Design of a zoom illumination system based on asymmetric distribution

To meet the requirements of simulating the lunar surface lighting environment in ground-based training for manned lunar landing, and to address the inherent ghosting issues of traditional lamp array solutions, as well as the shortcomings of insufficient energy and poor uniformity in single-lamp direct illumination, a zoom illumination system based on asymmetric distribution was designed. The system utilizes a single high-efficiency LED as its light source, integrating critical illumination and zoom optical principles into its design. By leveraging the vignetting effect, an asymmetric aperture is introduced to actively regulate the energy distribution of the light spot under tilted illumination conditions, thereby enhancing the illumination uniformity on the target surface. Finally, the designed optical system was simulated and analyzed using Zemax and LightTools. The results indicate that under vertical illumination conditions, an illuminance exceeding 300 lux can be achieved within a target area of 8 m in diameter, with spot uniformity exceeding 80% across all focal lengths. The uniformity decreases sequentially from telephoto to wide angle. When simulating large-angle tilted illumination, the introduction of a vignetting diaphragm significantly improves spot uniformity; however, it also results in a reduction in spot energy.