A Framework for the Automation of Optical Alignment

Assembly of precision optical systems is generally not achievable by precision placement alone; an alignment step is required to correct for manufacturing and tolerance variations. At present the majority of these alignment processes are accomplished manually requiring well trained staff and at significant cost. Although there are numerous examples of academic, and industrial, implemented automated alignment systems there is no generally accepted framework for applying system identification, complexity classification and design rules for automation into optical systems.

We present a framework for identifying and classifying an alignment problem according to the complexity from the perspective of system automation. This is combined with observations on how the complexity of an alignment problem may be manipulated by design choices and the implications that design-for-automation rules have, as well as cost benefit calculations from the perspective of industrial precision-optical system manufacture.