Services
Illumination design
Non-imaging systems: source-to-target mapping, light pipes, reflectors, and luminaire optics, including freeform surfaces when a symmetric optic cannot meet the target. Models include source files, collected flux, and uniformity against stated targets.
Published studies have covered laser delivery into a small detection zone, a beam-angle lens family for a clustered LED downlight, and whether added optics can put more LED light into a fiber. Each one was checked against a stated target.
Typical problems
- A source has to put more of its light onto a target, including at more than one working position.
- A clustered LED downlight needs one molded lens per beam angle, with efficiency and uniformity checked in a four-LED cluster.
- An LED-to-fiber layout needs an etendue bound before any custom optic is tooled.
- A luminaire or light-pipe problem needs collected flux and uniformity against a stated target.
Deliverables
- A native illumination model from the tool named in the scoping note
- Collected flux and uniformity against the stated targets
- STEP or IGES when the handoff includes geometry
- A written report of assumptions, methods, results, and recommended next steps, for internal review or a vendor RFQ.
Freeform optics
Surface generation against prescribed irradiance or wavefront targets, used when rotationally symmetric forms cannot meet the specification. The handoff remains a native model and CAD.
A published LED-to-fiber study compared a freeform reflector with lens trains, solid and fused tapers, and direct contact. Once the measured source and the fiber acceptance were included, no added optic beat direct contact. The study ruled the custom optic out before tooling.
Typical problems
- A rotationally symmetric lens or reflector cannot meet a prescribed irradiance or wavefront target.
- A reflector needs a first-order surface and a CAD-ready handoff.
- An added optic, including a freeform, has to beat the simpler layout on a measured source.
Deliverables
- A CAD-ready surface
- A native model from the agreed tool
- A written comparison of the concepts that were kept and the ones that were ruled out
Tools: Photopia, FRED, TracePro, and Zemax OpticStudio.