Catadioptric Optical System Design of 15-Magnitude Star Sensor with Large Entrance Pupil Diameter

The optical system is one of the core components for star sensors, whose imaging quality directly influences the performance of star sensors for star detection, thereby determining the attitude control accuracy of spacecrafts. Here, we report a new type of optical system with a catadioptric structure and a large entrance pupil diameter for a 15-magnitude star sensor. It consists of an improved Cassegrain system (R-C system), an aperture correction spherical lens group and a field of view correction spherical lens group. By embedding the secondary mirror of the R-C system into the output surface of the negative spherical lens of the aperture correction spherical lens group, the blocking of incident light is eliminated from the secondary mirror holder. After the structure optimization, the catadioptric optical system (COS) had a spectral range of 450 nm–950 nm, an entrance pupil diameter of 250 mm, a half-diagonal field of view of 1.4° and a focal length of 390 mm. By using theoretical calculations and experimental measurements, it was verified that the COS, with the ability to correct astigmatism, lateral color and distortion, can fulfill the detection of 15-magnitude dark stars.

A Design for a Manufacturing-Constrained Off-Axis Four-Mirror Reflective System

Off-axis reflective optical systems find wide applications in various industries, but the related manufacturing issues have not been well considered in the design process. This paper proposed a design method for cylindrical reflective systems considering manufacturing constraints to facilitate ultra-precision raster milling. An appropriate index to evaluate manufacturing constraints is established. The optimization solution is implemented for the objective function composed of primary aberration coefficients with weights and constraint conditions of the structural configuration by introducing the genetic algorithm. The four-mirror initial structure with a good imaging quality and a special structural configuration is then obtained. The method’s feasibility is validated by designing an off-axis four-mirror afocal system with an entrance pupil diameter of 170 mm, a field of view of 3° × 3° and a compression ratio of five times. All mirrors in the system are designed to be distributed along a cylinder.

Geometric model of image formation in Scheimpflug cameras

We present a geometric model of image formation in Scheimpflug cameras that is most general. Scheimpflug imaging is commonly used is scientific and medical imaging either to increase the depth of field of the imager or to focus on tilted object surfaces. Existing Scheimpflug imaging models do not take into account the effect of pupil magnification (i.e. the ratio of the exit pupil diameter to the entrance pupil diameter), which we have found to affect the type of distortions experienced by the image-field upon lens rotations. In this work, we have also derived the relationship between the object, lens and sensor planes in Scheimpflug configuration, which is very similar in form with the standard Gaussian imaging equation, but applicable for imaging systems in which the lens plane and the sensor plane are arbitrarily oriented with respect to each other. Since the conventional rigid camera, in which the sensor and lens planes are constrained to be parallel to each other, is a special case of the Scheimpflug camera, our model also applies to imaging with conventional cameras.

Geometric model of image formation in Scheimpflug cameras

We present a geometric model of image formation in Scheimpflug cameras that is most general. Scheimpflug imaging is commonly used is scientific and medical imaging either to increase the depth of field of the imager or to focus on tilted object surfaces. Existing Scheimpflug imaging models do not take into account the effect of pupil magnification (i.e. the ratio of the exit pupil diameter to the entrance pupil diameter), which we have found to affect the type of distortions experienced by the image-field upon lens rotations. In this work, we have also derived the relationship between the object, lens and sensor planes in Scheimpflug configuration, which is very similar in form with the standard Gaussian imaging equation, but applicable for imaging systems in which the lens plane and the sensor plane are arbitrarily oriented with respect to each other. Since the conventional rigid camera, in which the sensor and lens planes are constrained to be parallel to each other, is a special case of the Scheimpflug camera, our model also applies to imaging with conventional cameras.

Design of Digital Binoculars Image Stabilizing Optical System

Digital binoculars is the combination of digital cameras and telescopes, it not only can observe the details of the long distance target but also can record it. The field of view between photographic field lens and telescope system is the same. This paper designs the telescope system on basis of the theory of dynamic optics. The system works in visual light waveband. The field of view is , the magnification is eight and the entrance pupil diameter is 32mm. prism is selected as the image rotation prism and image stabilization prism. In order to obtain clear images in a dynamic circumstance, we utilize the rotation theorem of prism to analyze the relation between jitter compensated lens and luminous beam angle. We can calculate the position of compensated lens. So it can achieve the jitter compensation. Finally, this paper takes an application as an example. If the jittered angle is , the displacement of pixel is calculated to 1.061mm. The displacement of the compensated lens is 2.84mm. At the same time, the light still arrives to the eyepiece by the original track. So image stabilization is relative to the reference coordinate, as a result we can get the stable image.