Smartoptics is a recent software developed by Creo
. It automates all the aspects of simulation and design of the optical paths. What it does is the direct automation of all the aspects in the Creo assembly directly. It has proved to be extremely helpful for the users. It acts as a guide for the user. It helps the user walk through the definition. Here the definition word would mean that the user is guided all the way through part properties or in other words the part surfaces. Understanding the part surfaces and the part properties may be somewhat problematic for some so to put it more simply, in the words of a layman the words mirror property and refraction index would come to the closest.
Now the Smartoptics helps the user and guide him through the path surfaces in a graphical user interface in a user friendly environment. Once it is done with that it then moves to help compute all the resulting paths. Next in line is the show. It then shows them on the Creo window graphically. Other than its user friendly nature it has another advantage. It is not restricted by the boundaries of the base elements like for example the geometrical elements (base).
One can wonder how that is helpful or is considered as an advantage. Well the answer to that is that due to the property of not getting restricted of the geometrical elements it becomes extremely easy for the user or the handler to calculate all the optical behavior. It becomes capable of calculating the behavior of the optics of the lenses or of the mirrors but with the surfaces with the free-form. An expert in this field can easily understand the importance of such an attribute and hence considers it as a well appreciated advantage by the experts.
Apart from the above mentioned important attribute there are certain other features that have the acceptance of being the key features and are required to be understood well in order to understand this subject area more clearly and deeply. Among the three most widely accepted key feature apart from the optical paths creation automatically, the first key feature is the optical elements graphical definition which is interactive. The next one is the points or curves (geometry - resultant) creation which is again a automatic feature. And the last key feature is the output in the form of the ASCII file of the resultant data.
To understand this subject area one is also required to be well versed with DWDM, CWDM and Transceivers or at the least understands them clearly and holds a clear knowledge about the optics behavior. It will not be possible to cover all the number of points mentioned above in one article but yes the information given above is capable enough to provide the reader with a clear idea of the whole this area of optic behavior and how this new software is helpful and an welcome product in this field due to its marvelous key features.