Optomechanical design and analysis of lens assembly for space application

Abstract

This study illustrates how commercial off-the-shelf optics may be employed in space exploration cameras. The most frequent loads on optical systems are self-weight, which is caused by gravitational orientations, vibration, and temperature ranges, which is caused by exposure to quickly changing temperatures ranging from extremely cold to very hot and during launch. This study describes the modulation transfer function (MTF) performance of the selected lens assembly, followed by a top-down method to disassemble the optical parts of the commercial lens housing. The lens enclosure was designed and modelled by retaining the interelement lengths determined from physical measurement. The performance of the lens barrel and optical elements have also been validated in ANSYS using a quasi-static loading and thermoelastic condition. As a post-performance assessment owing to stress and vibrations during satellite launch, a tilt-separation simulation was conducted. As a result of this research, it has been demonstrated that optomechanical design of commercial lens assembly is feasible for use in space application camera systems.