To invest in Optical Design Softwares and remain competitive imply to envisage a time of consequent training, then to use these tools daily.

The most powerful softwares available today are CODE V®and LightTools®. Their cost makes imperative to take the best benefit from them, and make the best use of their possibilities.

For the best efficiency, these softwares must be used together with other tools, for special calculations or to organize and present the results. For doing this, EXCEL® and MATLAB® are the best choices.

In order to make preliminary mechanical drawings, we are using Designer®. This is very convenient to illustrate the principles, but final drawings must be done subsequently.

System calculations are made with NVTHerm®, IICCD® and SSCAM®.

We are using routinely these softwares for the different tasks described below.
At the end, we describe our methodology.

More info

CODE V® is our main tool to make the optical designs :

            - First construction, arrangement and optimisations

            - Tolerancing

            - Performance analyses (Transmission, MTF, aberrations, ghosts, narcissus , ....)

More info

LightTools® is a second optical software which is perfectly complementing CODE V ® .
It is the tool for considering all aspects which are related to the photometry (sources, illuminators, receivers) and to the interactions between the optical and mechanical parts. We are using it mainly for following tasks:

              - Stray light analyses (in interaction with the mechanics)

              - Photometric calculations

              - Study and optimisation of illuminators

More info

MATLAB® is the most powerfull software for scientific and mathematical calculations         available  today, with following main capacities:

                - Intensiv numerical calculations

                - Advanced possibilities for graphical illustrations

                - High level of language for programming using matrix

                - Many toolboxes available

                - Portable to exchange with other platforms

We are using Matlab as a complement to CODE V® and LightTools® as it is described below.

More info

EXCEL® with VBA are also imbattable when a programmable spreadsheet is needed.
We use it with CODE V® et LightTools®, to collect, assemble and present the results on spreadsheets which easy to use and extremly synthetic.

Moreover,some LightTools® macros are written in VBA and can more easely be modified when necessary.
Also, the Excel Link ToolBox of Matlab makes it possible to exchange informations between EXCEL® and MATLAB®. By this way, an almost perfect combinations of all the softwares is obtained, as described below.

More info

DESIGNER® is used for technical illustrations .

We use it to modify the figures which are created by CODE V®, in order to illustrate simply
our reports, and also to introduce preliminary drawings of the mechanics.

More info

NVTHerm® is the NVESD model to calculate the performances of Optronic IR system in terms of detection, recognition and identification ranges. The association of the optical system with IR detectors and the combined use of CODE V® and NVTherm® makes it possible to go ahead from the optical design to predict the final  performances of the equipment.

The methodology used is as follows :

The four Code V, LightTools, Matlab et Excel softwares are opened together on the platform PC and used in the controller-server mode. By this way, the Active X Automation (COM) protocol implemented in Windows makes it possible for example to use LightTools  to serve Matlab which is the controller.  This extends considerably the possibilities in the simulations by offering to Matlab the optical methods and routines implemented in CODE  V or LightTools. Most of the macros can be written in the advanced language of Matlab.
Two applications which are using these facilities are described on our page "special know-how" .

Designer and NVTHerm, which do not support this protocol, exchange information through the hard disk.
The studies that we take in charge are using these facilities :

          - Optical optimizations and characterizations are made using CODE  V or LightTools, possibly under control  of              Matlab or Excel,

          - Further calculations and model are developed in the Matlab language or in VBA,

          - Synthesis and data's collections are made using Excel and Excel link,

          -Technical drawings are made using DESIGNER.

          - Range and system calculations with NVTHerm.

This is done using the library of macro's already available at J.C.P.C. or by developing new one's.