Anywhere Light Goes™ Blog
A blog about optical design, build, test and more.
How to Go to Market Successfully in the Medical Device Space: Pre-Development
The failure rate for medical device startups can be as high as 90%. The question is, why do so many fall short? Is it due to funding challenges, the complexity of the technology, over-commitment coupled with under-delivery, a lack of understanding of the competitive landscape, or perhaps a shortage of engineering experience and manufacturing capabilities? Embarking on a journey from concept to market-ready product involves navigating a complex landscape of challenges and opportunities. In this three-part series, we'll explore the intricacies of product development through commercialization. We begin by delving into the proven Optikos product development process, known for its effectiveness in guiding products from ideation to realization. In Part 1, we will focus on Pre-Development, the first stage of...
Quality Statistics in Production: Using Data and Statistical Techniques to Improve Manufacturing Processes
For those of you that read In-Process Testing in a Production Environment blog, this is the second installment in the series. Anyone who works in manufacturing understands the criticality of measuring the performance of sub-assemblies and finished products on a production line — and that’s where in-process testing comes into play. In my last post, I briefly covered how Optikos employs in-process testing using various techniques in the manufacturing process. Performing in-process testing is neither the beginning nor the end of quality monitoring on a production floor. Effective in-process testing starts before components even get to the production floor. Catching defects in manufacturing is critical to having a low yield of failed assemblies. However, finding these defects during the build...
In-Process Testing in a Production Environment
When manufacturing precision optical assemblies at scale, there are two critical areas to consider: efficiency and quality. It’s a careful balance between these two metrics in the effective manufacture of optical assemblies. Efficiency is often considered the priority in optical systems manufacturing, since it’s critical to keep touch time low and reduce cost of the assembly to create products at a reasonable price point. However, efficiency cannot be prioritized over the quality of the product being manufactured. The optical assemblies we manufacture at Optikos must be built and verified to their design specifications. They must continue to perform in their fields of use, ranging from aerial mapping and defense applications, to medical devices, to automotive camera systems. In this regard,...
Shining Light on Metalenses
There have been many transformative changes in technology that have revolutionized our world. For example, the transition of discrete electronic components (transistors, capacitor, inductor, …) to monolithic integrated circuits (ICs) has enabled advanced and complex electronics to be produced cost-effectively. Such a transition has created incredible advancements in consumer electronics and arguably is the enabler of current cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). In contrast, optical design and imaging systems have effectively remained the same since the 1900s with the only major advancement being the introduction of raytracing programs with computers in the 1960s. Existing materials and design methodologies seem to limit any revolution in optics. There is a limit to the variation of potential glasses (meaning a combination...
Camera MTF Calculator
Camera MTF Calculator Camera MTF For fine adjustments of parameters, click a slider and use the arrow keys on your keyboard for best accuracy. Understanding This Tool The Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is commonly employed as an objective characterization of image quality. It is typically analyzed as a one-dimensional function of image contrast (resolution) versus spatial frequency (feature size). Any device that relays, records, displays, or otherwise operates on an image has its own MTF curve describing the fidelity of that process. When concatenating incoherent imaging systems together, the product of their MTF curves describes the image quality of the entire system. Beware that there are scenarios where this multiplication is not valid—read more about MTF multiplication here. Cameras are...
