Adjustable and automated system to obtain 2-D photometric patterns

Abstract

A complete adjustable and automated system has been developed on the base of three blocks: the first one is the mechanical and adjustable structure, which is composed by a mobile base and a rectangular arc, where the photodetector is located. The structure describes semi-spherical trajectories by means of two servomotors. Its lightweight and robustness constitutes two advantages which make it portable. The second stage corresponds to the automation of the structure movements. For controlling the motors and data acquisition, a microcontroller is employed that in turns helps keeping the cost of the overall system low. One of the servomotors is located on the lateral axis of the device; that displaces the sensor along a semi-circular trajectory of 160°, almost half meridians; the other one is located at the base of the illumination source, which enables it to realize an almost complete rotation around its axis. Finally, the last stage is formed by the graphical interface. The communication protocol between the data acquisition stage and the computer is USART. The graphical user interface (GUI) is developed using Visual C#. In the same window the data acquisition deployment and the data graph generator are given; the graphs can be shown in a polar or Cartesian formats showing more than one curve, if necessary, avoiding the use of additional software. The GUI keeps the low cost of the device, obtaining a comprehensive solution to generate the irradiance patterns of light sources.