URL study guide
https://tue.osiris-student.nl/onderwijscatalogus/extern/cursus?cursuscode=4CM90&collegejaar=2025&taal=enDescription
This course teaches you how to design and realize Opto-Mechatronic systems, i.e., mechatronic machines and modules in which optics fulfill a key function of the system. Opto-mechatronics is a field that brings together many different disciplines, like precision engineering, optics, construction principles, thermal stability as well as system engineering.If you want to design and realize hardware in a field that is highly multidisciplinary and with demanding technical requirements, this course aims at offering you a solid foundation.
The course starts with an overview of the field and examples of Opto-Mechatronic systems, while the following three lectures treat design at system level, system architecture and translation of an optical design and requirement set to mechanical and mechatronical requirements. This also includes which optical components show what sensitivities to mechanical positioning, as well as how theoretical optical concepts influence mechanical design.
The next lecture deals with an introduction into production of optical components, since this has important consequences regarding tolerances and overall performance. It is structured by dividing manufacturing into different categories like transmissive vs reflective optics, brittle vs ductile materials, planar vs spherical optics and different component types like mirrors, lenses, beam splitters, prisms etc.
The two lectures after that treat how the consequences of manufacturing limitations of optics influence performance and how their effect should be added to mechanical manufacturing, alignment tolerances and other error sources, through tolerance analysis and error budgeting.
Error and tolerance budgeting often shows that what can be achieved by manufacturing and/or assembly tolerances alone is limiting, either technologically of through high costs associate with high precision manufacturing. In those cases, passive or even active alignment is needed to achieve the required performance. Therefore the 8th and 9th lecture treat system alignment. Understanding of alignment approaches and methods, design rules for alignment mechanisms, metrology for alignment and how to design an alignment procedure.
Because of the demanding requirements regarding positional stability of optical components, thermal and structural stability is treated in a separate lecture. Thermo-mechanics, construction principles for stability and selected materials, and design for stability of metrology frames will be presented.
The combination of required positional stability of optical components combined with the fact that most optical components are made of brittle materials, is the reason that mounting of optical components is an important topic, which is thought in the 11th, 12th and 13th lecture. Mechanical clamping as well as adhesive bonding for various environmental requirements will be presented and practical design rules will be given.
The next lecture treats the prevention of unwanted stray light through baffles, stops, beam dumps and the use of dedicated coatings. Furthermore, sources of signal deterioration and how to counter those sources.
Opto-electric detector types and their specific properties are treated in the 15th lecture. This includes pixelated detectors such as CCD and CMOS and their specialized embodiments, but also single detectors such as photo diodes, photo multiplier tubes and PSD. Some clues about common pitfalls regarding cabling and analog signal processing electronics are also given.
The last lecture recaps the course material and aims at emphasizing again how the different subjects in the course interact with each other.
Objectives
Systems Architecture- Be able to translate optical and system requirements into opto-mechatronical requirements
- Be able to identify and calculate positional sensitivities of different optical component types
- Know how to read an optical tolerance analysis
- Be able to set up a simple error budget to evaluate system performance
- Understand the generic design aspects that are important for the mechanical and mechatronic design of key optical systems like spectrometers, microscopes, interferometers, telescopes, cameras and.
- Know the different processes used in optical manufacturing
- Understand how different types of optics are made, like
- Refractive vs reflective optics
- Glass vs metal optical components
- Different form components, such as: planar, spherical and prisms
- know various alignment mechanism, and when to choose which
- Understand the effect of locking on alignment
- Know what drives the choice between active or passive alignment
- Know various sources of drift
- Understand the influence of structural design and material choice
- Be able to calculate thermal drift for simple structures
Mounting of optics
- Understand and be able to categorize, analyse and design optical mounts using
- Mechanical clamping
- Adhesive bonding
- Hybrid mounting
- Be able to calculate stresses in optical components due to thermal and mechanical loads
- Be able to prevent failure of optical components due to thermal and mechanical loads by choice of mounting methods
Prevention of unwanted stray light
- Know how stray light propagates through a system
- Know how the mechanical design can increase or suppress stray light
- Know what parameters influence the unwanted reflection and scattering of light from mechanical components
- Know how to assess the optical performance of coatings for mechanical parts
- Know which coating family to choose in which case
Optical detector and signal quality
- Know some key types of optical detectors and understand their strengths and limitations
- Know sources of loss of signal quality in OM systems
- Know common means to reduce or prevent loss of signal quality