Opto-mechanical-thermal integration design of the primary optical system for a tri-band aviation camera

• Proposed and designed a tri-band aviation camera for advanced imaging. • Optimized support ensures optimal surface figure. • Analyzed primary optical system using opto-mechanical-thermal approach. • Validated device’s temperature adaptability with experiments. This paper presents a tri-band aviation camera that integrates short-wave infrared (SWIR, 0.9–1.7 μm), mid-wave infrared (MWIR, 3.7–4.8 μm) and visible (VIS, 0.486–0.656 μm) bands into a primary optical system and three subsystems, to enhance optical remote sensing capabilities. The focus is on opto-mechanical-thermal integration to effectively manage thermal stress and minimise deformation. Finite Element Analysis is employed to extract Zernike coefficients for deformation analysis, facilitating a comprehensive assessment of the camera’s performance across a temperature range of −40 °C to 60 °C. An innovative flexible support system is integrated to maintain the optimal surface figure of the primary mirror, further reducing thermal effects. Extensive empirical testing, including resolution and wavefront error detection, has validated the system’s robustness under various thermal conditions.