Patent — available for licensing
Precision, Non-Contact Metrology
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
Freeform optics and other challenging aspheric optical surfaces enable small, space-based optical instrumentation for science missions ranging from Earth sciences to planetary applications. The use of freeform optics can significantly reduce the package size as well as improve the image quality performance of optical systems. Recent design studies suggest that a factor of five or more reduction in volume for optical instrumentation can be achieved by the implementation of freeform surfaces. The high departure and slope error associated with freeform and other aspheric surfaces pose challenges. These extreme surfaces are very difficult to measure using traditional optical test approaches. They typically take a long time to measure and are susceptible to unknown systematic error. Precision, Non-Contact Metrology greatly reduces the test time and the potential for systematic error.