NASA SBIR 2006 Solicitation
FORM B - PROPOSAL SUMMARY
PROPOSAL NUMBER: |
06-2 S4.04-9893 |
PHASE 1 CONTRACT NUMBER: |
NNX07CA55P |
SUBTOPIC TITLE: |
Optics Manufacturing and Metrology for Telescopes |
PROPOSAL TITLE: |
An Instrument for Inspecting Aspheric Optical Surfaces and Components |
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
MetroLaser, Inc.
2572 White Road
Irvine, CA 92614 - 6236
(949) 553-0688
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Christina Arnold
carnold@metrolaserinc.com
2572 White Road
Irvine, CA 92614 - 6236
(949) 553-0688
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
This is a Phase II SBIR proposal to develop an extremely versatile optical inspection tool for aspheric optical components and optics that are not easily inspected with conventional interferometry. Modern optical design and manufacturing procedures have begun using such components more and more in routine applications to improve optical system capability. Since the optical tolerances achieved in the manufacture of such components have an important bearing on the performance capabilities of the systems that employ them, instrumentation and techniques for precision metrology are vital for quality assurance. Inspection tools required for these types of optical components have lagged the capability to manufacture them. The proposed work will build upon a successful Phase I project that demonstrated the feasibility of a novel technique for full aperture precision metrology of such optical components. In Phase II we will deliver a complete turnkey instrument based on the Phase I research. The instrument incorporates an extremely robust, reliable, and accurate wavefront sensor for precision metrology of a transmitted or reflected wavefront, together with a projection system that covers the full aperture. Achieved through a unique combination of digital holographic interferometry, Hartmann wavefront sensing, and adaptive optics the resulting instrument will be an extremely flexible tool.
POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
This program can provide a unique system for high accuracy testing of test objects and optics vital to a variety of military seeker and sensor systems. Both the US Army and the US Navy have requirements to develop metrology procedures for a new generation of infrared aspheric transmitting test objects with aerodynamic shapes that can depart from spherical by as much as millimeters. Further potential applications and commercial possibilities are predicted for systems employed in security monitoring, marine observation, and metrology.
POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The ability to evaluate modern optical components to high tolerances is anticipated to provide new standards for manufacturing and quality control. This development will, therefore, have a corresponding and widespread impact on the performance capabilities of the many NASA systems that incorporate these components. The improvements gained by these measures may also provide substantial cost benefits compared to alternative, more complex, and expensive solutions. The versatile optical inspection system proposed here would be extremely valuable to NASA in manufacturing and acceptance testing of a wide variety of optics.
NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.
TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING |
Optical
Photonics
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Form Generated on 08-02-07 14:39
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