Design of large field of view curved optical system based on ZEMAX

Abstract

Structural design solved the problem in the paper that the large field of view and high resolution of the compound eye optical system can not be realized simultaneously. A curved compound eye system including a 3-ring lens group is designed. The compound eye system is divided into two parts: the central sub-eye system and the edge sub-eye system. The edge sub-eye system reduced the complexity of processing because of the same lens group. In the design process, we systematically studied the field of view between the single sub-eye system and the compound eye system, and obtained the arrangement of the sub-eyes. Then, the geometrical model of a single sub-eye system stitching is presented which is based on the conjugate relations between the incident and exit window. The whole field of the compound eye system designed by this method could reach up 79.5°, the angular resolution of the center system is 0.01°, and the angular resolution of the edge system is 0.017°. Compared with traditional single aperture optical system, the image quality of edge field of view is greatly improved, and the ability to acquire the target orientation is improved. Finally, the correctness of the optical system is validated with the optical design software ZEMAX. And this research could further promote the application of compound eye imaging system.