Abstract

Optical design has traditionally been a computer intensive activity. Until recently most serious lens design work was carried out using the largest computers available. Present computer power on personal microcomputers and minicomputers has exceeded the computing power of mainframes of only a decade ago, largely because of the introduction of high speed floating point processor chips. Therefore, optical design has moved to the use of these modern machines. Many of the programs currently in use are based on historical design techniques and very few have taken real advantage of the interactive nature of these small computers. A generation of programs that begin to approach the sophistication possible using these machines is beginning to appear. Direct live interaction of the designer and the program is widely used, but some new display and computation approaches are required to make it really practical. Artifical intelligence and expert system approaches have been discussed but not yet implemented in any general program. Programs which combine the lens design stage with tolerance analysis, environmental effects analysis, image evaluation, and computeraided mechanical design are available to varying degrees.

© 1986 Optical Society of America