162 Molded Optics: Design and Manufacture
© 2011 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
is meant to represent. This can “set the bar too high,” resulting in unrealis-
tic customer expectations. We recommend using the tolerance analysis and
image simulation features of optical design software, as discussed in Chapter
1, to evaluate the range of predicted performance expected to be produced.
Knowledge of the characteristics of the prototype system can allow compari-
son of the software predictions to the actual prototype performance.
4.4.4 Production
Once a design has been prototyped and evaluated, it (hopefully) will be moved
to production. Moving a design to production requires several decisions to be
made. The rst decision is where to produce the