Development of the E-Portal for the Design of Freeform Varifocal Lenses Using Shiny/R Programming Combined with Additive Manufacturing
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Freeform Surface Design of Varifocal Lens
1.2. The Role of 3D Printing in Lens’s Customised Design
- Designing the lens using CAD software (COMSOL-Multiphysics 6.2).
- Converting the designed model to a 3D printer file format.
- Optimising the printer settings.
- Material selection for the 3D-printed model.
2. Module Structures and Development
3. Vision Mate and Its Implementation
4. Freeform Surface Modelling
5. Lens Surface Assessment
- The 2D contour plots and 3D surface plots, which are representations of the designed surfaces for varifocal lenses.
- Ray tracing assessment, which is based on the modelled surface in COMSOL Multiphysics 6.2—a powerful simulation modelling software that is widely used in engineering and scientific research—using the data points from the designed lens in the Shiny online web portal.
5.1. Results: PAL Surface for Varifocal Lenses Through the E-Portal
5.2. Lens Design
5.2.1. AM for Varifocal Lenses
5.2.2. Ray Tracing Assessment and Validation
6. Conclusions
- Development of an interactive intelligent e-portal that automates and streamlines the lens design and manufacturing workflow, increasing efficiency in optical engineering.
- A seamless fusion of design, additive manufacturing, and virtual assessment, which replaces traditional multi-step fabrication, creating benefits such as mass customisation, faster production cycles, and reduced material waste in order to save resources.
- Automated design and manufacturing processes that facilitate rapid prototyping and the customisation of lenses, enhancing the ability to meet individual customer needs and minimise process inconsistencies.
- Enhancing material selection and post-processing techniques to improve optical performance, enabling greater precision and durability in the final product.
- Experimental validation of the fabricated lenses, including surface accuracy, refractive index control, and other key optical properties.
- Incorporating AI-driven design optimisation into the e-portal to further streamline the design process and improve the customisation capabilities of the system.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Optical Parameters | |
---|---|
Symbol | Definition |
Spherical power of the lens | |
Cylindrical power of the lens | |
Astigmatism correction angle | |
Power of near-vision zone |
Geometrical Parameters | |
---|---|
Symbol | Definition |
Far-zone distance | |
Lens corridor length | |
Refractive Index | |
Radius of curvature | |
Lens near power | |
Lens distant power |
Material Properties | |
---|---|
Selected material | Clear Resin V4 (RS-F2-GPCL-04) |
Type | Plastic |
Refractive index | |
) | 56.44 |
Design Parameters | |
3D printer type | Stereolithography (SLA) |
Lens diameter | |
Maximum thickness | |
Minimum thickness | |
Surface roughness | < |
Form accuracy | <5 (μm) |
Parameter | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
Lens diameter | ||
Radius of the curvature for the outer surface of the lens | ||
Incident ray direction, x direction | ||
Incident ray direction, y direction | ||
Incident ray direction, z direction | ||
Ray wavelength | ||
Refractive index | ||
Focal length for far-view zone | ||
Focal length for near-view zone |
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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Dianat, N.; Liu, S.; Cheng, K.; Lu, K. Development of the E-Portal for the Design of Freeform Varifocal Lenses Using Shiny/R Programming Combined with Additive Manufacturing. Machines 2025, 13, 298. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines13040298
Dianat N, Liu S, Cheng K, Lu K. Development of the E-Portal for the Design of Freeform Varifocal Lenses Using Shiny/R Programming Combined with Additive Manufacturing. Machines. 2025; 13(4):298. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines13040298
Chicago/Turabian StyleDianat, Negin, Shangkuan Liu, Kai Cheng, and Kevin Lu. 2025. "Development of the E-Portal for the Design of Freeform Varifocal Lenses Using Shiny/R Programming Combined with Additive Manufacturing" Machines 13, no. 4: 298. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines13040298
APA StyleDianat, N., Liu, S., Cheng, K., & Lu, K. (2025). Development of the E-Portal for the Design of Freeform Varifocal Lenses Using Shiny/R Programming Combined with Additive Manufacturing. Machines, 13(4), 298. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines13040298