ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the design aspects of different types of adjustment mechanisms used in optical systems. Various optical elements in a sophisticated system must be precisely aligned with each other to obtain an aberration-free image. In optical systems with very tight alignment requirements, it is more cost effective to manufacture the optics and their mounts to rather loose tolerances and then employ adjustment mechanisms to align the optics relative to each other at assembly. Another 338class of adjustment mechanisms is used to move one or more optical elements of a system in real time to correct the image degradation caused by environmental effects.
