Application of optical processing techniques to the quality control of micromechanics

An optical correlator combining most of the features required by a practical automatic control system has been built and used to control small series of work pieces. The functional properties of such an apparatus have been studied, especially its reliability, its sensitivity to mechanical vibrations and misalignment, and the effect of input position on the maximum control rate. In order to obtain a precisely defined response curve, the filters may be computed using the technique of synthetic holography. Computer holograms were used for the control of elementary objects. The accuracy of their transfer function was verified experimentally, and the influence of their bandwidth on the shape of the response curve was studied.