TIR Lens Design Help

[Optical Inferno]

I can understand where you are underwhelmed by the results from OptisWorks if you cannot quantify the simulation output. The LM2 version with the Optical Design add-in is a very powerful software and will save a lot of money in the long run over making prototypes and testing then tweaking the design. Another consideration will be that the native bspline surfaces in SolidWorks are not very accurate when it comes to optical quality surfaces. That is where the add-in comes into play, especially when it comes to conic sections. As for rapid prototypes, I did receive an email from these folks (I have not used them, but they have optically clear material): http://www.versadyne.net/Index.cfm You might have a hard time getting a consultant to train you to design optics since you are basically asking them to train you to take away their business. A local college course would be a better path.

Sorry...let me rephrase what I previously said. I'm not saying that Optisworks is not an appropriate software...I use it every day and think it is one of, if not the best softwares to use for optical simulation. I apologize if I came off a little sour and meant no disrespect towards the software.

A local college course is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, the local college that would be able to teach such a course is not exactly local for me. However, I will do some research regarding an online variant of their offerings. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Harold_B]

Sorry...let me rephrase what I previously said. I'm not saying that Optisworks is not an appropriate software...I use it every day and think it is one of, if not the best softwares to use for optical simulation. I apologize if I came off a little sour and meant no disrespect towards the software.

A local college course is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, the local college that would be able to teach such a course is not exactly local for me. However, I will do some research regarding an online variant of their offerings. Thanks for the advice.

Hope I didn't come off as offended because that wasn't my intention at all. Tone is always hard to pickup in email and on forums. I think the software is amazing yet I have had my share of frustrations with both OW and SW. They are just software after all and will never be without flaws. There are some online classes as well as local colleges you might consider. I think University of Wisconsin offers some (again, I just get the emails, I haven't tried the product). My first suggestion is online research. It never fails to amaze how much free information is available for the investment of a little bit of surfing time but then I don't sleep much. We have a boatload of books but most deal with lens and system design or particle scatter, not much on TIR.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

You folks are super cereal, so this doesn't really apply to you, but for other folks, a properly selected lens paired with a smo reflector ought to achieve similar results, with the caveat being instead of having to design a custom optical 3D object, you have to select your aspheric to work with your reflector to blend both's hotspots. Kind of like the hybrid reflector/lens of some random cheap Energizer flashlight I saw a while back.