In the 1970s, the University of Rochester developed Optics software for layout and optimization (OSLO) which is an optically designed program. The first commercial version was produced by Sinclair Optics in 1976.
Since then, this optics software has been improved and refigured many times as computer technology has evolved. In 1993, the GENII program that is used for optical design was acquired by Sinclair Optics, and many of GENII's features are now included in OSLO. In 2001, Lambda Research Corporation (Littleton MA) bought this program from Sinclair optics. Many engineers and scientists require the help of OSLO software to design lenses, reflectors, optical instruments, laser collimators, and illumination systems. It is also used for the analysis and simulation of optical systems using both physical and geometrical optics. The spherical lenses and flat optics are used for a wide range of applications in thee software, to know more about it pfg optics.
Along with being used in optical analysis and design, OSLO offers a complete technical software development system including interactive graphics, math, and database libraries.
An integrated software environment is offered by the OSLO software that helps to complete the contemporary optical design. In addition to working as a lens design software, OSLO provides advanced tools for designing medical equipment, illumination systems, and telecommunications equipment, to name just a few specific applications. In many optical designs, OSLO is used such as anastigmatic telescopes, off-axis refractive/diffractive telescopes, holographic systems, gradient index optics, aspheric lenses, time-varying designs, the James Webb Space Telescope, and interferometers.
The OSLO software is primarily used in the lens design process to determine the optimal size and shape of components in an optical system. OSLO is capable enough to model a wide range of refractive, reflective, and diffractive components. Furthermore, the OSLO software is also used to analyze and simulate the performance of optical systems. A subset of the C programming language, OSLO's CCL (Compiled Command Language) can be used to develop specialized optical and lens design software tools for modeling, testing, and tolerances of optical systems.
OSLO also offers some unique features, for instance, wilder wheels. This feature allows users to add up to 32 graphical sliders that provide callbacks to default or user-supplied routines that perform the evaluation or full customization iterations when the slider is moved. Howard has provided some examples of the use of these slider wheels in order to design the telescopes.