Automatic design method of starting points of freeform off-axis reflective imaging systems of small volume

For off-axis reflective systems, there is no effective method that can obtain a small-volume starting point automatically. Reducing system volume using the optimization method is usually a difficult and cumbersome process, which usually takes the designer a long time. This paper proposes a method of designing small-volume starting points of freeform off-axis reflective imaging systems, which does not require human involvement after inputting a planar system, specifications and constraints. In the design example presented in this paper, it took only about ten minutes to obtain a small-volume starting point. The starting point obtained by this method makes the optimization process easier, takes less time of designers and more likely to succeed. In the design example, it is also demonstrated that the method has the ability of establishing small-volume starting points with different specifications, which can be used to quickly estimate the minimum volumes that systems with different specifications can achieve and provide guidance for determination of specifications and optimization. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement