Opto-mechanical Systems Design (Optical Science and Engineering) [Hardcover]

Paul Yoder (Author), Daniel Vukobratovich (Author), Roger A. Paquin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0824787544 | ISBN-13: 978-0824787547 | Edition: 2nd

Rewritten and updated, this text provides information on opto-mechanical systems design guidelines and their day-to-day applications in real environments. It emphasizes proven techniques for accomplishing design tasks and outlines techniques for mounting various optical elements and groupings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 659 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 2nd edition (January 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824787544
• ISBN-13: 978-0824787547
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,430,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Obsolete and irrelevant, a few useful sections, December 19, 2010

By 

D. Brown (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opto-Mechanical Systems Design, Third Edition (Optical Science and Engineering) (Hardcover)

A more accurate title for the book would be: "Design examples from optical systems for US military and aerospace applications, approximately 1950 to 1990, well-illustrated." Given this more accurate title, the book will be of interest to a few specialists.

The core chapters of the book present examples of how various opto-mechanical design problems were solved in a variety of applications. Almost all the examples are taken from US military and aerospace designs, with a very few from industrial optics. The designs are well-illustrated with relevant drawings, with good reproduction. The book appears irrelevant to the design of modern industrial, commercial, and consumer optical systems.

The book is not prescriptive. For the various design challenges described there is little information about what approaches might be considered or what tradeoffs are relevant. The book is primarily a sequence of examples. Each chapter refers to other books and papers, but these references are not organized to be of use to further learning by the reader.

The core chapters of the book are:

Chapter 4: mounting individual lenses, 72 pages

Chapter 5: mounting multiple lenses, 72 pages

Chapter 6: mounting windows and filters, 30 pages

Chapter 7: designing and mounting prisms, 70 pages

Chapter 8: design and mounting small, nonmetallic mirrors, gratings, and pellicles, 48 pages

Chapters 9-13: large mirrors, 210 pages

Notice that the chapters on the design of large mirrors, primarily for astronomical and space-borne telescopes, are almost as long as the entire rest of the core chapters of the book on optical design.

The non-core chapters of the book discuss more general topics. These are for the most part astonishingly poorly written and edited. I am amazed that a well-regarded organization such as the SPIE and a well-regarded publisher such as Taylor and Francis would print a book containing text of this quality. As a randomly-selected example, consider chapter 2 (environmental influences), section 2.2.2 (pressure). The paragraphs, in sequence, have the topics:

1. Definition of pressure, including discussion of how the US customary unit of pressure measured in mm of mercury is derived.

2. Statement of the pressure range to consider for optical instrument design, primarily in the atmosphere, but also space and pressurized spaces.

3. Discussion of the atmosphere of the earth, approximate equation given for atmospheric pressure with distance units in US miles. Reference to graph of pressure vs. altitude (units in km), the range is for spacecraft design (to 10000 km). [Note: This mixing of units - even in a single paragraph - is common throughout the book. A discussion may use one set of units, a referenced equation a different set. Read the text very carefully before using any of the equations. Better yet, find a reliable book instead of this one.]

4. Statement of problems encountered due to incorrect sealing of optical systems, allowing contaminants to enter during altitude changes.

5. Statement of problems encountered due to pressures within optical systems caused by failure to vent during altitude changes.

6. Statement of problems encountered due to outgassing at low pressures

7. Statement of overpressure problems due to high-speed movement through air or water. Discussion of thermal problems resulting from this motion, mention of materials and coatings to reduce thermal stresses. [Note: This mixing of topics - even in a single paragraph - is very common. The writing frequently appears to be a first draft, before any organization or editing. Essential material on one topic will be buried in the middle of a paragraph on a completely different topic. Also notice the lack of prescriptive information - the text mentions coatings to reduce thermal problems, without any additional information.]

8. Additional statement about pressure differential causing optical alignment errors due to mechanical deformation. This appears to be a continuation of the previous paragraph about high-speed movement, because the preceding paragraphs insisted the the optics must be vented, which would eliminate pressure differentials.

9. Mention that atmospheric pressure changes can change the index of refraction of air, changing the optical properties. [Notice that this is a different issue, the previous paragraphs have discussed mechanical, rather than optical, issues. Also notice that no equation is given for the index of refraction of air as a function of pressure.]

As you can see, this one section discusses venting, pressure differences due to altitude, pressure differences due to speed, thermal problems due to speed, and optical problems due to pressure differences and due to index of refraction changes. Only a few statements are useful for design, these are statements about venting optics, and the equation regarding pressure differences due to altitude (with the altitude measured in miles!)

The core chapters themselves have their own oddities. For example, chapter 4 regarding mounting of individual lenses (one of the chapters I found useful) seems to be written assuming that the reader will obtain standard lenses, then grind the edges for mounting. Section 4.2 (considerations of centered optics) is mostly about how to mount optics in grinding equipment in order to obtain properly-aligned edges.

While I found some individual sections of the book to be interesting and useful, all in all, I found the book to be a waste of money. The diagrams are very good, and make the text easy to understand. However, the vast majority of the text is useless. It is interesting to read about examples of some optical systems, but this does not help to design optics. The concentration on US military and aerospace optics of the mid-to-late 20th century is potentially of historical interest, but hardly of practical use. The lack of design information, poor organization, and unfocused writing, all make the book hard to use as a reference. The very poor presentation of equations and rather random collection of units in those equations make me distrust the little design information that is present.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the primary text in English for Optomechanical design., June 25, 2009

By 

Robert Chave - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Opto-Mechanical Systems Design, Third Edition (Optical Science and Engineering) (Hardcover)

Now in its 3rd, 2006 Edition, this carefully researched and exhaustively foot noted text, has been kept current with many references to challenging programs of recent years. These include the Chandra, GALEX and Spitzer space telescopes at the high end, and humble military binoculars at the other. At over 850 pages in length and around 1.6 kilograms in weight the treatment is nothing if not extensive. Comprehensive and readable, the work is acknowledged my many in the field as being the place to start for serious work in the design of mechanicanism, kinematics and structures for assembling instruments with optical elements or equivalent fine scale motion.