What Is an Autocollimator?

Autocollimator ^[1] , also known as "self-collimating light pipe" and "optical flatness checker", is a measuring instrument that uses the principle of light autocollimation to convert angle measurement to linear measurement. It is widely used in small angle measurement, flatness measurement of flat plates, flatness and parallelism measurement of guide rails and so on. It mainly includes optical autocollimators, photoelectric autocollimators, laser collimators, etc. The entry introduces optical autocollimator, photoelectric autocollimator, laser collimator, and focuses on the domestic HYQ-03 autocollimator in detail.

Optical autocollimator in the mid 1930s ^[1]

Autocollimator ^[1]

Autocollimators usually consist of three parts ^[3]

If the center of the slit vibration coincides with the crosshair image, the pointer indicating the meter 15 is zero, which is the aiming position; if the center of the slit deviates from the crosshair image, the pointer indicating the meter will leave the zero position ^[4]

Laser collimator ^[5]

HYQ03 type autocollimator is often called flatness checker ^[6]

The principle error caused by the approximation of the angle measurement formula, the error caused by non-strictly parallel rays of outgoing light, and the distortion of the optical system ^[7]

It is often used to measure the straightness of the guide rail, the flatness of the flat plate (called the flatness measuring instrument at this time), etc., and the verticality can also be measured with the help of a steering prism accessory. The photoelectric autocollimator is mostly used in aerospace, marine, military, and other industries that require high precision, such as quality assurance (flatness, flatness, perpendicularity, parallelism, etc.) in the machining industry, and measurement verification industries Angle test standards, prism angle positioning and monitoring, optical component testing and installation accuracy control, etc. ^[4] .