Ross Optical Blog: The Latest News & Research

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In order to give our employees well-deserved time with their families this summer, our summer hours begin on Monday, June 7th, 2021. Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, September 7th. 

The optical lens market is large and expects to see ongoing significant growth over the coming years, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.87 worldwide by 2027. One of the key areas of market expansion is Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. For many applications, LiDAR devices provide benefits compared to other sensing technologies, such as RF-based short to long range radar, ultrasonic sensors, and infrared sensors. The increasing availability of components designed for LiDAR technology is enabling broader capabilities and more competitive pricing, lending it to a variety of applications that require high performance in a compact package with high reliability and relatively low cost.

Ross Optical’s acquisition by Precision Optics Corporation adds new capabilities to our portfolio with micro-optics down to sub-millimeter sizes. Products and systems requiring optical surfaces less than 2 mm in diameter often result in a trade-off, sacrificing either quality, price, or supply.

Machine vision is a technology that enables automated devices to "see." Machine vision systems combine optics and mechanics to create tools that can adjust optics in real-time to perform inspections and aid robotic systems. In our increasingly automated world, machine vision has become an essential component in manufacturing, farming, robotics, and many other areas. Quality optical components are critical to the function of machine vision systems. Optical systems for machine vision may involve high quality fixed focal length lenses, telecentric, or adjustable lens systems (zoom or liquid lenses).

Ball lenses are highly transparent spheres made with optical glass. Some of the earliest microscope lenses — developed by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek — relied on surface tension to form small spheres from melted glass. These lenses achieved magnifications as large as 275x and were as small as 1.5 mm in diameter.¹ However, since ball lenses can cause spherical aberrations and typically have to be apertured to exclude non-paraxial rays when used for imaging,  they are often replaced with different geometries, such as aspheric lenses, in microscopes today. Modern technologies involve using ball lenses to couple light between optical fibers or to focus light from a diode laser into a fiber optic. Ball lenses are commonly used in barcode scanning, optical sensing, and endoscopy.

In the fast-moving industry of optics, there are often problems that arise and need to be dealt with immediately in order to keep production running smoothly and on schedule. Whether they occur in the design, manufacturing, or assembly stage, problems can prove to be catastrophic if not handled properly. Below, we touch upon a few real issues in all three of these stages of optics and give some advice on how to keep your operation running efficiently.

There are some critical steps needed in order to create an effective optical design. Whether a basic design or complex, it is important to find a supplier that can produce your product in a quick, cost-effective way. Ross Optical is a reliable partner known to improve time to market and optimize your product performance.

Nestor Sigala joined Ross Optical earlier this year to help with Optomechanical Design and Sales. We sat down with Nestor to discover more about his background and contributions to Ross Optical.