Advances in 3OM: Opto-Mechatronics, Opto-Mechanics, and Optical Metrology

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is focused on recent advancements in a series of related domains. Opto-mechatronics unites optics and mechatronics, the former being a blend of mechanical engineering, electronics, and IT (including automation issues such as sensors and control structures). Opto-mechanics bridges the gap between the usually high requirements of the optical design of various systems and the technological capabilities and constraints of the mechanical part. It therefore addresses issues such as tolerance, errors, their influence on the functioning of optical devices and systems, and measures to tackle them. Other scopes of both opto-mechanics and opto-mechatronics include, but are not limited to, kinematic, kinetostatic, and dynamic aspects of optical systems with moving parts, such as laser scanners. Finite element analysis (FEA) also has to be carried out for both static and dynamic optical systems, especially with large, relatively heavy, or fast moving elements. For the latter, problems of sensors and control structures also have to be tackled. Such approaches are necessary for a wide range of commercial (such as optical metrology), industrial (such as dimensional measurements or laser manufacturing), and high-end applications, including biomedical imaging or non-destructive testing (NDT) with optical coherence tomography (OCT) or remote sensing.

The aim of this Special Issue encompasses both opto-mechanics and opto-mechatronics, with a range of applications that include but are not limited to optical metrology of the 3OM concept introduced a decade ago. The proposed topics are the development of devices (with analytical approaches, simulations, and/or experiments), their optimization, and their inclusion in dedicated systems for applications.

All types of contributions, i.e., research papers, reviews, and communications, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Virgil-Florin Duma
Prof. Dr. Guillermo Garcia-Torales
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tomohiko Hayakawa
Guest Editors

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