FRED™

System Requirements

Recommended Configuration:

• 17 threads for FRED Regular and up to 63 cores for FRED Optimum, clock speeds at 3+ GHz or higher

• 8+ GB of RAM

• SSD hard disk

• NVIDIA graphics card with 128+ MB of memory

• NVIDIA graphics card with compute capability 3.0+ for use with FREDMPC

 

OLE Automation

Automation Client:

The scripting language enables FRED to function as an OLE automation client. This allows FRED to directly manipulate, and communicate with, other applications such as Microsoft Excel® or Matlab®.

 

Automation Server:

FRED can function as an OLE automation server capable of being run remotely from any other application (such as Matlab®) that can serve as an automation client. Thus, FRED can function as a remote raytracing computational “engine” for performing calculations difficult or impossible to do in non-optical applications. This capability is tightly coupled to FRED‘s scripting language.

 

Import/Export Capabilities

Import from Optical Design Software:

• CODEV® (proprietary product of Optical Research Associates)

• OSLO® (proprietary product of Lambda Research)

• ZEMAX® (proprietary product of Zemax Development Corporation)

 

Import options include:

• Render transmitting surfaces as transparent

• Creating edges/bevels on lens elements

• Creating default sequential path

• Showing dummy surfaces

• Computing unassigned apertures from paraxial raytrace

• Resetting minimum thickness/separation

• Setting cement thickness (If selected, FRED will try to identify those surfaces that are part of lenses and represent them as such. Cemented lens groups are represented as individual elements that are cemented together.)

 

Import/Export from/to most CAD software:

• Import: Import via the STEP and IGES standards. These two formats are supported by almost all CAD software. OBJ/STL files may also be imported.

• Export: Export via the STEP and IGES standards. It offers export of most FRED surfaces as well as ray trajectories (which offers mechanical designers a convenient means to set baffle clearances).

 

Import from Commercial Lens Catalogs:

FRED has an up-to-date database of commercially available lenses and prisms from the following major US suppliers:

• Edmund Optics           • Esco

• JML Optics                  • Melles-Griot

• Newport                      • OptoSigma

• Oriel • Rolyn

• Archer • Ealing

• Ross • ThorLabs

 

Project/Document Control

Multiple versions of FRED document and script files can be stored in a single repository. This allows multiple team members to coordinate work on a FRED project. It also provides a convenient mechanism for tracking changes to FRED models as they are developed.

 

32/64 Bit Versions

FRED is available in either 32 bit or 64 bit versions. The 32 bit version will execute on both 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems. The 64 bit version is available to all FRED license types.

 

Output Window

FRED’s output window is an Excel-compatible spreadsheet with built-in “formula engine”. The spreadsheet may be “cut and pasted” into Excel while preserving equations, etc. Output text coloring is under user-control. All floating point numbers can be viewed to full double precision accuracy.

 

 

FRED Optimum Edition

System Requirements

Recommended Configuration:

• Up to 63 CPU threads with clock speeds at 3+ GHz or higher

• 32+ GB of RAM

• SSD hard disk

• NVIDIA graphics card with 4GB of memory

 

Distributed Computing

FRED Optimum licenses can distribute calculations to an arbitrary number of Windows networked computers, dramatically reducing the time required for analyses due to the parallel nature of distributed processes.

 

Optimization

FRED has a general optimization feature designed to address a wide range of applications. Performance criteria are specified through user-defined or built-in merit functions and applied with Simplex (multi-variable) or 1-D (single variable) methods.

 

Variable Specifications:

• Position/orientation parameter for any system object

• Surface curvature

• Surface conic constant

• Surface aspheric coefficients

• NURB control point positions

• NURB control point weight

• Lens element bending parameter

• Lens element thickness

• Surface aperture size

• Element primitive parameter value

• Source power

• Super-Gaussians Surface parameters

• User-defined script (allows custom non-default variables)

 

Merit Function Aberration Specifications:

• RMS spot size

• Encircled spot radius

• Total maximized power on the surface

• Total minimized power on the surface

• RMS and Encircled spot sizes

• Spot centroid location

• RMS and Encircled ray direction spread

• Ray direction centroid

• P-V and RMS Irradiance/Illuminance

• P-V and RMS Intensity

• RMS color chromaticity variation

• Encircled color chromaticity variation

• Centroid color chromaticity

• User-defined script (allows custom non-default merit function aberrations)

 

Optimization Method Specifications:

• 1-D minimization

• Simplex

• 1-D minimization with multiple restarts

• Simplex with multiple restarts

• Simplex with simulated annealing

 

Parameter Pickups (Optimum Edition only)

FRED’s parameter pickups allow multiple entity variables to by dynamically and automatically linked together through built-in and user-definable parameterization. This feature adds a lot of power and flexibility in building models which can be reliably and efficiently manipulated and optimized.

 

Configurations (Optimum Edition only)

The System(s) Configuration Manager allows a model’s geometry to be defined in a multiplicity of states. Rather than having multiple versions of a single model corresponding to unique configurations, a single model can be managed with the configuration data built in. A classic example of configurations would be specifying lens group locations for multiple zoom positions.

 

FREDMPC Edition

System Requirements

Recommended Configuration:

• Up to 63 CPU threads with clock speeds at 3+ GHz or higher

• 32+ GB of RAM

• SSD hard disk

• NVIDIA graphics card with 8GB+ of memory (GTX or RTX series circa 2018 or newer preferred)

 

The FREDMPC capability allows raytracing and analyses to be performed directly on GPUs, with calculations being performed orders of magnitude faster than traditional CPU raytracing.

 

Compiled BASIC Script Language

FRED’s sophisticated built-in scripting development environment supports keyword highlighting and syntax assistance. FRED has an integrated BASIC compiler that implements its scripting language with over 2000+ commands. FRED’s modern and powerful implementation of the BASIC language supports modules, projects, user-defined libraries, and global variables that can be accessed from within any script. Users can write scripts that create/modify system geometry, sources, coatings, scatter models, etc., as well as perform raytracing and calculations. An Embedded Script Folder in the Tree offers the convenience of storing scripts within a FRED document. These scripts can be edited and executed during a simulation.