Measuring Curvature of Mirrors Using Image Analysis

This paper describes a method for measuring the radius of curvature of mirrors by measuring the size of the reflected image. The image is generated by a video camera, captured using an image grabber board and analyzed using custom software on a standard computer. The system is shown to be capable to higher resolution than the current SAE defined spherometer and capable of determining radius of curvature over a smaller area. The latter is particularly important in using the system for measuring aspheric mirrors.