B-spline surface approximation method for achieving optimum dwell time in deterministic polishing

In the computer-controlled optical surfacing (CCOS) process, the accurate calculation of the dwell time map is essential for achieving the desired amount of material removal distribution. However, it remains challenging for current methods to generate a smooth dwell time map that reduces the dynamic requirements of machine tools while maintaining the high finishing capability on freeform optics. This paper proposes a B-spline surface approximation method for obtaining the optimum dwell time in deterministic polishing. The B-spline surface representation allows the dwell time map to be expressed by a small number of control points instead of a large number of discrete dwell points. The dwell time deconvolution then becomes a linear least-squares problem with only a few control points as variables, which significantly reduces the scale of the problem. To achieve a more accurate and smoother dwell time map, a knot position optimization algorithm is proposed to adapt the knots to the geometric features of the target removal surface. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed B-spline-based dwell time algorithm significantly outperforms common dwell time algorithms in terms of the computational accuracy, efficiency, as well as smoothness of the dwell time map. To validate the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method, experimental polishing of a bi-sinusoidal optical surface has been carried out. The results show that the developed algorithm has greatly reduced the tracking error of the machine tool caused by dwell time fluctuations, and consequently, the corresponding residual error of material removal in deterministic polishing. •A B-spline surface is used to represent the dwell time map.•The B-spline surface approximation is proposed to achieve the optimum dwell time map.•A knot position optimization algorithm is implemented to adaptively arrange the knots.•The algorithm is computationally fast and accurate for obtaining the smooth dwell time map.•The proposed algorithm is experimentally validated via deterministic polishing.