FEATURE OPTICAL MODELLING
Illumination system modelled in Synopsys’ LightTools software, featuring a freeform peanut-shaped lens that generates a uniform rectangular light pattern from a wide-angle circular Lambertian source
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software can take in and manipulate,’ he said. ‘That’s really the big activity − the standardisation of the data and of the measurements.’ A continuing challenge is to help engineers
who are less familiar with optical design theory to design optical systems successfully. ‘One of the things we see in the industry is that there are people who do not have formal optics training, but who are asked to do optical design because the company may not have trained optical engineers,’ said Synopsys’ Jacobsen. ‘Or, we see that people who are doing the mechanical and
Some software vendors are offering training to prevent companies from falling into this trap
electrical design are also charged with doing the optical design.’ Pfisterer, of Photon Engineering, agreed that this is becoming a problem within industry: ‘My concern is that you have companies who just find somebody and say “you’re our lighting engineer now” when they do not have any experience – it’s craziness.’ Though desirable for both software companies and customers alike, modelling design software will never replace a trained engineer because of the sheer complexities involved when designing an optical system, according to Pfisterer: ‘The interface for the software is something we continue to evolve − but it’s never going to take the place of someone who is educated and trained and understands how to do these things because the issues can become very complicated.
22 ELECTRO OPTICS l APRIL 2014
In an LED, it isn’t just the optical standard that is necessary. You have also got to look at thermal problems, an electrical circuit, and packaging and mechanical design as well.’ Some software vendors are offering training or consultancy to customers in order to prevent companies from falling into this trap. ‘We do a lot of training with customers,’ said Zemax’s Nicholson. ‘We would much rather not sell a copy of Zemax to somebody that is then not going to be successful with it.’ Other companies take on full projects, which companies often opt for after realising that they haven’t got the correct personnel to carry out the specified design. ‘You’ve got more and more difficult requirements
coming from customers, and if they don’t have the experience or training they are just falling flat, because they have no clue what to do,’ said Photon Engineering’s Pfisterer. ‘So they’re coming to companies like us to ask: “How do we do these things?” – that’s where the expertise comes in.’ Although the software will never take the place of a trained engineer, further intelligence in the software will help to overcome the issue of lack of training. ‘We are trying to build the expertise of a trained optical engineer into some of our systems,’ explained Synopsys’ Jacobsen. ‘From an optical software point of view, we want to make the system as easy as possible for novice users. This way, a user who isn’t trained in optics will have a much better chance of success.’ Companies are focusing on making the user interface as easy as possible. ‘There is a huge push to make sure the user interface is easy to use − so it checks to make sure if you are doing something wrong. It gives you feedback and allows people who are not experts to produce good designs,’ added Synopsys’ Cassarly. Ease of use is becoming more and more important, not just because of the shortage of trained engineers, but because freeform design is being utilised in an increasing number of applications. ‘The biggest hurdle that we have to face is the fact that we have so many different markets in the optical field,’ said Gauvin of Lambda Research. ‘And, each designer seems to have a different idea of how they want to implement these new freeform optic capabilities. So we have to create an interface and a product that addresses those issues for each one of these different markets.’ l
Ray tracing and colour simulation of an LED illumination system using FRED software from Photon Engineering @electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
Synopsys
Photon Engineering
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