Optical Image Processing And Acquisition Tools For The Undergraduate Optics Labs

学生们想要学习应用光学的最令人信服的原因之一是因为它是一门视觉科学。尽管学生们可以很容易地将特定实验室实验中感兴趣的物理现象形象化，但他们往往发现很难记录和量化他们的实验结果。使用标准摄影技术记录光学图像和光学图像中的细微变化有时会非常困难和耗时。幸运的是，计算机硬件和软件以及足够分辨率的摄像机现在可以帮助完成这一图像采集过程。图像的采集和处理已发展成为当今研究和工业中使用的常规工具。数字图像处理工具和光学技术结合在一起，形成了一个强大的处理环境--光学图像处理。物理和应用光学专业的学生需要精通这些现代图像采集工具的使用，观察光学处理技术的好处，并了解他们正在研究的现象的基本科学。本建议书中要求的设备将用于升级和加强罗斯-胡尔曼理工学院的本科物理和应用光学课程。我们将：(1)。建立光学实验室通用的标准《图像采集与分析实验实验站》，(2)。扩展和提升我们的图像处理原理课程的实验部分，包括光学图像处理、图像采集和红外图像分析的实验，以及(3)。通过引入基于计算机的图像采集，丰富了其他应用光学实验室中的几个实验。

One of the most compelling reasons students want to study applied optics is because it is a visual science. Even though students can easily visualize the physical phenomena of interest during a particular laboratory experiment they often find it difficult to record and quantify their experimental results. Recording optical images and subtle changes in optical images using standard photography can sometimes be difficult and time consuming. Fortunately, computer hardware and software along with cameras of sufficient resolution are now available to assist in this image acquisition process.The acquisition and processing of images has grown into a routine tool used in research and industry today. Digital image processing tools and optical techniques have come together to form a powerful processing environment, optical image processing. Students in physics and applied optics need to be well versed in the use of these modern image acquisition tools, observe the benefits of optical processing techniques as well as understand the basic science of the phenomena that they are studying.The equipment requested in this proposal will be used to upgrade and enhance the undergraduate physics and applied optics program at Rose- Hulman Institute of Technology. We will: (1). develop a standard "Image Acquisition and Analysis Experimental Lab Station" for general use in optics labs, (2). expand and upgrade the laboratory component of our Principles of Image Processing course to include experiments on optical image processing, image acquisition and analysis of infrared images, and (3). enrich several of the experiments in other applied optics laboratories by introducing computer-based acquisition of images.