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how to get detailed XYZ/tilt info. when doing CAD_step exlode

  • 29 March 2022
  • 2 replies
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Hi,

I have a simple CAD step file (just two parts), and I imported it into Zemax, and then did CAD explode.

The two elements did show up, but with no information for XYZ and tilt. How can I get those information?

The screenshot is attached.

Thanks,

Ying

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Best answer by MichaelH 2 April 2022, 01:35

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Userlevel 6
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Hi Ying,

Unfortunately, there is no built-in way to get the 3D location of the vertex of the exploded part in Non-Sequential mode.  The reason is because when OpticStudio explodes the individual CAD components, it uses the global reference as the XYZ origin.  So, if you toggle the Object Properties > Draw > Draw Local Axis, you can see that each exploded part has the same XYZ origin and that is at (0, 0, 0).

As with almost anything in non-sequential mode, you’ll need to run a ray trace to get any useful information.  For this specific case where you have a good idea that the lenses are “on-axis”, you can use a Source Ray and the NSRA Merit Function Operand to determine the XYZ location of the vertex:

  1. Insert a Source Ray anywhere in NCE
  2. Set the Z Position to a negative value (like -5)
  3. Set the # Analysis Rays to 1
  4. Hide the objects you don’t care about (you’ll need to analyze the objects one at a time)
  5. Open the Merit Function Editor and add a NSRA operand
  6. Set the following values:
    1. Src# = row number of the Source Ray
    2. Splt? = 0
    3. Pol? = 0
    4. Seg#: use 1 for the front vertex and 2 for the back vertex (assuming you’ve hidden all previous objects)
    5. Data: 3 for Z (1 for X and 2 for Y)
    6. Source # = 0

~Michael

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Hi Michael,

This is very helpful. 

Thanks,

Ying

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