| Product Name: |
Optrans |
| Level: |
Second Year Tertiary / Third Year Tertiary |
| Platform: |
PC - DOS |
| Supplied Information: |
Optrans is a numerical simulation of an optical Fourier bench, designed for use in advanced physics or engineering courses in modern optics. |
| Possible Use: |
This product is suitable for Second Year Tertiary / Third Year Tertiary courses for use by students in laboratory classes. This product could be used for extensively. |
| Developer/s: |
Dr Michael Reich, Dept Of Applied Physics, RMIT, email: mike_reich@rimt.edu.au |
| Review: |
Optrans is a numerical simulation of an optical Fourier bench, designed for use in advanced physics or engineering courses in modern optics. In use, one specifies an object, which is then Fourier-transformed to the diffraction plane. Filters may be applied in this plane and the result is Fourier-transformed to produce the image. Using the available features, 3D plots, profile plots and grey-scale displays are available to examine real functions of the data. These include: modulus, phase, imaginary part, etc, in the object, diffraction and image planes. The object may be built up from various arrays of simple geometric objects or can be imported as a .BMP file. Several standard filters, such as low- and high-pass, are available. The user interface consists of a set of menus, generally negotiated hierachically. At the top level, menus must be used in a forward sequence corresponding to the three planes. The program performs efficiently and could be used in a computer laboratory with students working through a written tutorial. It is somewhat unsuited to live lecture demonstrations due to the complexity of the menuing scheme and the screen mode changes. It could be used to prepare images ahead of time. The limitations to be noted are: there is no facility to unwrap the phase display, which makes it difficult to illustrate how shifting the object alters the phase of the diffraction pattern; PostScript printers are not supported; the size of geometric shapes can be specified but not their position angle; there is little control over the assignment of greyscale to image amplitudes; there is no way to have say two diffraction patterns on screen for comparison. This reviewer suggests some possible modifications: the program uses the terminology input stage, diffraction plane, image plane. The terminology object/diffraction/image might be clearer; an extensive tutorial would be useful; allow the brush size to be specified when painting a general filter and make painting a mode rather than a command; be able to construct filters in the same way one can construct objects. There were also occasional crashes. Nevertheless, Optrans is a powerful program for illustrating Fourier concepts with 2D images, and should prove a useful tool in a teaching laboratory. |
|
Dr Robert Minard, School of Physics, University of Sydney, minard@physics.usyd.edu.au |
| |
| Supplier: |
Dr Michael Reich, Dept Of Applied Physics, RMIT |
|
mike_reich@rmit.edu.au |
| Date Record Last Modified: |
17/6/97 |
