Constructing a metric for the selection of a starting optical design

In computer-aided design of optical systems, the choice of starting point is very important. Typically, the designer selects the initial optical design from any database available to him based on his own experience and technical specifications for designing the required optical system. To date, thousands of optical systems of various purposes and complexity have been designed. This diversity significantly complicates the process of selecting an initial circuit for its further optimization. The authors propose a method for constructing an evaluation function for the automated selection of a starting optical design. The proposed methodology combines the classification of optical systems by their type and the complexity of their structural design and includes requirements for image quality, size and weight characteristics, spectral range, manufacturing complexity, and estimation of manufacturing costs for mass production.