The science of goniophotometry revolves around the theory of how a surface's glossiness is characterized by various measurements of angles. Gloss is often used as a criterion in industries to evaluate the quality of a product, especially in the case of products where the aesthetic appearance is of importance. A visual gloss evaluation includes many subjective sources of error and is not sufficient. Therefore, to be objective, it is necessary to put a measured value on the degree of gloss.

In years past, the Imaging Science Department of the Rochester Institute of Technology had been using experimental technology to obtain quantitative measurements of gloss. However, their device required a substantial amount of experience to operate and interpret. In order to commercialize this field of research and to allow a wider range of users to operate the device, a project with the aim to meet these needs was started in 2008.

The goal of our project is to take existing scientific knowledge and lab setting systems that measures gloss and merge it in a user-friendly, robust, compact, and repeatability technology design. The conceptual design would also be scaled down in as many ways as possible so as to be self- calibrating, self-adjusting, and to provide comprehensible and rich technical measurements.

Since there were several iterations of this project, our work is based off the foundation of those that worked on it before. This gave us more time to be able to automate the device. Our team consists of three Mechanical Engineers and one Computer Engineer. The roles of the Mechanical Engineers were to develop physical methods for automating devices and decrease user interventions. The devices included: sample holder, camera lens zoom and focus, polarizing lens, and LED holder. The main purpose for the Computer Engineer was to set up the electrical system used to interface the hardware components with the software and to develop a user-friendly program that would allow communication between the hardware automation and software user input.

Scientific Understanding of the Applied Technology

• A Micro-Goniophotometer and the Measurement of Print Gloss
• Interpretation of Gloss Measurements
• Analysis of Paper Gloss
• Interpretation of the Results of a Micro-Goniophotometer Analysis

Project Name

Micro-Goniophotometer

Project Number

P11541

Project Team Members

Jeff Herbert, Sadaf Mackertich, Lem Lebron, Peter Bowlin

Track

Printing & Imaging Systems

Start Term

2010-2

End Term

2010-3

Faculty Guide

Mike Zona

Faculty Consultant

Dr. Marcos Esterman

Primary Customer

Dr. Marcos Esterman

Mission Statement

Staffing Requirements

Intellectual Property Considerations

Preliminary Work Breakdown Structure

Team Values and Norms

Identify Customer Needs

Establish Target Specifications

Generate Product Concepts

Select Product Concept(s)

Set Final Specifications

System Design Review Presentation

Detailed Design Review Documents

(Above includes 3D Model and Drawings)

Supplementary LED circuit

Test Plan

Preliminary Data

MSA Results

Testing Results (Traceability Matrix)

Technical Conference Publication

Poster Publication

Instruction Manual

Safety Audit

Bill of Materials

Photo Gallery

Plugin Source Code

Parts Specifications