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Re: Optics simulation with IDL? [message #25076] Fri, 18 May 2001 16:59 Go to next message
Randall Skelton is currently offline  Randall Skelton
Messages: 169
Registered: October 2000
Senior Member
I have used IDL & MATLAB for simulating/modeling optics in different
optical systems. With that being said, I don't really recommend doing it
in either language as there are no pre-fabricated tools for doing it
quickly. Basically, it amounts to writing code for a bunch of optical
matrices (which you can find in any good optics textbook) and multiplying
them appropriately. "Ray tracing" is nothing more than matrix operations
which both IDL and MATLAB can do easily. However, a programmer must first
understand optical matricies to write code for this...

You should look into some of the free optics packages available on the web
(or something like zemax if you want to do real optics
calculations). However, IMHO you will need a firm grasp of general optics
theory to use any of these tools effectively. Perhaps if you post more
hints as to exactly what you are trying to do, I can dig through my code
and find a suitable example to post.

Cheers,
Randall


On Fri, 18 May 2001, karri wrote:

> Date: Fri, 18 May 2001 14:11:30 +0300
> From: karri <karri@dna.fi>
> Newsgroups: comp.lang.idl-pvwave
> Subject: Re: Optics simulation with IDL?
>
> On Thu, 17 May 2001, Mike wrote:
>> xvolume? slicer3?
>
> My need is some kind of ray-tracer. Most IDL volume tools can just build
> 3d objects with or without transparency. I sort of hoped that there would
> be something available for doing ray-tracing as well. But I could not find
> anything useful.
>
> Time to start learning to use some Linux ray-tracer then...
>
>> In article <Pine.LNX.4.21.0105171244420.12011-100000@twins.dna.fi>, karri
>> <karri@dna.fi> wrote:
>>> Does IDL have functions for visualizing how light travels through some
>>> transparent plastic objects?
>
> --
> Thanks,
>
> Karri
>
>
>
Re: Optics simulation with IDL? [message #25092 is a reply to message #25076] Fri, 18 May 2001 04:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
karri is currently offline  karri
Messages: 5
Registered: May 2001
Junior Member
On Thu, 17 May 2001, Mike wrote:
> xvolume? slicer3?

My need is some kind of ray-tracer. Most IDL volume tools can just build
3d objects with or without transparency. I sort of hoped that there would
be something available for doing ray-tracing as well. But I could not find
anything useful.

Time to start learning to use some Linux ray-tracer then...

> In article <Pine.LNX.4.21.0105171244420.12011-100000@twins.dna.fi>, karri
> <karri@dna.fi> wrote:
>> Does IDL have functions for visualizing how light travels through some
>> transparent plastic objects?

--
Thanks,

Karri
Re: Optics simulation with IDL? [message #25097 is a reply to message #25092] Thu, 17 May 2001 15:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
tandp is currently offline  tandp
Messages: 8
Registered: November 2000
Junior Member
xvolume? slicer3?

In article <Pine.LNX.4.21.0105171244420.12011-100000@twins.dna.fi>, karri
<karri@dna.fi> wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> Does IDL have functions for visualizing how light travels through some
> transparent plastic objects?
>
> --
> Cheers,
>
> Karri Kaksonen
Re: Optics simulation with IDL? [message #25169 is a reply to message #25076] Sat, 19 May 2001 08:59 Go to previous message
karri is currently offline  karri
Messages: 5
Registered: May 2001
Junior Member
On Sat, 19 May 2001, Randall Skelton wrote:
> However, IMHO you will need a firm grasp of general optics
> theory to use any of these tools effectively. Perhaps if you post more
> hints as to exactly what you are trying to do, I can dig through my code
> and find a suitable example to post.

My problem is that I have made a light guide to transfer the light from 5
leds to the front panel of a box. In this array the light leaks a lot from
one light guide to the other. I tried to fix this by putting opaque
material all around the guides but this approach reduced the intensity a
_lot_.

So I would like to do some simulations of what would happen if I use a
round piece of plastic instead of a guide made out of polygons. It would
also be nice to see if I could reduce cross-talking by forming some weird
angles from the connecting plastic pieces.

--
Regards,

Karri Kaksonen
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