ACute3D: A Compact, Cost-Effective, 3-D Printed Laser Autocollimator

Qingxin Meng; Julian Stirling; William J. Wadsworth; Richard W. Bowman

doi:10.1109/TIM.2022.3174267

ACute3D: A Compact, Cost-Effective, 3-D Printed Laser Autocollimator

Qingxin Meng, Julian Stirling, William J. Wadsworth, Richard W. Bowman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The ACute3D is a compact laser autocollimator, capable of precise angle measurement in two orthogonal directions over a maximum measurement range of 7200\times5300 arcsec. The measurement uncertainty over the middle third of its range is less than 3 arcsec. Our novel design exploits the geometric freedom of fused filament 3-D printing to realize a monolithic optomechanical assembly. The monolithic block makes the instrument compact, lightweight, stiff, and resistant to drift, as well as minimizing alignment during assembly and minimizing cost. Our openly licensed design together with our use of digital fabrication makes this autocollimator convenient to customize or integrate into larger instruments. The total bill of materials cost is around 200, making precise angle measurement available in a wide range of contexts. We demonstrate an application of the ACute3D by measuring the angular deviation of a precision linear stage, showing that our design is ready for typical laboratory use.

Original language	English
Article number	5012111
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Volume	71
Early online date	13 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TIM.2022.3174267
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

This work was supported in part by the Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant EP/R013969/1,
in part by the Royal Society under Grant URF\R1\180153 and Grant
RGF\EA\181034, in part by the University of Bath, and in part by the
Global Challenges Research Fund. The Associate Editor coordinating the
review process was Dr. Rosenda Valdés Arencibia. (Corresponding author:
Qingxin Meng.)

Keywords

3-D printing
open source hardware
optical sensors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Instrumentation
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/TIM.2022.3174267Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "ACute3D: A Compact, Cost-Effective, 3-D Printed Laser Autocollimator",

abstract = "The ACute3D is a compact laser autocollimator, capable of precise angle measurement in two orthogonal directions over a maximum measurement range of 7200\times5300 arcsec. The measurement uncertainty over the middle third of its range is less than 3 arcsec. Our novel design exploits the geometric freedom of fused filament 3-D printing to realize a monolithic optomechanical assembly. The monolithic block makes the instrument compact, lightweight, stiff, and resistant to drift, as well as minimizing alignment during assembly and minimizing cost. Our openly licensed design together with our use of digital fabrication makes this autocollimator convenient to customize or integrate into larger instruments. The total bill of materials cost is around 200, making precise angle measurement available in a wide range of contexts. We demonstrate an application of the ACute3D by measuring the angular deviation of a precision linear stage, showing that our design is ready for typical laboratory use. ",

keywords = "3-D printing, open source hardware, optical sensors",

author = "Qingxin Meng and Julian Stirling and Wadsworth, {William J.} and Bowman, {Richard W.}",

note = "This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant EP/R013969/1, in part by the Royal Society under Grant URF\R1\180153 and Grant RGF\EA\181034, in part by the University of Bath, and in part by the Global Challenges Research Fund. The Associate Editor coordinating the review process was Dr. Rosenda Vald{\'e}s Arencibia. (Corresponding author: Qingxin Meng.)",

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doi = "10.1109/TIM.2022.3174267",

language = "English",

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AU - Wadsworth, William J.

AU - Bowman, Richard W.

N1 - This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant EP/R013969/1, in part by the Royal Society under Grant URF\R1\180153 and Grant RGF\EA\181034, in part by the University of Bath, and in part by the Global Challenges Research Fund. The Associate Editor coordinating the review process was Dr. Rosenda Valdés Arencibia. (Corresponding author: Qingxin Meng.)

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N2 - The ACute3D is a compact laser autocollimator, capable of precise angle measurement in two orthogonal directions over a maximum measurement range of 7200\times5300 arcsec. The measurement uncertainty over the middle third of its range is less than 3 arcsec. Our novel design exploits the geometric freedom of fused filament 3-D printing to realize a monolithic optomechanical assembly. The monolithic block makes the instrument compact, lightweight, stiff, and resistant to drift, as well as minimizing alignment during assembly and minimizing cost. Our openly licensed design together with our use of digital fabrication makes this autocollimator convenient to customize or integrate into larger instruments. The total bill of materials cost is around 200, making precise angle measurement available in a wide range of contexts. We demonstrate an application of the ACute3D by measuring the angular deviation of a precision linear stage, showing that our design is ready for typical laboratory use.

AB - The ACute3D is a compact laser autocollimator, capable of precise angle measurement in two orthogonal directions over a maximum measurement range of 7200\times5300 arcsec. The measurement uncertainty over the middle third of its range is less than 3 arcsec. Our novel design exploits the geometric freedom of fused filament 3-D printing to realize a monolithic optomechanical assembly. The monolithic block makes the instrument compact, lightweight, stiff, and resistant to drift, as well as minimizing alignment during assembly and minimizing cost. Our openly licensed design together with our use of digital fabrication makes this autocollimator convenient to customize or integrate into larger instruments. The total bill of materials cost is around 200, making precise angle measurement available in a wide range of contexts. We demonstrate an application of the ACute3D by measuring the angular deviation of a precision linear stage, showing that our design is ready for typical laboratory use.

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KW - optical sensors

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ER -

ACute3D: A Compact, Cost-Effective, 3-D Printed Laser Autocollimator

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Detailed Malaria Diagnostics with Intelligent Microscopy

Dataset for "ACute3D: A compact, cost-effective, 3D printed laser autocollimator"

Cite this

ACute3D: A Compact, Cost-Effective, 3-D Printed Laser Autocollimator

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Detailed Malaria Diagnostics with Intelligent Microscopy

Datasets

Dataset for "ACute3D: A compact, cost-effective, 3D printed laser autocollimator"

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