One of the most compelling reasons students want to study applied optics is because it is a visual science. Even though students can easily visualize the physical phenomena of interest during a particular laboratory experiment they often find it difficult to record and quantify their experimental results. Recording optical images and subtle changes in optical images using standard photography can sometimes be difficult and time consuming. Fortunately, computer hardware and software along with cameras of sufficient resolution are now available to assist in this image acquisition process.The acquisition and processing of images has grown into a routine tool used in research and industry today. Digital image processing tools and optical techniques have come together to form a powerful processing environment, optical image processing. Students in physics and applied optics need to be well versed in the use of these modern image acquisition tools, observe the benefits of optical processing techniques as well as understand the basic science of the phenomena that they are studying.The equipment requested in this proposal will be used to upgrade and enhance the undergraduate physics and applied optics program at Rose- Hulman Institute of Technology. We will: (1). develop a standard "Image Acquisition and Analysis Experimental Lab Station" for general use in optics labs, (2). expand and upgrade the laboratory component of our Principles of Image Processing course to include experiments on optical image processing, image acquisition and analysis of infrared images, and (3). enrich several of the experiments in other applied optics laboratories by introducing computer-based acquisition of images.
