For the design of a new asphere measuring system, it is necessary to know transmission values for a system consisting of a source, an optional auxiliary filter and an optical filter, on which angle-tuning is performed. To generate these transmission values for different angles of incidence and polarizations a simulation program was created. Input data of the simulation were based on data provided by the manufacturers. Simulation results are presented for a sample of four systems. Simulation was deemed successful and accelerates the design process of the metrology system, since a large range of source and filter combinations can be evaluated swiftly. Limitations of the simulation are discussed as well.
Modern optical designs rely on a mix of spherical and aspherical lenses to reduce the element count, weight, overall price and assembly effort of optics. Aspherical elements are commonplace in specialized, high-performance laboratory and medical equipment as well as consumer electronics such as smartphone cameras. To produce these lenses, manufacturing shops need to have the necessary metrology tools, such as stitching interferometers, tactile measuring machines or null correctors for interferometers e.g. CGHs. This requirement may be an economic hurdle for smaller optical shops, which are specialized on small batch or single-item production. Therefore, researchers at THD work on a solution to provide a new class of economic, contactless, light-based measuring machines for aspherical as well as spherical or flat surfaces. The proposed machine is in principle a wavefront sensor and employs for this purpose an angle-sensitive filter e.g. a metallic interference filter. In this paper the steps to gain the prerequisite calibration of angle-sensitive filters are laid out. The commissioning of a filter transmission measuring machine is described. This machine consists of a laser-based illumination system, an angle measurement table, a telecentric lens with a scientific CMOS camera as well as data acquisition and data analysis software. Several “lessons learned” regarding the correct setup and alignment of the system are described. A first filter is measured and a diagram of transmission against angle is presented. A perspective of future work on the system, i.a. the usage of a Shack-Hartmann sensor for an orthogonal alignment of the beam axis with the rotational axis, is given.
At Deggendorf Institute of Technology a student project is currently under way to build a Stevick-Paul telescope for astrophotography. An important step in the overall development procedure of each telescope is the design of a beam-path and ensuring its suitability under optical and engineering aspects. The students performed this process in a sequential manner by using several different computer programs (e.g. MATLAB, Zemax, Creo Parametric). To accelerate the beam path design process, a Python program to automate the major part of the design process with minimum human supervision was created. The input data of the python program consists of ranges of the desired characteristics of the Stevick-Paul telescope, such as focal lengths, primary mirror diameters and tilts etc., mirror thickness and mount geometries, as well as the specific type of camera. After setting the input, the program creates 2D cross-sections of beam paths according to the formulas of D. Stevick and may introduce a flat fold mirror to reduce the overall system size as well as improve the accessibility of the focus plane. The subsequent assessment routine checks against the susceptibility for stray light and performs a complex analysis of the available installation space to ensure sufficient mechanical tolerances. In this way, collisions between mirrors, mounts and cameras are avoided and obstructions of the beam path are prevented. At any stage, the program can produce graphical representations of the beam paths. In this paper the computer-aided design of a telescope beam path with a focal length of 2400 mm is demonstrated. During development of the software, a subset of folded Stevick-Paul telescopes, in which certain components are parallel, was found. This subset may be useful to simplify the alignment procedure. In conclusion, further refinement of the software is necessary, although the program is already a useful aid for certain aspects when creating a beam path design.
The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) and its Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences and Industrial engineering transfer a broad spectrum of knowledge to the students. The clarification of the interrelations that exist between seemingly isolated fields of knowledge is a permanent process. In order to put this into practice, a telescope construction project was started. The base of the in-house student project is the Technology Campus in Teisnach, which bundles capacities for process development, production and measurement of high-precision optics, including telescope optics. A first optical design, which is based on a subset of the parameter space published in 1989 by M. Brunn1, 2 (later built by D. Stevick as f/12-system3 ), made use of a primary mirror M1 with a diameter of 400 mm. An f/8-system provide a Strehl ratio SR ≥ 0.8 over an entire field of view of 0.7° deg. Even if this seems to be sufficient, manufacturing tolerances, adjustment tolerances, thermal drift and positional changes considerably reduce the Strehl ratio. In order to obtain reliable values of acceptable tolerances, statistical Monte Carlo analyses had been carried out. As consequences, the tube design was changed and the design of new mirror mounts started. This was done to achieve the required stiffness. The new tube designs, one based on carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and one based on FeNi36, had been tested by using FEM analysis. In addition, the practicability of deep learning based aberration detection was tested. Zernike polynomials obtained by analyzing the star images with a Convolutional Neuronal Network (CNN). The current state of the development is described.
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