The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a compact lens tester.
An apparatus for lens testing is disclosed. The apparatus includes a light source, a telecentric lens, and a sensor. The telecentric lens aims light from the light source on an exit pupil formed relative to a device lens of a device-under-test. The sensor receives light from the device-under-test.
A system for lens testing is also disclosed. The system includes a light source, a telecentric lens, a sensor, and the dynamic fixture. The telecentric lens aims light from the light source on an exit pupil formed relative to a device lens of a device-under-test. The sensor receives light from the device-under-test. The dynamic fixture actively aligns at least one of the device-under-test and the sensor.
A method for lens testing is further disclosed. The method acquires pixel charge contents of an image pattern from a sensor that receives light from a device-under-test. The light is aimed from a light source on an exit pupil formed relative to a device lens of the device-under-test by a telecentric lens. The method further computes device-under-test characteristics from the pixel charge contents.
In order that the advantages of the embodiments of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the embodiments briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only some embodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of scope, the embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment, but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “including,” “comprising,” “having,” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to” unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive and/or mutually inclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise.
The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations. It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in the flowchart and/or block diagrams, they are understood not to limit the scope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed, some arrows or other connectors may be used to indicate only an exemplary logical flow of the depicted embodiment.
The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements of proceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures, including alternate embodiments of like elements.
Optical devices, such as cameras, instruments, lenses, sensors, and combinations thereof are often tested to assure that the optical device performs as designed. Unfortunately, suitable testers can be bulky and/or expensive. The embodiments described herein employ a telecentric lens that aims light on an exit pupil disposed relative to a device lens of a device-under-test to reduce the size and cost of a lens tester. In addition, the embodiments may employ a sensor of the device-under-test to characterize the device lens and/or device-under-test. The embodiments are further scalable to support the testing of a wide variety of device lenses and/or optical devices as will be described hereafter.
The exiting beam from the collimating lens 106 is the beam 108, being incident on the test pattern 110. Then, ray bundles 112 carrying the object information from the test pattern 110 are refracted by the lens 114 that collimates them aiming them at the exit pupil 116. The lens tester 100 further includes a telecentric lens 114. The telecentric lens 114 may have a numerical aperture of not greater than 0.5. Alternatively, the telecentric lens 114 may have a numerical aperture of greater than 0.5. In one embodiment, the telecentric lens 114 is an eyepiece. An exit pupil 116 may be disposed relative to a device lens of a device-under-test. In one embodiment, the exit pupil 116 is disposed outside of the telecentric lens 114. Table 1 illustrates one embodiment of a prescription for a telecentric lens 114.
In one embodiment, a prescription for the telecentric lens 114 minimizes a merit function comprising a location of the exit pupil 116, ray height, a field-of-view, and/or a collimation of rays in ray bundles 112 for the device-under-test.
In one embodiment, the source 102 emits a light beam 104 which is collimated by the collimating lens 106. The exiting beam from the collimating lens 106 is the beam 108, and is incident on the test pattern 110. In one embodiment, the test pattern 110 comprises an optical diffuser. Ray bundles 112 carrying the object information from the test pattern 110 are refracted by the telecentric lens 114. The telecentric lens 114 collimates the ray bundles 112, aiming the ray bundles 112 at the exit pupil 116. Since the lens 114 is telecentric, the distance from the test pattern 110 has a very large tolerance without compromising lens tester performance. As a result, the lens tester 100 may be easily scaled to test a variety of optical devices and/or lenses. For descriptive purposes, light traversing the lens tester 100 may be referred to as the light beam 104, the beam 108, and the ray bundles 112.
The source 102 may emit the light beam 104 which is collimated by the collimating lens 106. The beam 108 exiting the collimating lens 106 is incident on the test pattern 110. The ray bundles 112 carrying the object information from the test pattern 110 pass through the telecentric lens 114. The telecentric lens 114 collimates the ray bundles 112. The telecentric lens 114 further aims the ray bundles 112 at the exit pupil 116. In the depicted embodiment, the device-under-test 120 is an instance of the telecentric lens 114 inverted at 180 degrees. The device-under-test 120 focuses the ray bundles 220 onto the sensor 222, thus imaging the test pattern 110. The exit pupil 116 may be formed before the device-under-test 120 along the ray bundles 112 and within the device-under-test 120 along the ray bundles 112.
In one embodiment, the source 102 emits a light beam 104 which is collimated by the collimating lens 106. The beam 108 from the collimating lens 106 is incident on the test pattern 110. From the test pattern 110, ray bundles 112 carrying the object information from the test pattern 110 pass through the telecentric lens 114. The telecentric lens 114 collimates the ray bundles 112. The telecentric lens 114 further aims the ray bundles 112 on the exit pupil 116. The exit pupil 116 may coincide with the entrance pupil of the device-under-test 120, which in the depicted embodiment is located inside the device-under-test 120. The compound lens device-under-test 120 images the test pattern 110 onto the sensor 222 through a protective window 420.
Table 3 details one alternate embodiment of a prescription for the beam homogenizer 210.
The method 500 starts, and in one embodiment, the sensor 222 acquires 505 pixel charge contents on which photons corresponding to an image pattern of the test pattern 110 are converted to electrons. The telecentric lens 114 together with the device-under-test 120 form an image from light emitted by the light source 101. In a certain embodiment, the image is of the test pattern 110 shown in
If the device-under-test 120 and sensor 222 are aligned with the lens tester 100, the sensor 222 may acquire 525 pixel charge contents as described in step 505. The processor 405 may receive the pixel charge contents of the image representation of the test pattern 110 and using one or more algorithms compute 530 the device-under-test characteristics. In one embodiment, the processor 405 computes 530 the device-under-test characteristics sequentially for a given zone of the field-of-view of the telecentric lens 114 and/or the sensor 220. The device-under-test characteristics may include but are not limited to MTF, relative illumination (RI), and distortion of the image for a given zone. The lens tester 100 may continue acquiring 525 pixel charge contents and computing 530 characteristics until determining 535 that all the zones have been scanned. If all the zones have been scanned, the lens tester 100 may output 540 the characteristics and the method 500 ends. The characteristics may be output by being displayed. In an embodiment, the computed characteristic value are transmitted electronically to another electronic device, such as another computer 400.
Problem/Solution
Testers for optical devices are often bulky and expensive. The embodiments employ a telecentric lens 114 to focus light on the exit pupil 116 disposed relative to the device lens 121 of the device-under-test 120. The telecentric lens 114 supports of large tolerance in the distance from the test pattern 110 to the device lens 121 and/or sensor 222. As a result, the size and cost of the lens tester 100 is reduced. In addition, the use of the telecentric lens 114 allows the lens tester 100 to be easily scaled for a plurality of optical device sizes and focal lengths.
This description uses examples to disclose the invention and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.