jOcular / Blog: Recent posts

I've just uploaded a new version of jOcular. This is a slight improvement to the 0.044 release with tweaks around the STL file loading. These objects are now generalized to "mesh" objects. Maybe that's a hint to future capability? I also added the ability to do a CSV export from the imager output.

I've just released version 0.044! The significant new feature is the ability to load STL files. Although these files are not really appropriate for imaging optics, they may allow simulation of non-imaging optics as defined by CAD programs. For instance, a reflector for a flashlight or something could be modeled in CAD and then loaded into jOcular and tested. It may take some experimentation as to the triangle resolution. The more triangles, the longer a sim will take. The less triangles, the less accurate the sim will be.

I finally made a new release!
I switched to JavaFx from jReality for 3D rendering. I also switched to the Maven build system. Hopefully the jar will run more reliably now.
Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Cheers,
Kenneth.

Hi everyone,
It has been an age since the last version was uploaded. There's a bunch of changes that I've been working on since then. I should really just release them. Likely anything is better than the stale version 0.42!
The most significant change is switching to JavaFx from JReality. Also, Maven is now the build system. Apart from that, there have been numerous bug fixes and some new features too. Unfortunately I've not got around to releasing it. I really should.
Let me know if you're having trouble with the 0.42 release and would like to get your hands on a fresher version.
Cheers,
Kenneth.

I've just uploaded version 042 of jOcular, an open-source optical design system.

There's a couple new materials and some bug fixes.

Let me know how you get on!

Cheers,

Kenneth.

I've just uploaded version 041 of jOcular, an open-source optical design system.

This is pretty much just a bug fix release.

Let me know how you get on!

Cheers,

Kenneth.

I've just uploaded version 040. This release is not a huge one but I noticed a few bugs which were iritating. The most significant one was that when you first run jOcular the new project it started with would not calculate any numbers or equations entered. I've fixed this.

I also cleaned up some spline dialog bugs.

I still notice that it gets a bit slow after editing equations for a while. I'm working on this. Reloading the project seems to reset this for a while.... read more

I've just released version 039 of jOcular, an open-source optical design system.

There are a bunch of improvements to how equations are processed, especially during file loading. This has significantly improved the speed of recalculating, especially with projects with multiple referred properties.

Another little thing is that tooltips are not eclipsed by the Canvas. So far this seems to work on both Windows and Linux.... read more

I've just released version 038 of jOcular.

There's a new positioner now that allows complete control over an objects position and orientation.

I also found an error in the computation of the refractive index of MgF2 so that is fixed now.

The other thing you might notice is that the photon trajectories now appear reliably after each run, instead of waiting until the screen is updated.

Other than that there are a bunch of behind-the-scenes bug squishing.... read more

I've just posted version 37.

What a week! I don't know what happened in Spain but the downloads are going crazy! I'd be very happy to hear from any of you about what caused all of this sudden interest.

I had my first feedback this week, which was great. It was suggested that it was confusing for someone new to jOcular to add their first optical components to a design. Well, ask you you shall receive! There's now an "add" submenu in the edit menu that hopefully will help.... read more

I just posted vesion 36. jOcular now has the ability to load projects as parts of another project.

This means a lens or lens assembly can be loaded into a new project. This gives the ability to build a library of lenses - like from a catalog distributor - and load them with a meaningful name.

I've also updated the toolbars and menus a smidge.

You may have had trouble running jOcular from the last jar file. I noticed that it didn't have all the native libraries in the usual spots. The new version has corrected that so now you should be able to run it with the following line or maybe even by simply double-clicking it.... read more

I've added objects defined by an extruded piecewise continuous spline.

Also, I've added plano-apsheric lenses. This is a subclass of the rotated splines but takes the standard parameters of an aspherical surface. I've tested it using a couple of standard Edmunds lenses and they match very well with the catalogue data. I've put up a screenshot of one of them as I was working out the back focal length.... read more

I've just uploaded version 34.

The main change is that rotated splines are now working for the first time. This allows defining objects by a series of cubic splines that are then revolved to create a solid. I've included a demo file which creates a parabolic reflector. I've also updated the screenshots to show this example.

Cheers,

Kenneth.

I've just posted version 033.
I've now switched over solely to the 3D view. It now works well enough that I think the old 2D view is obsolete.

This time I didn't bother including the source code in the jar to keep it small. You can always get it from the repository.

Let me know what you think!

I've just posted version 032. The biggest change is the switch to a newer version of jReality. This means that we can now run straight out of a jar file.

The 3D rendering is improved, including the addition of a pan feature to help navigate. This is accessible by a right click and drag.

Photons are now rendered much faster too. All of this is working towards ditching the 2D view so we don't needed to keep implementing two rendering systems for each object class we add.... read more

I meant to have the next release done by now but I've gone down a few rabbit holes along the way.

The major enhancement I've been working on is the addition of optics objects that are defined by rotating a splined curve. This will allow all sorts of objects like parabolic reflectors, aspheric lenses, even fresnel lenses.

During developing this capability, I've also noticed - or maybe broken - the ability to combine object surfaces when those objects are really close together. This allows for doublets and other lens combinations where there is effectively no air interface between them.... read more

I've just released version 31. I've been sitting on this one for a while. Sorry.

The big change is the autofocus dialog now allows solving for multiple parameters simultaneously and the configuration of it is stored in the autofocus sensor. This means multiple sensors can be added to a project to solve for various things and once each has been configured they can be re-run whenever desired.

Multi-parameter solving is a bit touchy but it seems to work. You may find it head into the weeks now and again. Single parameter solving is pretty solid.... read more

I've noticed lots of downloads over time but I haven't heard anything back from any of you that have tried it.

I'd love to know if you have successfully run it. Have you done anything interesting with it? What did you hope it would do?

Any feedback would be great. Maybe there's a quick change or addition that might make all the difference to you.

Cheers,

Kenneth.

Now there's autofocus!

Using the new Autofocus Sensor along with one or more point sources, any object parameter can now be optimized. Simply add the point sources where your object to image should be, add an autofocus sensor where you want the image to be, then open the autofocus dialog.

In the dialog, specify the sensor to optimize, the object and its parameter to adjust, the range over which the solution should be and hit go.... read more

Once again it has been an age since the last update. This one's got lots of new stuff:
- A number of new materials: Magnesium Fluoride, Calcite, Topas, Shiny Metal (perfectly reflective)
- Image sources can now limit their emitted photons to a radial aperture at a distance to increase computational efficiency
- All numerical parameters can now include mathematical operators as well as units
- Objects can now be suppressed in the project tree so they can be there without participating in the simulation. This is handy for experimenting with films, or putting imagers part-way through an optical system. For instance, focusing a camera module prior to running a sim on the complete optics.

It has been a while since the last update. This one has spectrophotometer objects with acompanying spectral graphs showing the relative intensity for a range of wavelengths. Check out the new screen shot of the plot.

Birefringence is getting there too. There's only one material with this property right now and it's not very extreme: Magnesium Fluoride. I'll add Calcite or something like that pretty soon.... read more

Let's hope that 2014 is the year that jOcular becomes really useful!

I've noticed that a number of people have been brave enough to download our code. I'm interested to hear any comments and suggestions. Was anyone able to do something even a little useful with it?

Cheers,

Kenneth.

New update available!

This includes a new 3D viewer that displays the entire optical project in 3D. You can pan, rotate and zoom with the mouse. See the release notes for more information.

Cheers,
Bryan

Version 026 is now available for download. This fixes a bug where some internal resources could not be loaded from the JAR file.

Apologies to everyone who tried previous releases and were unable to save and load files.

I've just uploaded version 25. It's got a bunch of new features, especially in the UI and also bug fixes.

Give it a try!