CODE V Global Synthesis: Expert Optical Design Tool
Sometimes, a design challenge you face presents a new sensor format or a different field of view requirement from your usual design work. Having the right approach to a design can really help to streamline your efforts and enable great results the first time through the workflow.
Recently, Ed Gonzalez (Senior Optical Engineer at Edmund Optics Design Center in Tucson, Arizona) was kind enough to share his insights into the design of a challenging fixed-focus, high resolution lens for large format sensors.
Figure 1. Optical lens. Image courtesy of Edmund Optics
Figure 2. Lens requirements. Image courtesy of Edmund Optics
Ed gave a nice presentation and overview of his design work in CODE V for this lens in a recent webinar. He gave some excellent tips and an overview of his workflow along with some of the tradeoffs he faced as a designer for a demanding optical design optimization and tolerancing project. He even shared a little about his design starting point selection, pointing out the advantage he has as a designer with access to a large library of optics from the Edmund design collection.
Global Synthesis for starting point generation
Choosing the right starting point is a great advantage you will have working in CODE V — even if you don’t have access to the design library of Edmund Optics! CODE V offers designers a great selection of sample and patent lenses, all available via a menu selection and filtering according to a wide range of attributes.
Figure 3. Filtering to choose a sample lens in CODE V
Once you have a good starting point to meet your design requirements (or at least a system that will get close), a great next step is to use CODE V’s Global Synthesis to find many unique design forms. Global Synthesis will allow you to close in on the best contenders for improving to your finalized optimal design performance. The unique way in which CODE V can search design space, including optimizing for reduced sensitivity to fabrication errors, ensures you will achieve excellent designs in the fastest time possible.
Have fun designing the next generation of your amazing products with CODE V!