Summanry. Novel electro-optical alignment technique

A novel device has been made which orientates a solid object and a collimated light beam relative to each other, in such a way that the light beam and a cylindrical hole in the object are aligned. A nulling technique is used, incorporating an electromagnetic feedback system driven from an optical error signal. A number of configurations of the basic device have been tested experimentally to identify the most suitable for practical application in precise orientation in assembly or metrology and in the measurement of errors in the direction of a hole in a solid. The technique is rapid and inexpensive compared with conventional techniques, although it does not achieve such extremes of accuracy.