Affordable Modular Photonics Mast (AMPM) Camera

Affordable Modular Photonics Mast (AMPM) Camera :

The AMPM project is a Dyson spectrometer designed to be mounted to a rotating scanner system. The size of the scanner interface plate required us to create a design that would fit into a very tight volume of approximately 3 inches (76.2 mm) X 8.8 inches (223.5 mm) X 4.1 inches (104.1 mm) high.

The design includes a custom lens mount followed by a precision slit. Next is a custom-designed Dyson Refractive Element (DRE) and then a custom concave diffraction grating. The final elements of the system are the detector with its custom-built mounting interface and the detector electronics. All of this is packaged in a compact hermetically sealed housing.

Challenges:

The main challenge with this project was designing and manufacturing a custom optic that incorporated both fold and power (focusing via convex aspheric surfaces) into a Dyson Refractive Element. This DRE is a five piece optic, and each element had to be bonded to the others in a specific order. To achieve this, WMD created several custom bonding fixtures that held the various elements precisely in place while curing.