Autocollimator

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An autocollimator is an optical instrument for non-contact measurement of angles. They are typically used to align components and measure deflections in optical or mechanical systems. An autocollimator works by projecting an image onto a target mirror, and measuring the deflection of the returned image against a scale, either visually or by means of an electronic detector. A visual autocollimator can measure angles as small as 0.5 arcseconds, while an electronic autocollimater can be up 100 times more accurate.

[edit] See also

• Autocollimation

[edit] References

• Lowell, Tom. Small Angles and Autocollimators (HTML). Vermont Photonics. Retrieved on May 7, 2006.