital Light Processing, Image processing, Image quality, Holography, Glasses, 3D volumetric displays
An ongoing public-private research partnership has demonstrated a three-dimensional (3D) volumetric display
system that incorporates a static image space. The 3D display system uses micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS) based mirror arrays to direct infrared light beams into an image space that exhibits two-step, twofrequency
upconversion. A number of candidate image space materials have been evaluated, with 2%Er: NYF4
appearing to be most promising at this stage of the research. In this paper, the authors build upon prior work by
investigating the response time of 2%Er:NYF4. In addition, a new technique for reducing flicker in the 3D images is
described. The technique includes interlacing the 3D image slices in a way similar to the interlacing that occurs in
the generation of television images. Adopting this technique has the potential to reduce the flicker that is presently
evident, thereby improving the overall 3D image quality.
KEYWORDS: 3D displays, Medical imaging, 3D image processing, 3D volumetric displays, Ions, Digital micromirror devices, Aluminium phosphide, Projection systems, Digital Light Processing
Advances in medical imaging technologies are assisting radiologists in more accurate diagnoses. This paper details an
autostereoscopic static volumetric display, called CSpace®, capable of projecting three-dimensional (3D) medical
imaging data in 3D world coordinates. Using this innovative technology, the displayed 3D data set can be viewed in the
optical medium from any perspective angle without the use of any viewing aid. The design of CSpace® allows a volume
rendering of the surface and the interior of any organ of the human body. As a result, adjacent tissues can be better
monitored, and disease diagnoses can be more accurate. In conjunction with CSpace hardware, we have developed a
software architecture that can read digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) files whether captured by
ultrasound devices, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or computed tomography (CT) scanners. The software acquires
the imaging parameters from the files' header, and then applies the parameters on the rendered 3D object to display it in
the exact form it was captured.
KEYWORDS: Digital micromirror devices, 3D displays, Projection systems, Digital Light Processing, Aluminium phosphide, 3D image processing, Ions, 3D volumetric displays, Upconversion
A public-private research collaboration has demonstrated a promising three-dimensional volumetric display system with
the capability of satisfying the performance criteria of: ease of viewing, high-resolution, scalability, and reliability. The
system utilizes commercial off-the-shelf micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based mirror arrays to direct
infrared light beams into an image space. To date, monochromatic images have been demonstrated in an image space
material that exhibits two-photon upconversion. The prototype display requires no special viewing aids, produces a
volumetric image that is viewable from 360 degrees, and as presently designed is capable of producing 800 million
volumetric pixels of image content.
Free-space optics (FSO) technology utilizes a modulated light beam to transmit information through the atmosphere. Due to reduced size and cost, and higher data rates, FSO can be more effective than wireless communication. Although atmospheric conditions can affect FSO communication, a line-of-sight connection between FSO transceivers is a necessary condition to maintain continuous exchange of data, voice, and video information. To date, the primary concentration of mobile FSO research and development has been toward accurate alignment between two transceivers. This study introduces a fully automatic, advanced alignment system that will maintain a line of sight connection for any FSO transceiver system. A complete transceiver system includes a position-sensing detector (PSD) to receive the signal, a laser to transmit the signal, a gimbal to move the transceiver to maintain alignment, and a computer to coordinate the necessary movements during motion. The FSO system was tested for mobility by employing one gimbal as a mobile unit and establishing another as a base station. Tests were performed to establish that alignment between two transceivers could be maintained during a given period of experiments and to determine the maximum speeds tolerated by the system. Implementation of the transceiver system can be realized in many ways, including vehicle-to-base station communication or vehicle-to-vehicle communication. This study is especially promising in that it suggests such a system is able to provide high-speed data in many applications where current wireless technology may not be effective. This phenomenon, coupled with the ability to maintain an autonomously realigned connection, opens the possibility of endless applications for both military and civilian use.
Free-space optics (FSO), or Optical Wireless, is an unlicensed line-of-sight technology that uses modulated lasers to
transmit information through the atmosphere. By using light beams, FSO can transmit and receive data, voice, and
video, information through the air. FSO provides data rates ranging from 100Mbps to 2.5Gbps. In most applications,
FSO transceivers normally remain in a static location to ensure continuous line of sight and to maintain accurate
alignment. One current challenge facing FSO technology is the desire to implement mobility. As a potential solution,
this study introduces an auto-tracking system that will achieve and maintain alignment between two mobile FSO nodes.
This auto-tracking system can be used in many different applications, such as reducing the time needed to achieve
alignment of an FSO link, and maintaining a link between an aircraft and a stationary command post to exchange real-time
video and data with high-speed laser communications. After link initiation, the auto-tracking system application
will send steering commands back to the positioning gimbal. These steering commands are determined by feedback
from Position Sensing Diodes (PSDs). The proposed FSO auto-tracking system provides optical beam steering and
capturing mechanisms to provide tracking between two transceivers, either fixed or mobile. In this paper, we illustrate
the feasibility of such a system and present experimental results for a source aligned with a PSD in a mobile
environment.
Recent mechanical and nonmechanical optical scanning devices do not meet the fast scanning requirements for contemporary and emerging applications and can only steer optical beams over relatively narrow angles. A variety of important applications require fast optical scanning devices that can steer laser beams rapidly to an arbitrary location and with no moving parts. We introduce a new optical scanning technique that can be used to collimate and steer optical beams for precision alignment in either 2-D free-space optical (FSO) communications links or image scanners. This nonmechanical technique is capable of rapidly redirecting the optical beams to arbitrary locations without greatly sacrificing other parameters such as aperture size, efficiency, and scanning range. A digital micromirror device (DMD) beam-steering system was successfully demonstrated and exhibited better performance results when compared with other available systems.
Free-space optics (FSO) is a technology that utilizes modulated light beam to transmit information through the
atmosphere. Line-of-sight connection between both FSO transceivers is a necessary condition to maintain
continuous exchange of voice, video, and data information. To date, the primary concentration of mobile FSO
research and development has been toward the accurate aligning between two transceivers. This study introduces an
advanced FSO receiver that provides wider receiving angle compared with that of conventional FSO systems. We
present data from measurements of optical power, which were very promising, and indicated that these advanced
FSO receivers are suitable for FSO alignment applications and perform favorably with similar FSO receivers.
KEYWORDS: Digital micromirror devices, Tablets, Digital Light Processing, Micromirrors, Projection systems, Interfaces, Aluminium phosphide, Mirrors, Display technology, Control systems
Digital light processing (DLP) is an innovative display technology that uses an optical switch array, known
as a digital micromirror device (DMD), which allows digital control of light. To date, DMDs have been
used primarily as high-speed spatial light modulators for projector applications. A tablet PC is a notebook
or slate-shaped mobile PC. Its touch screen or digitizing tablet technology allows the user to operate the
notebook with a stylus or digital pen instead of using a keyboard or mouse. In this paper, we describe an
interface solution that translates any sketch on the tablet PC screen to an identical mirror-copy over the
cross-section of the DMD micromirrors such that the image of the sketch can be projected onto a special
screen. An algorithm has been created to control each single micromirror of the hundreds of thousands of
micromirrors that cover the DMD surface. We demonstrate the successful application of a DMD to a high-speed
two-dimensional (2D) scanning environment, acquiring the data from the tablet screen and launching
its contents to the projection screen; with very high accuracy up to 13.68 &mgr;m x 13.68 &mgr;m of mirror pitch.
Optical fiber offers many advantages over coaxial cable for the transmission of radio frequency (rf) signals in antenna-remoting applications, as well as cellular networks and cable television (CATV) signal distribution networks. Optical fiber shows significantly less loss, can support signals demanding much higher bandwidth, is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI), and enables considerable size and weight savings when compared to coaxial cable. Free-space optics (FSO) communications is a technology that uses modulated optical beams to transmit information line of sight through the atmosphere. FSO can be deployed faster and cheaper when compared with optical fiber. Recently, FSO has been investigated by the telecommunications industry and research centers to transport digital signals for civilian "last mile" applications and military applications. We demonstrate the successful transport of modulated rf analog signals over an FSO link and compare key performance measures against a fiber optic link configured in an identical manner. Results of measurements of optical power, transmission response, reflection response, group delay that defines phase distortion, carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR), and dynamic range that defines nonlinear distortion are presented. Results from this comparative study indicate that FSO for rf applications is a suitable replacement for fiber optic transmission links over short distances.
Free-space optics (FSO) is a technology that uses modulated laser beams to implement point-to-point communications links without optical waveguides. In many cases, FSO technology can be deployed in metropolitan areas at costs lower than required to install new optical fiber infrastructure. To date, the primary concentration of FSO research and development has been toward the transmission of digital signals, particularly for "last mile" applications. This paper investigates the use of FSO technology for the simultaneous transport of multiple radio frequency (RF) signals over a single FSO channel. Experimental measurements of transmission response and dynamic range, over the frequency range 46-870 MHz, indicate the suitability of FSO links for cable television (CATV) applications.
KEYWORDS: Free space optics, Signal to noise ratio, Wavelength division multiplexing, Signal attenuation, Analog electronics, Optical amplifiers, Fiber amplifiers, Atmospheric optics, Transmitters, Optical testing
Free-space optics (FSO) is a technology that uses modulated optical lasers to transmit information in a line-of-sight path through the atmosphere. To date, the major focus of FSO research and development has been toward the transmission of digital data, mostly for “last mile” applications. This paper investigates the simultaneous transportation of multiple analog radio frequency (RF) signals over a single FSO link using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology. Experimental measurements of optical peak power and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) indicate the suitability of FSO links for supporting WDM applications.
Free-space optics (FSO) is a technology that uses modulated optical beams to transmit information in a line-of-sight fashion to achieve a high-bandwidth communications link. FSO technology has been investigated for military and civilian “last mile” applications for many years and, more recently, has generated interest for space-based applications. As the use of FSO technology grows, the potential for optical interference that degrades FSO network performance, whether intentional (jamming) or otherwise, becomes a matter of increasing importance. The investigation described in this paper examined the effects of interference upon the operation and performance of a point-to-point FSO link connecting two virtual local area networks. The sources of interference were laser pulses of varying energy, wavelength, and repetition rate produced from a nitrogen-pumped, tunable dye laser. The study evaluated the effect upon FSO link performance of varying the output power of the interfering source for a fixed wavelength, of varying the wavelength of the source for a fixed power, and of varying the pulse repetition rate of the source. The results of the study indicated that FSO link performance was negatively influenced by such interference.
KEYWORDS: Free space optics, Signal to noise ratio, Optical amplifiers, Analog electronics, Transmitters, Fiber amplifiers, Modulation, Receivers, Signal attenuation, Atmospheric optics
Free space optics (FSO) is a technology that uses modulated optical beams to transmit information line-of-sight through the atmosphere. To date, the primary focus of FSO research and development has been toward the transmission of digital signals, primarily for "last mile" applications. This paper reports the use of FSO to transport modulated radio frequency (RF) analog signals, together with an investigation of key performance measures. Results indicate minimal RF signal distortion when transmitted over FSO. The advantages of using FSO include increased security and insusceptibility to electromagnetic interference (EMI).
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