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Princetel Projects

Optical Automation & Fiber Optic Rotary Joint Manufacturing

Key Projects

Automated Alignment Station: Mechanical & Optical Design

Fixture Design Precision Mechanical Design Optical Bench Integration Automation

Designed the mechanical and optical hardware for an automated alignment station used in FORJFiber Optic Rotary Joint assembly, covering everything the automated search depends on physically: how the parts are held, how the optics are located, and how the motion axes and measurement instruments are arranged around them.

  • Developed hard-datum stage-to-part mounting, making alignment results repeatable across runs and units
  • Designed the optical bench layout and multi-axis stage stack-up, integrating the power meter directly into the measurement loop
  • Enabled operator load and unload without disturbing established alignment

Tools Used:

SolidWorks Motorized Alignment Stages Optical Power Meter
Impact: Delivered 15 new optical bench configurations across roughly 30 builds, providing the mechanical foundation and repeatability that unattended automated alignment depends on

Automated Collimator Alignment: Python Software Development

Python Motion Control Algorithm Development Process Automation
3D Optical Alignment Search Plot

Developed a Python application that drives the alignment station's motorized stages across tilt and translation axes, closing the loop on live optical power feedback to bring a collimatorOptic that shapes light into a parallel beam so it can cross the rotating gap pair from no signal to optimized coupling with no operator input. Collimator-to-collimator alignment was previously the most experience-dependent step in assembly, performed entirely by hand.

  • Developed an adaptive multi-axis search routine that locates first light, then converges on peak optical coupling across tilt and translation axes
  • Designed filters to identify false peaks and stray light, preventing false positives and collimator misalignment
  • Implemented 3D scan plots that map the collimator surface
  • Rolled out to the assembly floor across FORJ production

Tools Used:

Python Motion Control Stages Optical Power Meter Data Visualization
Impact: Reduced a 3-hour skilled manual alignment to under 5 minutes and made the result independent of operator skill, converting the most experience-dependent step in FORJ assembly into a repeatable automated process

Optical Test Protocol & Fixturing

Testing & Validation Quality Assurance Metrology

Established the optical test methods used to qualify finished rotary joints, along with the fixturing required to run them consistently across a product line spanning many channel counts and fiber types.

  • Defined insertion lossOptical power lost through a connection, measured in dB and rotational variationChange in optical loss as the joint rotates test methods with explicit pass/fail criteria
  • Designed dedicated test fixturing to hold units repeatably through full rotation
  • Extended the test method across single-mode and multimode builds spanning the full channel-count range
Impact: Reduced optical test failures and production scrap by catching loss and rotational variation issues before final assembly