Collaborators
- Robert Jackson, Principles of Engineering Teacher, Olympic High School
- Dalton Cooper. Mathematics & AP Statistics Teacher, West Charlotte High School
- Ana Hizaramirez Andrade, PhD Student, UNC Charlotte
- Konstantinos Falaggis, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, UNCC
Project Focus
Freeform Optics are expected to revolutionize an entire field of optics. It is predicted, that they will soon replace 80% of all manufactured optics – ranging from reading glasses and side mirrors of cars to optical microscopes and optical satellite components. However, the most significant impediments to progress is the optical testing of such surfaces. Unlike regular optics, the challenge in Freeform Optics is their complex shaped surface with no axis symmetry. During the summer project, Fellows will work with Kosta Falaggis and his graduate students to design a Deflectometry based precision metrology system that consists of an LCD display and a camera. This simple optical setup provides nanometer level accuracy and challenges current state of the art instruments. Notably, deflectometry is related to techniques used in 3D scanners. This research experience is particularly relevant for teachers, who would like to develop cross-disciplinary teaching modules for a range of subjects as e.g. “metrology and 3D scanners”, “ray optics”, “camera calibration and image rectification with application to cameras, webcams and mobile phones”, “electronic circuits”, or “simple programming projects”.
Research Abstract
The initial objective of the study is to investigate the temperature variances realized within a temperature-controlled environment. The experimental design of the study is using a methodology such that sixteen to twenty-five (16-25) sensors instinctive to temperature measurement configured equidistant from each other in a square pattern will quantify actual data points as voltages in real-time, specific to predetermined measured positions. The captured data samples are converted to a digital format to be stored for analysis and transfer for future comparison.
Additionally, the Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC) functionality is provisioned with the use of an open sourced electronics platform. Where a constructed single circuit board, microcontroller (IC; Integrated Circuit) comprised of thermistors (sensor), hardware and software capable of sampling, and reading the voltage(s) input, is used for converting the sample into an output. The circuit board will receive its instructions by means of the microcontroller according to the prescribed programming language, wiring configuration, and the processor parameters.
In its entirety, the collected analyzed data generated from this study will support an application to be used for temperature measurement in a camera system for metrology with respect to free form optics arrangement.
Home