u/Pop3-14

I’m working on an optical design where I have some freedom to choose between different freeform/aspheric surface shapes that give similar optical performance.

At this stage, I’d like to include manufacturability as part of the optimization, rather than designing the best-performing surface first and only later discovering that it is difficult or expensive to manufacture.

What parameters do you actually use in industry to estimate how difficult a freeform/aspheric lens will be to manufacture?

For example, I’ve been looking at things like:

• Maximum aspheric/freeform departure from a best-fit sphere
• Maximum surface slope
• Maximum slope departure from the best-fit sphere
• Curvature / minimum local radius of curvature
• Rate of change of curvature

But I’m not sure which of these are genuinely useful predictors of manufacturing difficulty.

Is there a commonly used figure of merit or set of rules of thumb for manufacturability?

I’d also be very interested in hearing how optical fabricators look at a surface when deciding whether it is “easy,” “difficult,” or “very expensive” to make.

Hi everyone,

I’m an electro-optical engineer with hands on lab experience and some simulations.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the possibility of becoming more independent in the field, either through freelancing, consulting, small engineering projects, or eventually building a small optics engineering service.

I’d be very interested to hear from people here who are self-employed, consultants, freelancers, or who run a small optics related business.

A few things I’m curious about:

• What kind of optics work is realistic to do independently?
• How did you get your first clients?
• What skills made the biggest difference for you?
• Is it better to start with simulation/design work, lab/testing work, system analysis, or something else?
• Are there specific niches in optics where independent consultants are actually needed?
• What mistakes should someone avoid when starting out?

I’m not necessarily looking to jump immediately, but I’d like to understand what the path could look like and what I should build toward over the next few years.

Would really appreciate any advice, personal stories, or practical direction. Thanks!