Teaching Optics and Systems Engineering With Adaptive Optics Workbenches

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development and use of adaptive optics workbenches as educational tools across various levels, demonstrating their versatility in teaching optics and systems engineering concepts through practical activities.

Contribution

It introduces multiple adaptive optics workbench designs and outlines activities and learning outcomes, enhancing optics education with hands-on, system-level experiments.

Findings

Workbenches facilitate diverse educational activities

Students gain practical understanding of optics and system control

Workbenches are effective in various educational settings

Abstract

Adaptive optics workbenches are fully functional optical systems that can be used to illustrate and teach a variety of concepts and cognitive processes. Four systems have been funded, designed and constructed by various institutions and people as part of education programs associated with the Center for Adaptive Optics, the Professional Development Program and the Institute for Science and Engineer Educators. Activities can range from first-year undergraduate explorations to professional level training. These workbenches have been used in many venues including the Center for Adaptive Optics AO Summer School, the Maui Community College hosted Akamai Maui Short Course, classrooms, training of new staff in laboratories and other venues. The activity content has focused on various elements of systems thinking, characterization, feedback and system control, basic optics and optical alignment as well as advanced topics such as phase conjugation, wave-front sensing and correction concepts and system design. The workbenches have slightly different designs and performance capabilities. We describe here outlines for several activities utilizing these different designs and some examples of common student learner outcomes and experiences.