The OSLO User's Guide is an introduction to the OSLO series of optical design programs. These programs are used to design optical systems for various applications ranging from general imaging systems (cameras, laboratory instruments, etc.) to laser beam manipulation to illumination optics. OSLO handles most types of optical components (lenses, mirrors, diffraction gratings, prisms, etc.) using a combination of geometrical and physical optics methods.
The procedure for designing an optical system using OSLO is to enter a basic system and then refine it iteratively until the performance meets the requirements. OSLO contains libraries with a large number of starting systems. OSLO LT, for example, contains data for about 3000 commercially available singlets and doublets, together with about 40 design examples (OSLO LT is a free version of OSLO, limited to systems having fewer than 12 surfaces). OSLO PRO and SIX contain the Warren Smith and Arthur Cox libraries, which add hundreds of additional starting designs to the program.
The OSLO User's Guide is only a portion of the OSLO documentation. There is also the OSLO Program Reference manual and the OSLO Optics Reference manual, currently available in paper editions only. The on-line help system in OSLO contains complete documentation of all commands, and each dialog box in the program has a help icon that provides context-sensitive help for the current command.
This guide is a dynamic document that is updated from time to time. The text and graphics in this document are provided in black and white at fairly low resolution to speed up access via the web. Starting with Rev. 5.3, this guide is also incorporated in the OSLO LT Help system, so you can access it on your local computer by downloading OSLO LT.
Copyright © 1997 Sinclair Optics Inc. All rights reserved.
Page last updated 19970601