Photorealistic Ray-traced Visualization Process of an Aspherical Fresnel Mirror with Low Distortion

This study proposes an effective visualization method for image distortion in high-resolution, machinable Fresnel mirrors, which offer significant advantages over traditional convex mirrors by being thinner and lighter. While commercial optical design programs are excellent at optimizing aberrations, they have some limitations in visualizing images from complex optical configurations. Therefore, NXTM CAD software is employed to achieve photorealistic ray-traced visualization with high-fidelity image rendering due to its flexible two-dimensional and three-dimensional modeling environments. In comparative simulations with various mirror profiles, we identified an aspherical Fresnel mirror with a conic constant of k = -3 that can reduce distortion to 1.79%, according to Zemax OpticStudio® calculations. Finally, the NXTM software successfully validated the distortion image of our machinable aspherical Fresnel mirror design. Subsequent practical experiments validated the consistency between the predicted distortion and the actual visualization results. We anticipate that this specialized visualization technique holds the potential to radically transform the interactive design of optical systems that incorporate aspherical Fresnel mirrors.