Adlens – Striving for Success with SOLIDWORKS
Glasses have gone from bare necessity, through geek chic, to major fashion accessory. Yet thanks to the fact that eyesight gradually fades over time, a one-size-fits-all approach to spectacle selection is less than ideal. Sure, we can pick up an over-the-counter pair to cope with our worsening eyesight, but they won’t last forever. Besides, vision correction is prey to the demands of distance. Different activities call for different spectacles. Before we know it, we own more pairs of glasses than we do dinner plates.
Step forward Adlens, with its ingenious invention that revives the power of focal autonomy to the everyday specs-wearer. Advertised as “the world’s first prescription adjustable focus eyewear,” AdlensFocuss is a pair of glasses that lets the wearer change focus at the flick of a discreet dial. And, it was made using SOLIDWORKS.
Who are Adlens?
Starting from a philanthropic initiative to provide the developing world with better sight, global corrective vision company, Adlens has expanded over its ten-year plus history, into a state-of-the-art, research facility and genuinely pioneering brand development company.
We first wrote about Aldens last year, after CEO Gian Paolo Bassi paid a visit to the company to get a first-hand view of how it was using SOLIDWORKS to design the OpthalmicDocs Fundus, a 3D-printable device that converts any smartphone into a retinal camera—all for less than $40. The device is being used to help doctors detect eye defects of the inner eye for people living in low-income areas and developing nations. Read “High-Tech Solutions for Fixing Eye Problems in Developing Countries” here.
How does SOLIDWORKS help?
Creating a legitimate innovation in the world of corrective vision was no easy task. The AdlensFocuss lets the user zoom in from distance to close-up at the user’s bespoke prescription, with a simple dial. But you just know that beneath that simplicity is an awful lot of deeply complicated hard work.
SOLIDWORKS was utilised by the team at Adlens to navigate its way around the creation of Variable Power Optics technology. 3D CAD and pin-sharp simulation of materials incorporating real-world physics, allowed the team to succeed in the challenge of making a pair of spectacles that are not only functional, but could lay claim to fashion-based bragging rights too.
The original design was based on a circular frame (the compression of the optical membrane boundary within the fluid element that creates the focusing effect lends itself more naturally to a round lens design). However, to compete in a market where form is often as important as function, Adlens needed to be able to work that technology into a rectangular design to broaden aesthetic appeal.
Designing its product within SOLIDWORKS simplified the process of engineering the flexible membrane to work within an extended rectangle shape. This was essential to the team’s aim of creating catwalk-worthy specs. Adlens were able to design all the component parts – including the crucial lens module – in SOLIDWORKS, allowing the team to bench-test the lens shape in a virtual, but realistic digital environment.
As well as using SOLIDWORKS to design all of the AdlensFocuss component parts (such as the jigs, fixtures and nests), Adlens took advantage of SOLIDWORKS Plastics – easy-to-use injection molding simulation software to test melted plastic flow. The result? A visually stunning design that represents a beacon in corrective vision innovation.
Special things happen when you combine progressive engineering with the power of SOLIDWORKS. Want to keep up to date with our latest stories and posts? Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn for the most recent news.
To read the original case study by NT CADCAM click here.
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